C
Chicken Man
Guest
Please Help!!!
Why did Italian immigrants move to Canada post-WWII??
Thanks Alot
Why did Italian immigrants move to Canada post-WWII??
Thanks Alot
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B
bearstirringfromcave
Guest
Why does anyone emigrate? Opportunities. After World War Two much of Italy was in ruins - - - for many professionals there were no jobs and the future looked bleak. Canada seemed like a good option a nation unravished by war and more than willing to let them in.
Instead of my word vomit here are links and snippets.
Note 26 Italian Women were 'War Bridges' they came to Canada for the 'bacon.'
http://www.canadianwarbrides.com/lavignea1.asp
http://www.albertasource.ca/abitalian/background/can_ww2.html
""The Second World War precipitated emigration to Canada from most European countries and certainly from Italy. While reconstruction began, there were insufficient jobs in both urban and rural communities. For one civil service or teaching job there might be up to 10,000 candidates who sat exams. Thus, emigration did not come just from the pool of unskilled labour but also from educated people who felt that their talents and skills were not appreciated in the homeland. Within Europe, France, Germany and Switzerland were favoured but other emigrants chose to go further afield to Canada, the US, Australia and South America. The Italian government was active in facilitating this immigration. In 1947, Canada removed the "enemy alien" designation and an embassy was opened in Rome in 1948. Stan Carbone quotes the following confidential dispatch from the Rome Embassy to Ottawa:
Surplus population is the fundamental Italian economic and social problem. . . . Overpopulation means extreme poverty for a great many Italian people, with a consequent large recruiting ground for the Communist Party. The unemployed in November, 1948 numbered almost two million. . . Any increase in emigration to Canada would be of practical help to Italy in tackling her gravest problem. It would also be a small but distinctly Canadian contribution to strengthening the present democratic 'Western' government and in making less likely its replacement by Communists or by extremists of the right. ¹
This is a fascinating shift in the rationale for promoting immigration to Canada: from the need for workers to the consolidation of the western alliance in the fight against the Communist threat that was going to signal the start of the Cold War. Whatever the motivation, this spurred the coming to Canada of a large number of emigrants who moved beyond the traditional resource-based communities to reside across the country. Census figures suggest that there were 150,000 Italian-Canadians in 1951 and this jumped to 450,000 in 1961 and 747,970 in 1981. Franc Sturino notes: "In 1981, 65% of Italian Canadians lived in Ontario, 22% in Quebec and 7% in BC. About 95% of Italian Canadians live in towns and cities. The most significant concentrations are in Toronto, where in 1981 Italian Canadians numbered 297,205 (10% of the population), and in Montreal, where they numbered 156,535 or almost 6% of the population." ² He, further, notes that the following Canadian cities had over 10,000 Italian-Canadians: Hamilton, Vancouver, St. Catherines, Windsor, Ottawa, Sault St. Marie, Calgary and Edmonton
They worked on the railways, road construction, mines and factories but also went directly to cities and moved into retail. While notions of "Italianità" had been around for a century, in the 1960s, this took on a particular flavour that showcased Italian culture, life style and products. Joint projects between Hollywood and the Italian film industry made available a series of Italian films that exposed North Americans to Italian ways of doing things with humour and charm. Tourism to Italy further exposed visitors to Italian products including wines and cheeses. This created a niche for Italian grocers and wholesalers. As well, Italian vice-consuls and consuls were able in the area of trade and helped to promote Italian products. The result of this was not only the assimilation of a large number of workers and their families through the facilitation of family reunification immigration but also the coming to prominence of Italian culture as expressed through the range of goods, both luxury goods and foodstuffs.
While Italian immigrants prospered in Canada, by the late 1960s, reconstruction of the Italian economy had been sufficiently successful to virtually end the flow of immigrants to Canada. In fact, some reverse migration began to happen through retirement. In terms of oral histories done with immigrants who came to Canada post-1950, the question frequently arises of whether they would have done better by remaining. In terms of the Italian economy, the monies sent back by immigrants to family members was sufficiently important that when it began to decline, the Italian government convened a series of immigration conferences to explore the relationship with Italiani a l'estero [Italians Abroad]. While these immigrants and their children, might no longer be contributing dollars to the Italian economy, with the establishment and entrenchment of the European Economic Market, the reclamation of Italian citizenship by Italians abroad could give the Italian government a population boost that could give it greater clout within Europe. Those of us who have been involved in this process have pondered on the significance of this rapprochement between the Italian government and immigrant communities and there is a range of opinion as to its significance.""
