Page 108 [108]
BALÁZS VENKOVITS
While more than 200,000 Hungarians arrived in the country in 1907 alone,
after 1924 the maximum number who could immigrate legally was capped at
473. Ihe push factors of emigration, however, did not cease, thus Hungarians
began to look for alternatives and Canada was one of the most promising.
CANADA OPENS ITS GATES: HUNGARIANS IN CANADA UNTIL THE 1920s
Canada was already a destination for emigrants at the turn of the century.
However, it was seen as a compromised destination: it was attractive due to
the benefits offered by the Canadian government, however the difficulties
with settlement were also often emphasized, especially in comparison with
the United States. In fact, at the beginning of the period of New Immigration,
more people left Canada (for the US) than immigrated there." Ihis happened
despite the belief in Canada also that immigrants would play a key role in the
development of the western provinces. The first immigration act was passed in
1869 and was amended gradually, excluding the entry of criminals or other non¬
preferred people. Based on the Dominion Lands Act of 1872 any male head of
family of at least 21 years of age could obtain 160 acres of pubic homestead for a
USD 10 registration fee and six months’ residence for the for first three years of
the claim.'® The program itself failed as only a few people took this opportunity,
but other measures targeted at specific immigration groups proved to be more
successful. The government also began to build up the infrastructure needed
to make sure that the immigrants reached the eventual place of settlement in
the West cheaply and safely.!? The Canadian Pacific Railway was completed
in 1886, a network of immigration halls was established, and the great
plains of the US became more or less full, thus emigrants were looking for
possible new destinations. Ihis coincided with the policies of Minister of the
Interior Clifford Sifton, which were aimed at populating the western prairies,
popularized through the image of the “Last Best West.” This also involved the
use of immigration propaganda to attract more people into the country.
Canada primarily preferred immigrants from Great Britain, the United
States, and Northern Europe (especially those with capital and agricultural
skills).2° However, Sifton also encouraged immigration from Central and
Eastern Europe.” To attract more people, immigration agents were employed
Powell, Encyclopedia, 45.
13 Tbid., 46.
Robert Vineberg, Responding to Immigrants’ Settlement Needs: The Canadian Experience,
Dordrecht, Springer, 2012, 8.
Valeria Knowles, Strangers at Our Gates: Canadian Immigration and Immigration Policy,
1540-2006. Toronto, Dundurn, 2007, 69.
Vineberg, Settlement Needs, 11 and also N.F. Dreisziger, et al., Struggle and Hope: The
Hungarian-Canadian Experience, Toronto, McClelland, 1982, 62.
+ 106 +