A. Heritage and Identity · Communities in Canada, Past and Present

Coming to Canada: Why People Moved Here

A3.2 A2.4About 45 minutes

Learning goals

I can identify the main reasons why different peoples came to Canada at different times.
I can sort reasons into push factors and pull factors.
I can explain the difference between choosing to move and being forced to move.
I can read and interpret a simple fact from census data.

Words to know

immigrant
A person who moves to a new country to live there permanently.

migration
Moving from one place to another to live.

refugee
A person who has to leave their country because of war, danger or unfair treatment, and cannot safely go back.

push factor
A reason that pushes people to leave their old home, such as war, hunger or unfair treatment.

pull factor
A reason that pulls people toward a new home, such as land, jobs, safety or family.

settler
A person who comes to live in a new place and build a community there, often on land that was already Indigenous land.

census
A count of all the people in a country, with questions about their lives. Canada holds one every five years.

Let's start with a question

Imagine you had to pack one suitcase and move to a new country. You might never come back.

What would make you leave? What would you hope to find?

Millions of people have asked themselves those questions and then come to Canada. Their reasons are the subject of this lesson.

An old leather suitcase and a wooden trunk with metal corners on a museum floor. — Many newcomers arrived in Canada with only what fit in a suitcase or trunk like these. What would you pack? AI-generated image

Indigenous peoples did not "come to Canada"

First Nations and Inuit were here for thousands of years before anyone else arrived. Many of their own histories say they have been on this land since time immemorial, as long as anyone can remember. The Métis became a distinct people right here, as you learned in Grade 5.

Everyone else (or their ancestors) came to Canada from somewhere else. That includes French, British, African, Asian, European, Caribbean, South American and Middle Eastern peoples, and many more.

Push and pull

Historians sort reasons for migration into two kinds:

Push factors push people away from their old home: war, hunger, unfair treatment, no jobs, no land.
Pull factors pull people toward a new home: free or cheap land, jobs, safety, freedom, family already living there.

Most people move because of both a push and a pull.

Push factors push people away from their old home (yellow). Pull factors pull them toward Canada (green).

Choosing to move, or being forced

Not everyone chose to come.

Some people were enslaved. Enslaved African people (and some enslaved Indigenous people) were held in New France and in the British colonies until slavery was ended across the British Empire in 1834. They did not choose to be here.
Refugees had to flee war or danger. They chose Canada, but they did not choose to leave.
More than 100 000 "Home Children" were sent from Britain to Canada between 1869 and 1948 to work on farms and in homes. Most were poor children and had no say.

Who came	When	Push factors	Pull factors
French settlers	1600s and 1700s	few chances to own land in France	land in New France; the king's support
Loyalists, including Black Loyalists and Haudenosaunee allies	1780s	after the American Revolution, they were treated badly for siding with Britain	land and the protection of the British Crown
Irish	1840s	the Great Famine (potato crops failed, 1845 to 1852)	work, land, escape from hunger
Freedom seekers from the United States	up to the 1860s	slavery	freedom (slavery had ended in British colonies in 1834)
Chinese workers	1880s	poverty and war in parts of China	jobs, such as building the Canadian Pacific Railway
Ukrainians and other Europeans	1890s to 1914	poverty, little land	160 acres of prairie land for a $10 fee
Jewish families	1880s to 1914	violent attacks (pogroms) in the Russian Empire	safety and freedom of religion
Vietnamese refugees	1979 to 1980	danger after the Vietnam War; many escaped by boat	safety; Canada took in about 60 000 people
Syrian refugees	2015 to 2016	civil war in Syria	safety; more than 25 000 arrived in about four months

Some of the many groups who came to Canada, and why. The first Ukrainian settlers arrived in 1891.

Reasons people come today

Today, people still come for many of the same reasons: jobs, education, joining family, and safety. Canada also welcomes refugees from many countries, such as Afghanistan and Ukraine in recent years.

The 2021 census found that about 23% of people in Canada, nearly 1 in 4, were immigrants. That was the highest share in more than 150 years.

Each square is one person out of 100. About 23 of every 100 people in Canada in 2021 were immigrants, close to 1 in 4.

Worked example

Let's sort push and pull factors

Read this made-up story: "Ana's town in her country had no jobs after the factory closed, and there were floods every spring. Her cousin in Winnipeg wrote that there were jobs and good schools." Sort the reasons.

