THE 1952 IMMIGRATION ACT
José-Louis Jacome, June 1st, 2020
The Act that changed the lives of thousands of Portuguese
Canada is a big country with a relatively small population. To survive and grow, it often needed to look abroad to increase its number of citizens and workers. Immigration issues have always been a main political issue. Since 1869, it has had immigration laws and regulations. In the early 1950s, in a period of economic growth, it needed, once again, to update its immigration law. Influx from the British Isles and Northern Europe was slowing, the new law broadened access to Canada to a number of countries, including Portugal. Workers were specially needed for farm, railway and construction work. Following bilateral discussions, the Immigration Act of 1952 allowed for the immigration to Canada of thousands of Portuguese citizens. The first group embarked on the Saturnia ship in Lisbon on May 8, 1953. Among the 85 Portuguese, there were 18 Azoreans.
From left to right
3rd row: Evaristo Almeida, José Botelho, José Bento, António do Couto, Constantino Carvalho, Manuel Machado, Guilherme Cabral, Jaime Barbosa.
2nd row: Armando Vieira, Afonso Maria Tavares, Enio Vasconcelos, João Martins, Manuel Arruda, Manuel Vieira.
1st row: Vasco Moreira. José Martins, Mário Ferreira da Costa, Manuel Pavão, Victorino Castro.
18 Azoreans and Inspector Mário Ferreira da Costa (centre of first row) before boarding the Saturnia. 1953
The Immigration Act of 1952 (1) was the first new immigration act since 1910. In continuity with previous laws and regulations, it largely codified existing practices and established a legislative framework. Its primary effect was to reinforce the powers of the federal cabinet and give the minister of citizenship and immigration with broad discretionary powers over admissibility and deportation.
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After massive waves of mostly European immigration to Canada between 1903 and 1913, and a series of political upheavals and economic problems that followed the First World War, a much more restrictive immigration policy was implemented. Under a revised Immigration Act in 1919, the government excluded certain groups from entering the country, including Communists.
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Restrictive immigration policies began to ease after the Second World War, partly because of a booming economic growth and the related demand for labour. From 1945 to 1961, about 2 million immigrants came to Canada mainly from the British Isles, Italy, Germany, United States, Netherlands and Poland. Other smaller groups were the French, Yugoslavian, and Ukrainian. Until 1958, British immigrant annual influx was larger than that of any other but was slowing while the number from Italy, Portugal, and Greece continued gradually to rise. Canada needed to maintain and even increase the influx. It also had to cope with an internal problem. From 1945 to 1958, some 425,000 Canadian citizens moved to the United States, also in search of a better life.
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The New Immigration Act and Regulations of 1952 replaced the often cumbersome and inconsistent system of passing frequent Orders-in-Council to adapt current policies to the provisions of the Immigration Act of 1910. It was introduced in the House of Commons in place of the old Act. The bill was carefully examined by a Special Committee of the House made up of thirty-four members, and it was proclaimed on June 1, 1953. Regulations set up under the new Act were embodied in Order-in-Council P.C., 1953, 859, passed on May 26, 1953. During the prolonged debate on the immigration bill, the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration, Mr. Walter Harris, reiterated the basic fundamentals of Liberal immigration policy that King had enunciated in May, 1947. In summary, it said that Canadian policy was to admit immigrants to the country in numbers not exceeding its absorptive capacity and without altering the fundamental character of its people, such persons as are likely to contribute to Canadian national life.
Pier 21, Halifax, Canada.
For many decades, the port of entry for hundreds of thousands of immigrants.
Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier 21
Under the provisions of the Immigration Act, the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration was given the power to limit or prohibit the entry of immigrants for any of the following reasons:
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1. nationality, citizenship, ethnic group, occupation, class or geographical area of origin;
2. peculiar customs, habits, modes of life or methods of holding property;
3. unsuitability having regard to the climatic, economic, social, industrial, educational, labour, health, or other conditions, or requirements existing, temporarily or otherwise;
4. probable inability to become readily assimilated or to assume the duties and responsibilities of Canadian citizenship within a reasonable time after their admission.
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The Minister was given extensive discretionary power, and by interpreting these clauses in various ways he could easily control the influx of immigrants into Canada regardless of the existence of regulations. These vitally important regulations contained in the Orders-in-Council provided for the entrance of the following immigrants:
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1. a person who is a British subject by birth or by naturalization in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, or the Union of South Africa, a citizen of Ireland, a citizen of France ... or a citizen of the United States of America if such a person has sufficient means to maintain himself in Canada until he has secured employment therein;
2. a person who is a citizen by birth or by naturalization of Austria, Belgium, Denmark, the Federal Republic of Germany, Finland, Greece, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden or Switzerland or who is a refugee from a country of Europe, if such person undertakes to come to Canada for placement under the auspices of the Department or, if the Department has given its approval thereto, for establishment in a business, trade, or profession or in agriculture.
3. a person who is a citizen by birth or by naturalization of Egypt, Israel, Lebanon, Turkey, or of any country of Europe or of a country of North America or South America if such person is the husband, wife, son, daughter, brother, sister, as well as the husband or wife and the unmarried children under 21 years of age of any such son, daughter, brother, or sister ... of a Canadian citizen or of a person legally admitted to Canada for permanent residence who is residing in Canada and who has applied for any such person and is in a position to receive and care for any such person; or
4. a person who is a citizen of a country other than a country referred to in paragraphs (a), (b), or (c) or in section 21, if such a person is the husband, the wife, or the unmarried child under 21 years of age, the father ... over 65 .. the mother ... over 60 •.. of a Canadian citizen residing in Canada who has applied for and is in a position to receive and care for any such person.
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References
1. Immigration Act, 1952. Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier 21.
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About the author
Born in São Miguel and living in Montreal since 1958, I published a book in 2018 about Azorean immigration to Canada in the 1950s. “De uma ilha para outra” was published in Portuguese and French. The book and an exhibition that accompanies it were presented in Montreal, São Miguel, Toronto and Boston. The book is sold in Montreal, Toronto and São Miguel, and through my Website. I continue to publish information and stories relating to the first big wave of Azorean and Portuguese immigration to Canada in the 1950s through my Website jljacome.com and my Facebook page D’une île à l’autre.