Sailing between Liverpool and Quebec, Canadian Pacific steamers carried many British - and European - emigrants to Canada. The Canadian Pacific Railway carried them on to their destinations. The Dominion Express Company was owned by Canadian Pacific, and brought passengers' luggage to dockside, for loading. This photograph suggests Dominion Express service was so reliable that it could be trusted with the caged canaries in the left foreground.

The Royal Line was one of the various shipping lines which brought immigrants to Canada. It sailed from Bristol in western England, with connections to the Canadian Northern Railway. The Canadian government paid a bonus to steamship ticket agents for each emigrant in three specified categories: farmers, farm labourers and domestics.