2 Historical Overview

OverviewCanada is a prime example of migration.From the first European settlers in the 16th and 17th centuries to the mass-immigration waves after the Confederation in 1867 (Troper 2018), Canada established as a multi-ethnic nation (Simmons 2010: 2).While immigration closed down during both Great Wars and the 1930s depression, a high level of immigration regained its strength after World War II.Since the late 1980s, most immigrants are coming from Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Caribbean (Troper 2018).The earliest Jamaicans to arrive in Canada were small numbers of West Indian slaves imported into Nova Scotia and New France.The Maroons of Jamaica were the first large group to enter British North America in 1796.These runaway slaves, who occasionally raided plantations and revolted against the British colonial regime, e.g., by freeing other slaves or occupying the island's interior areas, soon created self-reliant communities (Zips 2011).Two wars with the Maroons, the second in 1795, made the British realize they could not win nor control these 'rebels' on the island.After several unsuccessful attempts to enslave the Maroons, the British governor signed a peace treaty with them and deported some into exile to Halifax (Labelle et al. 2019).However, due to their rebellious spirit and complaints about the Canadian climate, they soon voyaged onwards to Sierra Leone in 1800.Apart from the Maroons, no other early contacts between people from the West Indies and Canada were reported at that time.From 1800 until 1920 only a few Jamaicans, most of them men, came and worked as labourers in the Sydney and Cape Breton mines.This ended suddenly with the change of immigration laws set by the Canadian government (ibid.).The new policy refused to allow non-whites into the country (Sherlock/Bennett 1998).As a result, immigration from Jamaica and other Caribbean countries halted.After World War II, Canada had a great need for cheap labourers, which resulted in the National Act of 1948 (Walker 2013).Many overseas workers from the British Commonwealth colonies, including Jamaicans, came to Canada to seek a better economic life.By 1960, Canada introduced its 'point system' under which each applicant was awarded points for their language, job and educational skills (Troper 2018).During this time, 21,500 immigrants from the Caribbean of which 33 percent were categorized under the 'ethnic origin' Black were granted a landed

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