So in researching Italian immigration to Canada, the very first thing I find is that John Cabot was Italian! That was never mentioned in history class. I remember him being English. Now, it it true that he sailed under the English flag, but his real name was Giovanni Caboto from Venice. Kind of an import fact I think. So, he was that first Italian in Canada in 1497. I’ll get to the migration, but first a bit on Giovanni.
John Cabot, Italian Giovanni Caboto, (born c. 1450, Genoa? [Italy]—died c. 1499), navigator and explorer who by his voyages in 1497 and 1498 helped lay the groundwork for the later British claim to Canada. The exact details of his life and of his voyages are still subjects of controversy among historians and cartographers.
Cabot moved to Venice in 1461, or possibly earlier, and became a citizen of that city in 1476. While employed by a Venetian mercantile firm, he traveled to the eastern shores of the Mediterranean and visited Mecca, a great trading centre where Oriental and Western goods were exchanged. He became skilled in navigational techniques and seems to have envisaged, independently of Christopher Columbus, the possibility of reaching Asia by sailing westward.
Cabot’s whereabouts and activities from the mid-1480s to the mid-1490s are in doubt, but it is believed that he moved with his family to England and had taken up residence in Bristol by the end of 1495. On March 5, 1496, King Henry VII of England issued letters patent to Cabot and his sons, authorizing them to voyage in search of unknown lands, to return their merchandise by the port of Bristol, and to enjoy a monopoly of any trade they might establish there. The news of Columbus’ recent discoveries on behalf of Spain was a spur to English action and secured some support for Cabot from Bristol merchants.
In 1496 Cabot made a voyage from Bristol with one ship, but he was forced to turn back because of a shortage of food, inclement weather, and disputes with his crew. In May 1497, however, he set sail from Bristol in the small ship Matthew, with a crew of 18 men. He proceeded around Ireland and then north and west, making landfall on the morning of June 24. The exact landing place has never been definitely established: it has been variously believed to be in southern Labrador, Newfoundland, or Cape Breton Island. On going ashore, he noticed signs indicating that the area was inhabited but saw no people. Taking possession of the land for the English king, he unfurled both the English and Venetian flags. He conducted explorations from the ship along the coastline, naming various features Cape Discovery, Island of St. John, St. George’s Cape, the Trinity Islands, and England’s Cape. These may be, respectively, the present Cape North, St. Paul Island, Cape Ray, St. Pierre and Miquelon, and Cape Race, all in the area of Cabot Strait.
In the mistaken belief that he had reached the northeast coast of Asia, Cabot returned to Bristol on August 6, 1497. He reported that the land was excellent, the climate temperate, and the sea covered with enough fish to end England’s dependence on Iceland’s fish. In the midst of an enthusiastic welcome, he announced his plans to return to his landing place and from there sail westward until he came to Japan, the reputed source of spices and gems. On February 3, 1498, he received new letters patent for a second expedition. Cabot’s second expedition probably consisted of five ships and about 200 men. Soon after setting out in 1498, one ship was damaged and sought anchorage in Ireland, suggesting that the fleet had been hit by a severe storm. By 1499 Cabot had been given up for dead.
The effect of Cabot’s efforts was to demonstrate the viability of a short route across the North Atlantic. This would later prove important in the establishment of British colonies in North America.
This article was most recently revised and updated by Adam Augustyn, Managing Editor.
Italian citizens immigrated to Canada en masse in the 19th century seeking economic and social opportunities beyond what was available in their native country. Although Italians did move to Canada in smaller numbers before the 19th century, they mainly did so accidentally as either captives or as a result of being driven ashore en route to the United States by storms and natural events.
In the nineteenth century, however, Italians began to migrate to Canada in search of economic prosperity and social freedom. At first, many sought work as physical laborers in fields such as mining and the coal industry.
By the early 1900s, there was a well-established community of Italian immigrants living in Canada. They congregated primarily in the cities of Montreal and Toronto and formed communities in the surrounding suburbs.
