“[W]e have the satisfaction of knowing that a very large increase of the better class of foreign immigrants have found their way to our Province and Territories, than in any previous year, the Germans alone outnumbering the total arrivals from Great Britain, while a large influx of Swedes, Norwegians, Danes, Belgians and other foreigners have…
The CIHS provides some thoughts that speak to the role and contributions of women to Canada’s immigration history.
In this video, CIHS member and former president Mike Molloy provides a short summary of the inspiration behind the Hearts of Freedom project and the subsequent book, Hearts of Freedom: Stories of Southeast Asian Refugees.
Ottawa artist An Nguyen has created an artwork entitled “Hearts of Freedom – A Tribute to Ottawa’s Project 4000″
Dr. Stephanie Stobbe provides an account of recent Hearts of Freedom promotion activites in Bangkok, Thailand.
The following article appeared in Bulletin 83 (December 2017). Elvire Westley and her sister, Jacqueline, both worked at the Canadian embassy in Paris following the end of hostilities in 1945. Ms. Westley also kindly provided a collection of photos that can be viewed on our site. The Canadian Immigration Museum at Pier 21 has also…
In this issue of the CIHS Bulletin: • An account of the Society’s most recent annual general meeting and dinner, which was held on 23 October 2025 and featured a discussion by Peter Duschinsky and Mike Malloy – two of the authors of Hearts of Freedom • An examination of the measures that were taken…
In 1956, James “Joe” Bissett was one of the first recipients of a Master of Arts in Public Administration from Carleton University. CIHS member Doug Dunnington recently located this video of Carleton University’s 2024 interview with Joe, who is a CIHS member emeritus. Carleton has established the Bissett Alumni Award for Distinctive Contributions to the…
The Vietnamese Boat People Museum, a project aimed at commemorating the experiences of over 1.5 million refugees who fled Vietnam following the fall of Saigon in 1975, is holding a gala fundraising banquet on Saturday, March 28, 2026. The invitation is extended to all and there is a particular hope that former immigration officers who…
Born in Nova Scotia in 1926, James Calbert (Cal) Best was Canada’s first Black assistant deputy minister at the federal level. Mr. Best spent several years at Manpower and Immigration and its successor, Employment and Immigration. As assistant deputy minister from 1978 to 1985, he played a key role in the major initiative to resettle…
Susan Gregson confirms that it was she, as a young visa officer in Beijing, who issued this Canadian visitor visa (or “CVV” as we called them) back in the summer of 1986, just before being cross-posted to Rome. Coincidentally, the CIHS is celebrating its 40th anniversary in 2026! In February of 1986, the seventeen original…
We have added a number of statistical documents to our site. Two publications – one simply titled “Immigration Statistics” and the other “Facts and Figures” were issued annually between 1966 and 2011. They offer insight into the changing demographic of immigrants to Canada, particularly following the adoption of the points system or significant world events…
In his annual report for 1889, the Special Agent on Manitoba and North West Colonization, Mr. W. Webster, provides an account of his activities over the course of the year. He details the significant efforts he has made to entice farmers already in Ontario to move to the recently opened Canadian west while discouraging them…
We have posted a revised and more complete chronology of developments leading up to and following the start of the movement of Southeast Asian refugees to Canada.
“The Western Reserve is much larger, contains a great many more young men who are also more enlightened, numbers of them knowing the English language thoroughly. These wish to spread out and unless good inducements are held out to retain them on this side of the boundary line, they may do a great deal of…
We have updated the page containing photo albums from the southeast Asian refugee resettlement program of the late 1970s and early 1980s to make them easier to view. Anyone who has photos that they feel will be of interest to CIHS members, from any period of Canada’s immigration history, is encouraged to let us know. We will…
In 1986, the people of Canada were the recipients of a prestigious award for their work on behalf of refugees. The Nansen Refugee Award, first presented in 1954, is named after Fridtjof Nansen, who was the first High Commissioner for Refugees at the League of Nations. He led the development of a travel document for…
“Some who came out during the past summer have already sent remittances to their relatives and friends in the Mother Country to assist in their Emigration to Canada during the coming year. This alone is sufficient to shew the improved condition of the industrious and frugal Immigrants who comes to this country. It acts as…
We want to hear from you!
Our partner, The Canadian Museum of Immigration History at Pier 21, has graciously allowed us to link to their integrated timeline of Indigenous and immigration history in Canada. The timeline provides an interactive journey through Canada’s rich immigration history, beginning with the first arrival of humans on the North American continent some 40,000 years ago, through to…