-
Period: to
Vast groups of Highlanders made their way over to Canada as a result of the Clearances in Scotland
The Highlanders were known for dominating the first stage of immigration to Canada. Most Highlanders came from the Argyll and Inverness regions in Scotland. When the Highlanders arrived 42% of immigrants went to Ontario, 31% to Nova Scotia and the remaining went to Quebec (11%), New Brunswick (6%), Prince Edward Island (6%), and Manitoba (3%). The Highlanders in Ontario mostly settled in Middlesex, Bruce, and Glengarry. Many of these people moved to Canada as part of the Clearance Migrations. -
Period: to
The beginning of the Scottish emigration to Canada.
During this period, Scots began there first travels to the New World. Life in Scotland was growing to be particularly hard as the French Revolution was beginning to impact the way of life in Scotland. This was because of the reform in Scotland as a result of the French wars. People were beginning to loose businesses and homes. There was a shortage of food and resources. The government was trying to gain more political control but by doing so they started the mass mobilization of their people. -
Lord Selkirk made his way over to the New World
Lord Selkirk gathered a large group of people to sail over to Canada from the Isle of Skye to Orwell bay in 1803. When the group of 63 families arrived to Canada they were bewildered by what was infant of them. A whole new land, a whole new way of living. People soon learned that they were going to have to adapt to their new way of life. -
The Belfast Settlement was created
The group of people that traveled over to Canada with Lord Selkirk were 63 families who had come over to Canada to farm and built the agricultural world. This group people were extremely poor before arriving to Canada as they became wealthier when their farming began to sky rocket. The group of people decided to create the Belfast Settlement as way of signifying their settlement in the area and to make it more inviting for 100's of others who would soon come over to Orwell Bay. -
Highlanders dominating the New World
During the first wave of Scottish emigrants to Canada the Highlanders were the largest ethnic group to arrive in North America from Britain between 1775 and 1815. About 15,000 scots emigrated during this time. And being some of the earliest immigrants, they had a profound impact on Canada’s early settlement pattern. Although Highlanders dominated initially, they were quickly out numbered by Lowlanders as people began to emigrant to Canada after the Napoleonic Wars were coming to an end in 1815. -
Life in Canada as a Lowlander
For many Lowlanders emigrants the principal destination was Ontario (60% of Lowland emigrants) which was followed by Quebec (17%). Nova Scotia (10%), New Brunswick (7%), Prince Edward Island (3%) and Manitoba (2%).The Lowlanders in Ontario were relatively dispersed. Large concentrations of Lowlanders were located in in Lanark, Wellington, and York counties. More than half the Lowlanders in Quebec settled in Montreal, with lesser concentrations in Megantic and Richmond counties. -
Period: to
Lowlanders move to the New World
Lowlanders were offered an subsidized emigration scheme from the government in 1815 so they could travel over to Canada and establish settlements for themselves in the Rideau Valley of eastern Upper Canada. Having been employed as weavers in Scotland, they lacked axe skills and had little farming experience. Although the Lowlanders were not skilled in axing or farming they relinquished their trades and became highly successful colonizers.Rougly 170,000 Scots crossed the Atlantic at the time. -
Period: to
Emigration funding
Overall, just over 4,000 Scots received financial aid to emigrate to British America between 1815 and 1821. Although this is a significant number, it represents less than a quarter of the total number of Scots who emigrated during this period. -
Riots in Paisley broke out
People at this time believed that if a better Scottish government was implemented it would make conditions better but many who wanted to emigrate disagreed. Riots broke out in Paisley at a public meeting demanding that the government pay for funds to emigrate. Troops were called to control those who acted out -
Formation of the Glasgow Committee on Emigration
Glasgow Committee on Emigration was created to fight the need for funding to emigrate. A month later a package was established, entitling emigration society members to free transportation from Quebec to Upper Canada, a 100-acre grant of land, and loans that had to be cleared within ten years. However, the Scots would have to pay for their sea crossings. -
John A. MacDonald emigrates to Canada
John A. MacDonald emigrated from Glasgow, Scotland in the year of 1820 because of his fathers poor business choices which left the family in debt. -
Period: to
A Parliamentary Select Committee decides to fund emigration as a means of relieving poverty
A Parliamentary Select Committee sat in 1826– 27 to consider whether to offer state-aided emigration as a means of relieving poverty. People at this time were extremely poor and struggled to find a means of food and money which left them extremely impoverished. The committee conversed with other British officials and concluded that some public money should be given to aid poor people to emigrate, provided that it was repaid. This allowed people to have a new beginning in the New World. -
Opportunities for growth in Canada
Immigration to Upper Canada became very popular when inland commucations improved and the Canada Company became operational. The company provided emigrants with an overall framework within which colonization could proceed. It offered land on reasonable terms, employment opportunities, credit facilities, and an infrastructure of roads, churches, and schools. John Galt, the well-known Scottish novelist, became its first commissioner which added added appeal to the company. -
Period: to
The birth of the Province of Canada
The Rebellions of 1837 were known as the two armed uprisings that took place in Lower and Upper Canada in 1837 and 1838. The result of the rebellions lead to the unification of Upper and Lower Canada which would now be called the Province of Canada John A. MacDonald played a huge role in this unification. -
Period: to
2 million went to Canada during this time
Over two million went abroad to Canada during this period. -