A large number of the earliest Italian migrants were successful in achieving a better socioeconomic status and encouraged family and friends to join them. Eventually, the number of Italian migrants outnumbered the quantity of jobs available in the fields of mining and physical labor, and although there was a period of general misfortune among Italian migrants, newcomers quickly found work opportunities in other areas, including music and the food industry.
Some Italians went to Canada awaiting visas to join families already in America. Such was the case with my Uncle. Visit my blog on this topic. Italian Immigration to Canada. Some great home movies from the 1940’s.
1880 – 1914 First Large Wave
During the mass migration beginning in the 1880s and continuing up to the Great War that saw millions of Italians emigrate to South America and the United States, a small but significant migration pattern entered Canada. Despite the Canadian governments preference for immigrants from northern Europe to settle and farm the Prairies, Italian workers still could be found all over Canada doing backbreaking seasonal work. Labour recruitment programs established by such major Canadian companies as Canadian Pacific Railway, Canadian National Railway and Dominion Coal Company brought workers in as almost chattel labour to work on railway construction, clearing bush in Canada’s hinterland or engaging in other forms of manual labour. Between the years 1901 and 1911 almost 2 million Italians arrived in the United Sates as compared to a the only 60,000 who came to Canada. In the minds of Italian migrants at the time the boundary between the two countries was irrelevant and many more may have just crossed into Canada following work opportunities and kinship chains. They were going to fare l’America to make a better life for themselves and their families.
1910 – 1924 Establishment of Neighborhoods
“The Ward” in Toronto’s downtown develops a small community as seasonal workers in Ontario’s hinterland settle in the city during the winter.
At first, settlements of Italians in Canadian cities tended to be predominantly male seasonal workers who returned to the cities after working to clear brush, set rails, or mine. Gradually as Toronto and other cities addressed the need for the urban infrastructure of sewers and trolley lines Toronto’s Italian population grew and settled more permanently.
By 1910 sojourners were settlers working as stonemasons, tailors, bricklayers, and cobblers. Toronto contained several neighbourhoods known as “Little Italies” during this early period. The most important were first, the area around College and Grace Streets, second, Davenport Avenue and Dufferin Street and third, the Ward in the downtown bounded in the south by Queen Street (see map) where today Toronto’s city hall and the hospitals on University Avenue are located.
1924 – 1947 Inter War Years
1924 Italy restricts emigration. Canada restricts immigration. During the 1920s and 1930s immigration restrictions and regulations encouraged by racialist and xenophobic notions in Canadian public opinion and politics limited South European, hence Italian immigration. At the same time, fascist government policy in Italy viewed continuing, large-scale emigration as a national embarrassment. The Italian authorities enacted laws in 1924 and 1929 to impede Italian emigration. These legal changes and effects of the depression halted Italian immigration to Canada until after the Second World War. The British and Canadian press, governments and much of public opinion looked favourably upon Mussolini’s regime at first. While opposition to the Mussolini regime existed among some of Canada’s Italian population, others joined in patriotic events, clubs and associations, since it appeared that Mussolini might bring stability and prosperity to Italy as well as international recognition and respect. But, Mussolini’s aggression in Ethiopia in 1935 and other bellicose actions, turned public opinion in Britain, Canada and the United States. Italian Canadians themselves debated whether they could be both Canadians and Fascists.
1951 – 1961 Mass Wave
1951-1961 new Italian immigrants enter Canada in record numbers to help fuel Canada’s postwar economic boom. After 1945 when Canada’s heavy industry, construction and manufacturing sectors required labour, Canadian authorities continued the traditional racialist preference for northern European immigrants to meet the country’s demands. But, it soon became evident that southern Europeans were more likely to wish to emigrate to Canada. Old chain migration networks to Canada reopened and new ones began. Many Italian immigrants in Toronto began work as labourers or artisans in the expanding construction industry
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