The Quebec Act of 1774 was passed by Great Britain on the heels of a constitutional crisis in Massachusetts and the failure of attempts to attract English-speaking immigrants to Quebec, the French culture region they had acquired at the end of the Seven Years’ War (1756–1763).
Read the full storyIn 1931, the Canadian cabinet passed Order-in-Council P.C. 695 prohibiting almost all immigration in order to meet the growing challenges of economic depression.
Read the full storyIn the wake of the White Paper on Canadian Immigration Policy of October 1966, the Canadian government announced a new series of immigration regulations in September 1967.
Read the full storyFollowing a broad government reorganization of the immigration bureaucracy in Canada, the Immigration Appeal Board Act was passed, creating the Immigration Appeal Board.
Read the full storyAfter many years of heated debate and the shock of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, in 2002 the Canadian parliament passed the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA), replacing the Immigration Act of 1976.
Read the full storyThe Immigration Act of 1976 marked a significant shift in Canadian immigration policy in limiting the wide discretionary powers of the minister of manpower and immigration.
Read the full storyThe Immigration Act of 1952 was the first new immigration legislation since 1910.
Read the full storyIn the wake of World War I (1914–18; see World War I and immigration) and the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution in Russia, and in the midst of an economic depression, the Canadian government amended its Immigration Act of 1910 to protect against subversive activities and to limit the entry of those who might become involved in them.
Read the full storyA number of orders-in-council and regulations pursuant to the 1906 Immigration Act were further codified in the Immigration Act of 1910, which granted the cabinet wide discretionary power to regulate all areas of immigration.
Read the full storyThe capstone of Minister of the Interior Frank Oliver’s immigration policy, the Immigration Act of 1906 consolidated all Canadian immigrant legislation, thus making it easier for “the Department of Immigration to deal with undesirable immigrants.”
Read the full storySeeking to encourage economic development in the new dominion, Canada’s first piece of immigration legislation was designed to attract productive immigrants.
Read the full storyWith the dramatic decline of immigrant admissions and rise in alien deportations during World War I (1914–1918), the Canadian government tried several means of attracting agriculturalists and domestics.
Read the full storyThe Dominion Lands Act was designed to entice settlers to the western prairies of Canada by granting 160 acres of free land to anyone 21 years of age or older who paid a $10 registration fee, built a permanent residence, planted at least 30 acres of land, and lived on the land six consecutive months for three years.
Read the full storyIncorporating recommendations from the Royal Commission on Chinese Immigration (1884–85), the Chinese Immigration Act was the first Canadian legislation to formally limit immigration based on race.
Read the full storyOne of the earliest measures designed to deal with the threat of terrorism, Bill C-86 was introduced in the House of Commons on June 16, 1992, as an alteration to the Immigration Act of 1976.
Read the full storyWith the Canadian Supreme Court’s decision in Singh v. Minister of Employment and Immigration (1985) that oral hearings were required in every case for the determination of refugee status, there was an immediate need to restructure the hearing process.
Read the full storyDesigned to support the Canadian policy of preferring agriculturalists to all other immigrants, this measure made it illegal to contract and import foreign laborers.
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