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The Immigrant Years: From Europe to Canada, 1945-1967
Book by Broadfoot, Barry
255 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1986
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About the author
Barry Broadfoot
20 books10 followersBarry Broadfoot was an interviewer and history writer.
His historical research consisted of interviewing various Canadians from all over the country about their memories of their lives during specific historical periods such as the Great Depression and World War II.
In 1997, Broadfoot was made a Member of the Order of Canada, Canada's highest civilian honour.
His historical research consisted of interviewing various Canadians from all over the country about their memories of their lives during specific historical periods such as the Great Depression and World War II.
In 1997, Broadfoot was made a Member of the Order of Canada, Canada's highest civilian honour.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
May 15, 2025
"After the Second World War, Canadians were smug and affluent. Insular as always, the majority scorned immigrants. In fact, a 1946 Gallup poll showed that 45% did not want even the British, and 61% were against any immigration from Europe. However, the Canadian government knew that fresh blood was needed to keep the economy fuelled and moving forward. So between 1945-1967, about 3 million people from Europe came to Canada. Of these, about one million..came from Britain".
This is an oral history book by the famous Barry Broadfoot, and it was the best Canadian history book I have ever read.
The book is divided into the following chapters:
1. Freedom and a New Life
2. We Were War Brides
3. Nobody Told Us What It Would Be Like
4. Another Land, Another Language
5. Got to Get a Job
6. Exploitation and Discrimination
7. We Never Had It So Good
8. Becoming Canadians
At the beginning of each chapter is a very brief (half a page at the most) summary of each chapter. They often include relevant statistics. After that, Broadfoot simply vanishes and what you have is a collection of stories related to the theme of the chapter told in the words of the people who he interviewed, and only their words. There is no further editorialising or distraction, it is simply the verbatim account of immigrants telling their story. Each story is between half a page to 3 pages maximum.
Some of the stories made me smile and showed how good people can be. My great-grandfather used to tell me that he knew he made the right choice to come to Canada because the people treated our family kindly and showered them with more food than he had ever seen in his life and he knew they would never be hungry again. It was heart-warming (and a bit spooky, honestly) to read the stories of other immigrants and how similar their experiences were to my great-grandfathers. The phrase "we would never be hungry again" came up many times and it really impressed upon me how much that would have meant to him and to everyone who came here.
Other stories made me cry and showed how nasty and horrible people can be to immigrants-particularly the ones who did not speak English. I am glad these stories were included in this book, Too often Canadians like to maple-wash our history. We tell ourselves we are a benign nation of good-hearted people who welcome everyone and treat everyone like they are family. Of course, this is simply not true. There's plenty people here who are hateful and unwelcoming, who take advantage of people new to Canada. Not everyone who immigrates has the experience my family did, and it was quite eye-opening to read what happened to some of these people when they came here.
This book also does a good job demonstrating the complexities of adjusting to life in Canada and the choices people make: Some felt strongly they wanted to cling to their language and pass it on to their children, and others felt equally strong that they are Canadians, and Canadians speak English (or French...but the complexities of THAT are for another time) and so insisted this be the common tongue at home. Some people felt homesick and took "the $1000 cure": Purchasing a plane ticket to their native country. For some people, this was enough to make them realise they loved Canada. Others simply stayed and never went back to their Canadian families. (One woman from Liverpool actually left her husband in Quebec and moved back to Liverpool-only to marry some other Canadian the following year and then move to BC!). Some did not mind doing brutal, physically demanding labour to earn enough to send for their families; others felt angry that they were professionals of some kind in their old country and felt entitled to a similar or better job in Canada.
What all of this demonstrated to me is there is no singular way to handle the experience of immigration, because immigration is very particular and specific to the individual immigrant. You can have 2 people from the same country who choose to "Canadianize" to different degrees or in different ways and their experiences could be eerily similar or strikingly different depending on how they do it.
In short, it was a beautiful and multi-faceted collection of stories that shows the full spectrum of humanity as it relates to immigration; why people move away and how they are treated in their new world.
This is an oral history book by the famous Barry Broadfoot, and it was the best Canadian history book I have ever read.
The book is divided into the following chapters:
1. Freedom and a New Life
2. We Were War Brides
3. Nobody Told Us What It Would Be Like
4. Another Land, Another Language
5. Got to Get a Job
6. Exploitation and Discrimination
7. We Never Had It So Good
8. Becoming Canadians
At the beginning of each chapter is a very brief (half a page at the most) summary of each chapter. They often include relevant statistics. After that, Broadfoot simply vanishes and what you have is a collection of stories related to the theme of the chapter told in the words of the people who he interviewed, and only their words. There is no further editorialising or distraction, it is simply the verbatim account of immigrants telling their story. Each story is between half a page to 3 pages maximum.
Some of the stories made me smile and showed how good people can be. My great-grandfather used to tell me that he knew he made the right choice to come to Canada because the people treated our family kindly and showered them with more food than he had ever seen in his life and he knew they would never be hungry again. It was heart-warming (and a bit spooky, honestly) to read the stories of other immigrants and how similar their experiences were to my great-grandfathers. The phrase "we would never be hungry again" came up many times and it really impressed upon me how much that would have meant to him and to everyone who came here.
Other stories made me cry and showed how nasty and horrible people can be to immigrants-particularly the ones who did not speak English. I am glad these stories were included in this book, Too often Canadians like to maple-wash our history. We tell ourselves we are a benign nation of good-hearted people who welcome everyone and treat everyone like they are family. Of course, this is simply not true. There's plenty people here who are hateful and unwelcoming, who take advantage of people new to Canada. Not everyone who immigrates has the experience my family did, and it was quite eye-opening to read what happened to some of these people when they came here.
This book also does a good job demonstrating the complexities of adjusting to life in Canada and the choices people make: Some felt strongly they wanted to cling to their language and pass it on to their children, and others felt equally strong that they are Canadians, and Canadians speak English (or French...but the complexities of THAT are for another time) and so insisted this be the common tongue at home. Some people felt homesick and took "the $1000 cure": Purchasing a plane ticket to their native country. For some people, this was enough to make them realise they loved Canada. Others simply stayed and never went back to their Canadian families. (One woman from Liverpool actually left her husband in Quebec and moved back to Liverpool-only to marry some other Canadian the following year and then move to BC!). Some did not mind doing brutal, physically demanding labour to earn enough to send for their families; others felt angry that they were professionals of some kind in their old country and felt entitled to a similar or better job in Canada.
What all of this demonstrated to me is there is no singular way to handle the experience of immigration, because immigration is very particular and specific to the individual immigrant. You can have 2 people from the same country who choose to "Canadianize" to different degrees or in different ways and their experiences could be eerily similar or strikingly different depending on how they do it.
In short, it was a beautiful and multi-faceted collection of stories that shows the full spectrum of humanity as it relates to immigration; why people move away and how they are treated in their new world.
April 1, 2025
My biggest take away from this book is, I can’t believe how much industry there was in Canada after the war. Clothing factories, textiles, etc…
That and just as it is now, only the newcomers are willing to do the lower end jobs like at the Tim Hortons now
That and just as it is now, only the newcomers are willing to do the lower end jobs like at the Tim Hortons now
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews