How Did Indo-Canadian Immigration Change Over The Course Of The 20th Century

Over the course of a 40-year period in the 20th century, over 1 million immigrants came into Canada through Pier 21 in Halifax. In 2011, immigrants accounted for more than 20% of British Columbia’s population. The first Indian immigrants came to Canada in 1903; the majority of them were brought over as agricultural workers. 100 years later, Indo- Canadians represent 4% of the current population in Canada and Indian immigration to Canada is growing at an unprecedented rate. The changing political and social landscape of Canada, which helped to shape the immigration system, is responsible for the unequaled growth in Immigration to Canada. Indo- Canadian immigration changed dramatically over the course of the 20th century as a result of changing

Indo Canadian immigration came to a near halt between 1920 and 1960 due to the World Wars and other worldwide conflicts. “In the mid-sixties, however, Canada began to transition toward a policy of multiculturalism and did away with all discriminatory immigration policies. As a direct result, within a few short years the Indian population in Canada multiplied more than 20 times over.” In the 1960’s, Canada implemented multiculturalism policies that made Indo- Canadian immigration easier. India was home to many skilled immigrants, and as a result of the new policies put in place, immigration to Canada multiplied more than 20 times. The legislation favored skilled immigrants who could speak more than one language; as a result of this, many of the potential Indian immigrants were a good fit for the Canadian immigration system. The Immigration Act of 1976 was another piece of significant legislation that represented change to Canadian immigration legislation. The act “clearly outline(d) the objectives of Canadian immigration policy, define(d) refugees as a distinct class of immigrants and mandate(d) the federal government to consult with other levels of government in immigration planning and management. The act was positively regarded as a progressive piece of legislation and it received broad social and political

In the early 20th century, Canadian society was unaccepting of any sort of East Asian immigrants. “The deportations (of Indians) were triggered by racist immigration laws that had been created six years (1908) earlier following anti-Asian riots in Vancouver’s Chinatown and Japantown.” Due to these riots and the systematic racism established in Canadian society, “East Indian immigration to Canada decreased dramatically until the 1940s.”. Canadian society was initially unaccepting of Indian immigrants, shown through the organizing of protests regarding the growing immigrant population. The negative perspective on Indian immigrants, caused immigration to Canada from India to decrease. This shows that societies, and not only the government’s view on immigrants had an effect on Indian immigration. Societies’ outlook on immigration and prejudices have a serious effect on who will immigrate, and how many people will. However, over the course of the 20th century, the Canadian government came “under pressure from a newly-created independent Indian government, Canada began to change its discriminatory immigration policies after the end of the Second World War. The initial quota for Indian immigrants was 150, but was subsequently raised to 300 a few years later.” Indian