Ask: which reasons make Ana want to leave? No jobs, floods. Those are push factors.
Ask: which reasons draw her toward Canada? Jobs, good schools, a cousin there. Those are pull factors.
Check: a cousin already living in Canada is a very common pull factor: family.

Push: no jobs, floods. Pull: jobs, good schools, family (her cousin) in Winnipeg.

Just for fun

Why did the magnet decide to move to Canada?

It felt a really strong pull factor! 🧲

Worked example

Let's interpret census data

The 2021 census found about 23% of people in Canada were immigrants. If a group of 28 people matched Canada as a whole, about how many of them would be immigrants? (This is only an estimate: a real group, such as your class, can be very different.)

23% is close to 1 in 4 (25%).
One quarter of 28 is 28 ÷ 4 = 7.
23% is a little less than 25%, so the answer is a little less than 7: 0.23 × 28 = 6.44.
Round: about 6.
Remember: real classes differ a lot. In Toronto, almost half the people are immigrants; in some small towns, very few are.

About 6 (the estimate is between 6 and 7). Data about the whole country does not tell us exactly about one group or class.

Avoid stereotypes

Not everyone in a group came for the same reason. Talk about reasons and people, not stereotypes. A group's story is made up of many different family stories.

Hands-on activity

Migration story interview

You need: paper and a pencil.

Interview a family member, neighbour or family friend who moved at some point: from another country, another province, or even another town. (If your family is Indigenous, you might ask an Elder or family member about staying on the land, or about a move within Canada.)
Ask: Where did you move from? When? Why did you leave? Why did you choose this place? What was hard? What helped?
Make a two-column chart: Push and Pull. Sort their reasons.
Draw an arrow on a simple map (or a sketch) from the old home to the new one.

Respect privacy: some people have painful reasons for moving and may not want to talk about them. That is OK. You can use a story from a library book instead.

Your turn

What is a push factor? Give one example.

What is a pull factor? Give one example.

Why did many Irish people come to Canada in the 1840s?

What pulled Ukrainian settlers to the Prairies?

What is a refugee?

Name one group that did not choose to come to Canada.

Why don't we say First Nations and Inuit "came to Canada"?

More practice: warm-up

What is an immigrant?

In what year was slavery ended across the British Empire?

What job brought many Chinese workers to Canada in the 1880s?

About how many Vietnamese refugees did Canada take in during 1979 and 1980?

How often does Canada hold a census?

More practice: on your own

Sort these: civil war, a job offer, grandparents already living in Canada, a flood destroyed the farm.

Why were Loyalists given land in British North America in the 1780s?

Why did freedom seekers travel to Upper Canada before the 1860s?

How are Home Children different from most Irish immigrants of the 1840s?

The 2021 census says about 23% of people in Canada were immigrants. Is that more or less than one quarter? Explain.

Challenge

A student says, "Everyone came to Canada for the same reason: to get rich." Use evidence to disagree.

Why might the same event be a push factor for one group and a pull factor for another? Use the Loyalists as an example.

Canada welcomed more than 25 000 Syrian refugees in about four months (2015 to 2016). What might communities need to do to help so many people arrive so quickly?

Check your understanding

Quiz

Which is a push factor?

Which is a pull factor?

What pulled many Ukrainian settlers to the Prairies around 1900?

A refugee is someone who...

Which group was here before anyone else came?

Why did many Irish people come to Canada in the 1840s?

The 2021 census found about what share of people in Canada were immigrants?

For parents and teachers

Big idea: People came to Canada for many different reasons, and not all of them by choice (A3.2). Your child also interprets a simple census fact (A2.4).

How to help at home:

Share your own family's story of moving, if you are comfortable, or the story of a neighbour or friend. Sort the reasons into push and pull together.
Look at a world map and trace where your family or neighbours came from.
Point out that the census is held every five years and that Statistics Canada publishes child-friendly facts.

Be sensitive: some children are refugees, adopted, or from families with painful migration stories; let them choose what to share. Indigenous children should not be asked "where did your family come from?" as if they came from elsewhere.

Common difficulties:

Mixing up push and pull: push = away from the old home; pull = toward the new home.
Thinking everyone chose to come: remember enslaved people, Home Children and refugees.
Stereotypes: each group includes people with many different reasons and lives.