Peace//////////////////\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\
Instead of my word vomit here are links and snippets.
Note 26 Italian Women were 'War Bridges' they came to Canada for the 'bacon.'
http://www.canadianwarbrides.com/lavignea1.asp
http://www.albertasource.ca/abitalian/background/can_ww2.html
""The Second World War precipitated emigration to Canada from most European countries and certainly from Italy. While reconstruction began, there were insufficient jobs in both urban and rural communities. For one civil service or teaching job there might be up to 10,000 candidates who sat exams. Thus, emigration did not come just from the pool of unskilled labour but also from educated people who felt that their talents and skills were not appreciated in the homeland. Within Europe, France, Germany and Switzerland were favoured but other emigrants chose to go further afield to Canada, the US, Australia and South America. The Italian government was active in facilitating this immigration. In 1947, Canada removed the "enemy alien" designation and an embassy was opened in Rome in 1948. Stan Carbone quotes the following confidential dispatch from the Rome Embassy to Ottawa:
Surplus population is the fundamental Italian economic and social problem. . . . Overpopulation means extreme poverty for a great many Italian people, with a consequent large recruiting ground for the Communist Party. The unemployed in November, 1948 numbered almost two million. . . Any increase in emigration to Canada would be of practical help to Italy in tackling her gravest problem. It would also be a small but distinctly Canadian contribution to strengthening the present democratic 'Western' government and in making less likely its replacement by Communists or by extremists of the right. ¹
This is a fascinating shift in the rationale for promoting immigration to Canada: from the need for workers to the consolidation of the western alliance in the fight against the Communist threat that was going to signal the start of the Cold War. Whatever the motivation, this spurred the coming to Canada of a large number of emigrants who moved beyond the traditional resource-based communities to reside across the country. Census figures suggest that there were 150,000 Italian-Canadians in 1951 and this jumped to 450,000 in 1961 and 747,970 in 1981. Franc Sturino notes: "In 1981, 65% of Italian Canadians lived in Ontario, 22% in Quebec and 7% in BC. About 95% of Italian Canadians live in towns and cities. The most significant concentrations are in Toronto, where in 1981 Italian Canadians numbered 297,205 (10% of the population), and in Montreal, where they numbered 156,535 or almost 6% of the population." ² He, further, notes that the following Canadian cities had over 10,000 Italian-Canadians: Hamilton, Vancouver, St. Catherines, Windsor, Ottawa, Sault St. Marie, Calgary and Edmonton
They worked on the railways, road construction, mines and factories but also went directly to cities and moved into retail. While notions of "Italianità" had been around for a century, in the 1960s, this took on a particular flavour that showcased Italian culture, life style and products. Joint projects between Hollywood and the Italian film industry made available a series of Italian films that exposed North Americans to Italian ways of doing things with humour and charm. Tourism to Italy further exposed visitors to Italian products including wines and cheeses. This created a niche for Italian grocers and wholesalers. As well, Italian vice-consuls and consuls were able in the area of trade and helped to promote Italian products. The result of this was not only the assimilation of a large number of workers and their families through the facilitation of family reunification immigration but also the coming to prominence of Italian culture as expressed through the range of goods, both luxury goods and foodstuffs.
While Italian immigrants prospered in Canada, by the late 1960s, reconstruction of the Italian economy had been sufficiently successful to virtually end the flow of immigrants to Canada. In fact, some reverse migration began to happen through retirement. In terms of oral histories done with immigrants who came to Canada post-1950, the question frequently arises of whether they would have done better by remaining. In terms of the Italian economy, the monies sent back by immigrants to family members was sufficiently important that when it began to decline, the Italian government convened a series of immigration conferences to explore the relationship with Italiani a l'estero [Italians Abroad]. While these immigrants and their children, might no longer be contributing dollars to the Italian economy, with the establishment and entrenchment of the European Economic Market, the reclamation of Italian citizenship by Italians abroad could give the Italian government a population boost that could give it greater clout within Europe. Those of us who have been involved in this process have pondered on the significance of this rapprochement between the Italian government and immigrant communities and there is a range of opinion as to its significance.""
Peace//////////////////\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\
I
isnackonbabies
Guest
Because alot of Italy resembled a parking lot after WWII.