Immigration Promotion and Recruitment in 1889

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 from moving to the U.S. territories that were competing for new settlers. He also provides a frank account of the conditions south of the border; whether they were as dire as he describes or whether this is part and parcel of his efforts to dissuade settlers from choosing the U.S. over Canada is not known.

The report does show that “colonization” of the Canadian west implied recruiting settlers from both within Canada and abroad.

You can read more here, including the handwritten report and a typed transcription: