Forging Our Legacy: Canadian Citizenship and Immigration, 1900–1977

Preface

To commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of the Canadian Citizenship Act (1947), Citizenship and Immigration Canada, in conjunction with private–sector partners, commissioned this book. A survey history, it traces the evolution of Canadian citizenship and the role played by immigration in the development of Canada from the turn of the century until 1977, when the last major amendment to the Citizenship Act was made.

Canadian citizenship as we know it today was only ushered into existence in 1947, when the Canadian Citizenship Act came into force. That January, in an historic ceremony in a crowded Supreme Court chamber, 26 proud individuals received citizenship certificates under the new Act, which had been inspired by a visit made to war graves in France by Paul Martin Sr., then Secretary of State. As befits an occasion marking a prominent milestone in Canada’s constitutional development, there was both glittering pageantry and moving moments. Fifty years later, in the same location, pageantry and stirring moments would figure prominently in still another citizenship ceremony commemorating important milestones in Canada’s nationhood.

In the years leading up to 1947 and beyond, Canada’s identity has been developed and shaped, in large part, by the contributions made by successive waves of immigrants. These waves are described in this book, which also shows how immigration, along with other key events in the country’s development, contributed to the growth of Canadian nationalism and Canada’s sense of identity, both of which culminated in the Canadian Citizenship Act of 1947 and the Citizenship Act of 1977.

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