Canada's Immigration Act of 1896 Essay Sample

The only way to understand the future is to understand the past, and Canada's past is complicated.A past that began with the 1869 immigration act, which addressed a variety of important matters. as a result, the immigration act of 1906 was passed. Everything that has happened in Canada's past has affected the world we live in today and created the law we have surrounding immigration today.

Canada's first step to the world we know today was the immigration act of 1896. This legislation was established as a safeguard for foreigners to prevent them from being exploited upon arrival and during their travels to Canada. It also protected them on their trip here, as it was common to arrive on overcrowded dangerous ships where the safety and well-being of their passengers were not accounted for. This being said, the immigration act regulated the number of passengers permitted to be on one ship at a time and put efforts into stopping the exploitation of immigrants by requiring ships to arrive at reasonable hours, not charging money when offloading luggage, and allowing passengers to stay on board forty-eight hours after arrival. Canada welcomed practically everyone, but excluded criminals and made it exceedingly difficult to enter for the sick and injured. Although “All people '' were welcome, there were those who were ethnically preferred. These people were usually British, American, and Central European, and everyone else was treated with much less respect. The immigration act was also made to help Canada's economy.  John A. Macdonald, the prime minister at the time, enacted this policy to create a much larger market for manufactured goods. For a majority of history, Canada used people who entered the country to do the hard labor jobs such as working in crowded factories and construction. Throughout the years, many additional rules, regulations, laws, and policies were put in place, many of which were used to impose more restrictions on people. The immigration act of 1906 was the next major change in laws on immigration. This act added a lot more restrictions to immigrants and none of these restrictions were said to be specifically targeted at a certain ethnicity or nationality but they were stronger enforced on those who were not part of the preferred ethnic groups. The Canadian Citizenship Act was passed in 1947, allowing those born outside of Canada to apply for citizenship, there were a few requirements and restrictions that came along with this act. The usual requirement was that a person had to have lived in Canada and be a permanent resident for a minimum of 5 years before applying for citizenship and they had to be able to speak an adequate level of English or French, there were exceptions to these requirements if an immigrant had served in a war and fought alongside Canada, that person could apply for citizenship after only one year of living in Canada.

Since the 1869 Immigration Act, Canada has come a long way. Since 2001, an average of 221,352 to 262,236 immigrants have arrived in Canada per year. Like back in the past, if a citizen has lived in Canada and was a permanent resident for a minimum of three years they can apply for citizenship and then would have to take a test to prove they can speak English or French at an adequate level. To become a permanent citizen of Canada, a person must apply for a permanent visa, which allows them to come and go as they want. However, if a person were to leave Canada for more than three years, their visa may be revoked. Applying for PR status (permanent resident status) may be a lengthy and time-consuming procedure that can take anywhere from several months to a few years. To immigrate to Canada you must prepare years in advance as it can be an expensive process that costs roughly $15,420. A person with a permanent resident status does not have the ability to vote or run for an election in Canada; but, after a permanent resident obtains citizenship, that individual would then have the right to vote.

Since 1869 Canada has been making progress towards a better and brighter future; yet this progress has not always been for the betterment of immigrants, accepting immigrants was more for the benefit of Canadians and how they might have made Canada a better country. Although most individuals were welcome to Canada they were not necessarily free; they had to adhere to many laws and regulations.