People were moving to Canada because of the free land in the west. Europeans and Americans were promised good land in exchange for a $10 land registration fee.

Promises were made to the new immigrants in Canada. They were told that the land was good and would produce great crops. This was not the case when they showed up.

The land had many problems: it was not cleared, it was covered in tree stumps, some was swamp, and others full of rocks.

The concern was that Americans would take over the land if Canada did not get citizens there first to occupy the land. The hope was to attract experienced farmers from other countries to become Canadian citizens.

Students your age would be from two different types of families: rich ones would be in school and learning math, grammar, and history. Poor ones would be at home working 14-16 hours a day farming their parents’ land trying to make ends meet.

Not everyone was welcomed to Canada. Chinese, Japanese, and East Indian people were forced to pay a $500 head tax per person which was equal to a yearly salary.

Chinese Canadians faced a difficult situation: they found it difficult to get work and were only paid $1 per day to work on the railway. That was half the wage paid to white workers.

It was a tough life being an immigrant. They were promised big things but did not receive them. The first few years were the most difficult for them. Often they would not survive the life in Canada.