history of canadian immigration policies
...try. Under the immigration legislation, "anyone whose race was unsuited to the climate or requirements of Canada would be excluded," (Richmond, 1988, p.57) and this virtually eliminated all immigration from China and other Asian countries. The Chinese were one of the groups that were treated the most unfavorably. They were brought to Canada by Canadian entrepreneurs for their labor skills. They were treated like slaves and as soon as the railway was completed the Canadian government passed the Chinese Immigration Act in 1885, which restricted the immigration of Chinese into Canada and between 1924 and 1930 only three Chinese immigrated into the country. The restrictions in oriental immigration were very effective and “between 1884 and 1923 the British Columbia legislature successfully passed numerous bills restricting the political and social rights of the Chinese” (Li, 1988, p.27). Attitudes towards the Chinese were clearly racist and Canada, during this time period, believed that they were a burden to the well being of society. The Immigration Act of 1906 "provided the means for controlling immigration generally and respecting undesirable immigrants" (Knowles, 1997, p.82). This act was bluntly racist and “would become the first legal mechanism for enforcing a policy of selective, i.e., restrictive immigration” (Knowles, 1997, p.83). In order to ensure that no Asians would immigrate to Canada, the government added a new amendment to the Immigration Act known as the "continuous journey" regulation. This regulation “stipulated that all immigrants to Canada were required to come directly from their country of origin by a continuous journey through a ticket purchased in that country” (Knowles, 1997, p. 83). This amendment was brought into place because the Canadian government assumed that Asians would not be able to follow these guidelines. However, it was challenged in 1914 when more than 300 Sikhs from India aboard the Komagata Maru, docked on the port of Vancouver. The Sikhs aboard the ship were trying to “claim their rights to equal treatment with white citizens of the British Empire and force entry into Canada” (Johnston, 1989, p.14). However, after two months of enduring physical deprivation and harassment by Canadian immigration officials, they were sent back to India and upon arriving back to their homeland, many of them were shot and killed by Indian troops. During the same time as the Komagata Maru incident, immigrants from Britain were flocking to Canada to settle. “The head tax on Chinese and the continuous journey legislation and the Komagata Maru episode, all highlighted the desire to keep Canada white” (Sharma, 1997, p.42). Both the people of India and Britain were ruled by the British Empire, yet only the “white” faction of the Empire was welcome into Canada. This clearly shows the racist attitude held by Canada and its immigration legislation. During and after the Second World War, from 1930 to 1975, Canadian immigration policies started to evolve. The beginning of this time period, from 1930 to 1946, was the most restrictive period in Canadian immigration history. The regulations excluded the Jews, and Canada was one of the countries that refused to accept refugees from the “Voyage of the Damned” in 1939, so 907 Jews were returned back to Germany and eventually killed by soldiers of the Nazi Party during the Holocaust. During the war, there was a rapid decrease in immigration, but as soon as the war ended the Canadian immigration policy evolved the most. At the end of the war some groups in Canada wanted liberalism of immigration because they believed immigration was needed to populate and develop the country. “Labor shortages began to appear in some primary industries leading to a provision in 1947 that any resident of Canada could sponsor any immigrant to whom he could ensure employment in agriculture, mining or lumbering” (Sharma, 1997, p.44). This stipulation, however, was aimed more towards white immigrants than oriental immigrants. “Canadians did not want a change in the character of their population through immigration” (Sharma, 1997, p.45). However in the 1950’s immigration regulations loosened but non-whites were still not welcomed into the country. In 1952 a new Immigration Act was passed and this gave the government and his officials “substantial powers of selection, admission and deportation of immigrants” (Sharma, 1997, p.45). This new act also gave them “the power to refuse immigration on grounds of nationality, origin, unfamiliar customs, habits and modes of life, climatic unsuitability, and an incapacity to get assimilated” (Sharma, 1997, p.45). This act maintained the fact that entry into Canada was a privilege rather than a right. The most significant development during this large time period was from 1963 to 1975, when the introduction of the points system came into play. The independent class applicant’s were those who do not fall under the refugee, family or business class. The points system was a way for independent class immigrants to immigrate to Canada as long as they got the 50 points out of the required 100. The applicants were measured on their personal qualities, education and training, occupational demands for the applicant’s skills in Canada, age, arranged employment, knowledge of English or French, presence of relatives in Canada, and the general status of employment opportunities in Canada. Also in 1966 the White Paper was developed and it called for skilled workers to meet the needs of an increasingly urbanized and industrial society, so therefore immigration regulations were slowly becoming loosened. In 1975, the Green Paper was developed and it emphasized the need for unskilled laborers willing to work in geographically remote areas for low pay and harsh conditions. This paved the way for immigration legislation being less restrictive and was the beginning of more Asian immigrants coming to Canada. Canada needed laborers to work in places where some Canadian-born citizens wouldn’t because of the low pay and harsh working conditions. The government believed this type of work was ideal for Asian immigrants because they would be doing the work that no one else was willing to do and yet they would still be secluded within society because they would have to settle in small towns in the interior of British Columbia. While 87% of Canada’s immigrants in 1966 were of European origin, four years later 50% came from new regions such as the West Indies, Guyana, Haiti, Hong Kong, India, Philippines, and Indochina (Sharma, 1997, p.171). These statistics show how as time progressed, immigration from Asia and other third world countries increased dramatically. The latter part of this time period was the beginning of Canadian immigration regulations being swayed towards a more unprejudiced approach. It was in 1976 however when Canadian immigration would change the nature of Canadian society hereafter. T...