John Hart makes his way to Canada in 1842
John Hart sailed with a group of around four hundred fellow weavers from Glasgow in 1842. He felt so let down by Scotland and looked forward to his new life in Canada -
John A. MacDonald legislature of the Province of Canada
MacDonald was later elected in 1844 to the legislature of the colonial United Province of Canada. -
The Poor Law forced people to emigrate to Canada
In 1845, the Scottish government created the Poor Law which, for the first time, made Scottish landlords legally responsible for destitute people on their estates. Forced evictions soon became a fact of life, and with them came the belief that landlord assisted emigration, which often followed evictions, had also been forced on unwilling tenants. There were undoubtedly some instances of forced evictions, linked with emigration, but these were not common. -
Period: to
Highland potato famine
About 11,000 Scotts emigrated to Canada as a result of the Highland Famine. Highlanders found their potato crop infected with potato blight. This raised issues within the Scotland because their meals were centred around the potato crop and now that the crop was ruined it forced them to have to find another means of food. Many people emigrated to Canada at this time because of the lack of potato. People had heard that Canada had a great agricultural life so this was another force to move. -
John A. MacDonald becomes Canada's first Prime Minster
John A. MacDonald, a Scottish born immigrant, became Canada's first Prime Minister on July 1st, 1867. He developed the British North American act which would act as a large part of todays Canadian Constitution Act. The Birtish North America act includes the federal structure, the House of Commons, the Senate, the justice system, and the taxation system. He was prime mister for 19 years and died on June 6th 1891 -
Scots beginning to spread across Canada
The Red River region was attracting Scots who had previously emigrated to Ontario due to its fertility of soil. Although the fertility of the land was not shared yet, people begun spreading the word that the land was prime for agriculture. Thus more Scots from Ontario, the Maritimes and back in Scotland were making their move towards the Manitoba region. -
Period: to
Ontario Scots made their move towards the new frontier
During the 1870s and the 1880's scots started to make their way west towards the praire region. This land was rich in soil which made it an extremely fertile place to grow plants and crops. Although some scots had already made the move, it was during this time that we can see migration towards this particular region. -
1871 census provides a clear outline of how many scots emigrated to Canada.
The 1871 Census stated that 157 of every 1,000 Canadians were of Scottish heritage or descent. It is approximated that 170,000 Scots immigrated to Canada between the time of 1815 to 1870. This just show how large of a mass emigration occurred during this period. -
Alexander Mackenzie pushes for Scots to emigrate to Canada
In 1880 Alexander Mackenzie visited Nova Scotia and he realized quickly that Canada had a lot of potential for reward. Mackenzie states "They had left “in impoverished circumstances but are now in comfort and even affluence, possessing lands and means of their own.” He wrote back to peoples back in Scotland and told them of what he had witness and urged them to travel to Canada. -
Western Canada opens up for Scots via train
In 1881 the Canadian Pacific railway line was built. This creation would allow for Scottish folks to become more wide spread across Canada. -
Gaelic had become Canada's third most popular language
25% of the population in 1891 spoke Gaelic during this period which made it the third most popular language in Canada -
Ship building soars in Scotland
At the beginning of the 20th century people were still desperate to get to Canada. Since industrialization was at its height, boats and ships were being mass produced in order to get Scottish emigrated to Canada faster. One of the largest ship builders is located in Gennock, Scotland which was right on the west coast of Scotland. This allowed for ships to built and be sent to the atlantic as soon as possible. -
Ontario and The West were thriving with Scottish emigrants during the early 1900's.
In 1904, when 12,267 Scots left Glasgow for Canada, 3,391 were bound for Manitoba, 1,005 for the Northwest Territories, and 445 for British Columbia. And five years later, when there were 11,810 arrivals from Scotland, 1,886 were destined for Manitoba, 1,776 for Saskatchewan and Alberta, and 1,495 for British Columbia. 90 Scots increasingly shunned the Atlantic provinces and Quebec in favour of Ontario and the West (Campey, 114). -
State-aided emigration schemes implemented in the 1920's
As the economic conditions in the Hebridean islands began to plummeted during the 1920s the Scottish and Canadian government offered state-aided emigration schemes. At this time people were beginning to struggle to live as their way of life was being reprehended. "Nearly six hundred Hebridean settlers came to Canada in 1923 under resettlement schemes that were funded jointly by the British and Canadian governments" (Campey, 115). -
1930's saw a decline of Scottish emigration
During the 1930s we saw a decline in people emigrating to Canada. Canada at this time was particularly poor which meant that life in Canada while may have been thriving a decade ago was now struggling. This trend ended in the 1930s when the world trade depression saw emigrants returning home; the numbers leaving Scotland in the 1930s were at their lowest for a century (John Grey Centre) -
In 2006, Scots accounted for 4,719,850 of the population
According to the 2006 census Scots account for 4,719,850 of the ethnic origins population count (Stats Can, 2006). Scottish persons are ranked 4th in ethnic origins population count. This just shows how large of an impact the emigration of Scots was to Canada's population growth -
The Maple Leaf Tartan was declared an official national symbol on March 9, 2011
Even in todays society we see the impact that Scottish culture has on Canadian culture. On March, 9th 2011 The Maple Leaf Tartan was declared an official national symbol (Government of Canada) Tartan is known for being tied to Scottish culture and represents our heritage to our Scottish roots.