Scottish Immigrants in Canada

Scotland is a country in the United Kingdom which is in Europe, it has a population of 5.295 million. When a National Household Survey was held in 2011 in Canada, “a total of 4,714,970 Canadians, or 14.1% of the population, listed themselves as Scottish”. (J.M. Bumsted, 2015, para. 2, Scottish Canadians) They are also one of the earliest Europeans to authorize themselves in Canada, and the third ethnic group in the country. Though the Scots have always regarded themselves as a separate group, they are often called Anglo-Canadians. The Scots have immigrated to Canada in balanced numbers for the past 200 years. The connection between Scotland and Canada has been growing larger to the 17th century.

In 1622 Sir William Alexander received permission to authorize a Scottish settlement in the name of Nova Scotia or New Scotland. The colony didn’t thrive, yet some of the families managed to settle into Canada previous to the British conquest which happened in 1759. Many of the early settlers disbanded soldiers, merchants, fur traders to the Hudson’s Bay Company. Some were also Highland farmers who had emigrated from Scotland, later being ejected from their land. The first places for these early settlers were in Upper Canada in agricultural communities, Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia. And there was a significant Scottish population in Cape Breton Island, as the only language spoken there was Gaelic. In 1783 Scottish Loyalists from the United States came to Canada and settled mostly in Glengarry, Upper Canada, and Nova Scotia. In 1812, the Red River Colony was founded on the banks of the Red and Assiniboine Rivers, in what is now Manitoba. Many of the settlers came from Scotland. When landlords brought in new farming practices, many people living in Scotland had been forced off the farms where they lived. In Canada, life was difficult, locusts repeatedly ate their crops and rivers often flooded.

By 1815, 15000 Scots had already come to Canada, and by 1870 over 170,000 Scots had immigrated here with growing numbers settling in Ontario and Quebec, especially in Lanark County. The Scots are a stretched out group including Lowlanders and Highlanders, teachers, farmers, clergymen, merchants, and servants. Many were English speaking and Presbyterian. By 1930, 1 million Scots had come to Canada. Meanwhile in Canada, cities and burgeoning manufacturing got the Scottish immigrants attracted. “Still, many made their way to the last great agricultural frontier in Western Canada. The flow of people from Scotland to Canada continued unabated, however. From 1871 to 1901, 80,000 Scots entered Canada seeking a better future, 240,000 arrived in the first years of the 20th century, 200,000 more between 1919 and 1930 and another 147,000 between 1946 and 1960”.(J.M. Bumsted, 2015, para. 9, Scottish Canadians) Today, there are almost 4 million people who follow the Scottish heritage. Anyways, the ways the Scots have contributed to Canada is by working as businessmen, explorers, educators, writers, and artists. The Scots have also worked as politicians, and did you know the first prime minister of Canada was a Scottish descendant. George Brown was also a very famous person and was regarded as Canada’s best Scottish person. He was the first person to publish Canada’s first newspaper. And he is yet called the Father of Confederation. Another Scot who has helped Canada is John McDonald who we can never forget. Not only did the Scots stay in the region, but they have also enlarged the boundaries of Canada. Scotsmen did not only fund and as well finance the system in Canada but are with those who have been maintaining it for centuries. James Douglas was the person who Canada simply owes its presence to for the current working railway system in Canada. In total there have been 23 prime ministers of Canada and 14 of them were Scottish descendants.

Scots have still in Canada followed the traditions they did in Scotland, and they yet eat the same food as well. A few traditions they had and still do are clans, tartans, curling, and Highland dancing. Since 1819, the Highland Games are held in various Scottish communities in Canada. This tradition, where sports competition, dance, and music come together, now forms an integral part of Canadian culture. In Montréal, the St. Andrew Society organizes annual balls, dinners and public lectures to celebrate the Scottish heritage of the city.