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Banner: Canada, by Train Graphical element
Introduction
Ties That Bind: Essay
Transcontinental Tour
Tracking Time
Travelogues
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Index of Railway Companies
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The Kids' Site of Canadian Trains		 Graphical element
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Immigration


Travelogue

To entice Europeans, Americans and even other Canadians to settle Canada's west, the government began a mass campaign of publications and lectures. Brochures and books were produced in various languages and distributed abroad. Government promoters held rallies and travelling exhibits heralded the advantages and opportunities of living in Canada's west. Plots of land were granted to those who signed up. It worked. During the major wave of immigration, roughly between 1896 and 1914, over three million people came to Canada.

Title page of brochure of the Canadian Pacific Railway, c. 1890, in German
Copyright/Source		   Last page from brochure of the Canadian Pacific Railway, c. 1890, in German
Copyright/Source
Canadian Pacific Railway, c. 1890, title page and last page

Video Clip   Excerpt of a silent film showing Ukrainian immigrants about to embark on a train, 1921 (running time: 25s)
    Copyright/Source

Travelogue

How were they to travel west? Via the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR), because it was the country's only transcontinental line. The CPR was well equipped for the task because it too had waged immigrant recruitment campaigns, similarly praising Canada's west. New settlers were relegated to "colonist cars", for their trip.

Brochure of the Canadian Pacific Railway, 1883, advertising train travel and land for sale in Manitoba and the Northwest Territories
Copyright/Source		   Photo of Barr Colonists in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, 1903
Copyright/Source
Canadian Pacific Railway, 1883   Barr colonists in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, 1903

Photo of the CPR interior tourist steel car 6206. This car is a 2nd class sleeper, with a kitchen where passengers can cook their own meals, 1925
Copyright/Source		   Photo of the interior of a CPR colonist car, 1925
Copyright/Source
CPR interior tourist steel car 6206. This car is a 2nd class sleeper, with a kitchen where passengers can cook their own meals. 1925   Interior of a CPR colonist car, 1925

Brochure of the Canada North-West Land Company (Limited), c. 1890, [front], offering farmland for sale in southern Manitoba and the Northwest Territories and town lots in Regina and Moose Jaw
Copyright/Source		   Brochure of the Canada North-West Land Company (Limited), c. 1890, [back], with text describing the Canadian northwest and land for sale in southern Manitoba
Copyright/Source
Canada North-West Land Company (Limited), c. 1890, front and back

Photo of a trainload of settlers and their effects arriving at Winnipeg from South Dakota, 1891
Copyright/Source		   Photo of Polish immigrants at Québec City, 1911
Copyright/Source
Trainload of settlers and their effects arriving at Winnipeg from South Dakota, 1891   Polish immigrants at Québec City, 1911

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Created: 2002-10-04
Updated: 2003-12-22
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