Crossroads of Culture 200 Years of Canadian Immigration (1800-2000)
Introduction Objects Photos & Papers Themes Kids & Teachers

Historical Overview of Immigration to Canada

Table 3. Canada: Ethnic Rural Residents, 1931

German 298,263
Ukrainian 158,635
Dutch 98,388
Polish 77,742
Norwegian 67,851
Russian 64,052
Swedish 54,678
Austrian 30,242
Finnish 23,786
Hungarian 20,506
Danish 20,494
Italian 18,110
Czech/Slovak 17,705
Belgian 17,356
Romanian 16,089
Japanese 12,375
Icelandic 11,357
Chinese 8,006
African (Am) 7,623
Yugoslav 7,199
Hebrew 5,559
Lithuanian 1,591
Greek 913
Bulgarian 682

Other rural residents identified only by religious group in 1931 were Mennonites (88,327), Mormons (22,041) and Doukhobors (14,978).

These totals include only rural inhabitants, other than Aboriginal Canadians. Some groups, such as the Italians, Greek and Chinese, lived predominantly in urban centres.

Sources: R. Loewen, Ethnic Farm Culture in Western Canada (Ottawa: Canadian Historical Association, 2002), p. 6; Statistics Canada, Historical Statistics of Canada (1985), passim.