Historic census data

[kwoldtimer]

Originally Posted by Capsicum

Was "fresh off the boat" to describe recent immigrants, ever an expression used at the time that most immigrants came by boat, not plane?

Most usages of "fresh off the boat" I've seen in popular culture make it seem like it's describing a generation of people too young to have been the ones who arrived by boat.

I don't know when it originated, but I suspect it goes back to the 19th century, if not earlier.

[someone123]

Originally Posted by CanadianCentaur

My parents first immigrated to Canada in 1968 by ship, and did so via Pier 21. And you're right it wasn't as well known as a landing point for transatlantic immigration into Canada. Didn't most go through Montreal or something? After all it was Canada's largest city until the mid-70s.

Montreal is a significantly longer transatlantic crossing by ship than Halifax. Montreal is also not ice-free whereas Halifax is. Year-round shipping in Montreal began in the 1960's.

[Docere]

East Windsor (formerly Ford City), a company town that was soon merged into Windsor, had a lot of Slavic immigrants.

East Windsor, 1931:

British Isles 4,980 34.9%
French 3,989 28%
Ukrainian 800 5.6%
Romanian 730 5.1%
Polish 688 4.8%
Czech and Slovak 435 3.1%
Yugoslav 401 2.8%

[Docere]

Some BC mining towns with sizable Italian communities, 1931.

Trail 1,280 16.9%
Fernie 511 18.7%
Revelstoke 363 13.3%

[Docere]

A few more before I start bringing in some 19th century census data

Employment in agriculture, 1931

Saskatchewan 60%
Alberta 51%
Manitoba 35%
New Brunswick 33%
Nova Scotia 24%
Ontario 23%
Quebec 22%
BC 14%

(Forgot to get PEI!)

[Docere]

Here's the UScities with the largest continental European-born population in 1930, for comparison:

New York 1,846,348 26.6%
Chicago 705,825 20.9%
Philadelphia 270,236 13.9%
Detroit 231,090 14.7%
Cleveland 194,363 21.6%
Boston 108,623 13.9%
Los Angeles 102,396 8.3%
Milwaukee 102,126 17.7%
San Francisco 101,071 15.9%
Newark 97,354 22%
Pittsburgh 84,398 12.6%
Buffalo 81,330 14.2%
St. Louis 68,828 8.4%
Minneapolis 68,412 14.7%
Baltimore 64,720 8%
Jersey City 52,703 16.6%
Rochester 52,585 16%
Seattle 41,293 11.3%
St. Paul 35,813 13.2%
Providence 34,778 13.7%
Paterson 33,873 24.5%
Portland 31,300 10.4%
Bridgeport 31,089 21.2%
Oakland 30,244 10.6%
New Haven 30,135 18.5%

So Toronto and Montreal had a similar percentage as Baltimore and St. Louis, second tier European immigrant centers. Winnipeg had an especially high percentage.

Though if "Toronto the Good" was compared to British and Australian cities, it would be the most diverse by far.

[Docere]

1951 is the first year in which census tracts were used.

Looking at Toronto.

The Jewish community is still mostly concentrated in the Kensington Market/College/Harbord area. Two census tracts between College and Harbord were majority-Jewish. But the community was rapidly becoming more prosperous and moving northward past St. Clair, especially into Forest Hill and Cedarvale. Forest Hill Village was 40% Jewish, at the time the most Jewish municipality in Canada. The new area contained one census tract that was 72% Jewish. Smaller concentrations in the Annex and St. Clair West areas.

The city's two "little Italies", established in the early 20th century, are at College-Grace and Dufferin-Davenport. There are also some Italians in the Junction and Dufferin-Eglinton areas. The northwest migration path the postwar community followed was already in place.

The old Ward around City Hall was the city's Chinatown (30% Asian).

Poles and Ukrainians were concentrated in the Bathurst-Queen area.

https://archive.org/details/19519819...e/n13/mode/2up

[ShavedParmesanCheese]

Kensington Market was just called the Jewish Market at the time, actually

[Docere]

It was. The area from roughly Dundas to Bloor, McCaul to Grace was mostly Jewish. People often worked in the garment factories on Spadina, shopped in the Jewish Market and attended the area's many shuls. Harbord Collegiate was at its peak something like 90% Jewish. Clinton Street Public School was also majority-Jewish (as high as 70% some years):

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news...ticle35883552/

[Docere]

Montreal:

Anglos are mostly around west downtown and Golden Square Mile, Westmount, NDG and Town of Mount Royal.

Heart of the Jewish community is in Mile End and Outremont (Outremont has 11,500 Jews or 38% of the population - second highest share of any Canadian municipality). There's also movement into the new areas of Snowdon (8,000 Jews or 40% of the population) and Cote de Nieges. Smaller numbers in Westmount and NDG, and starting to move into Hampstead, Cote St. Luc is still basically farmland.

Main Italian concentration around Jean Talon Little Italy, two CTs are about 25% Italian. Some smaller concentrations in the SW (around Griffintown/Little Burgundy I think).

Montreal's "Chinatown" is around Ste. Catherine and Bleury (10% Asian).

https://archive.org/details/19519819...ge/n1/mode/2up

Does anyone have a map of the old Montreal wards?

[thurmas]

wondering if someome could post the 76, 81 and 86 top 10 metro population figures I would like to see growth patterns between wpg and cgy/edm during the 70s boom in alberta vs the nep crash that followed in the 80s and how many mb expats moved back home in that timespan.

[Docere]

Vancouver for some reason had some rather large census tracts. Most notable is very concentrated Asian population of 10,000 - nearly half in the Stratchona/East End area (tract 6), where they made up about 25% of the population; the neighboring downtown tract brought it to two-thirds. Strathcona also had sizeable Italian and Ukrainian populations (6% each). The Jewish population seems to have already moved into the middle class, into South Cambie and newly developed Oakridge.

https://archive.org/details/19519819...ge/n5/mode/2up

[Docere]

What's interesting about the 1951 CT data is although it's the first time they're used, the 1941 CT population is available. So you can see the extent of the built-out pre-war population. The (then) City of Toronto was completely built out and all growth was outside city limits. Montreal was bigger and had some fast growth areas in the immediate postwar years (e.g. Snowdon and CDN). South Vancouver also grew quickly in the 1940s.

[Docere]

Before Census Tracts came in 1951, Statistics Canada collected data on wards. From 1941:

https://archive.org/details/19419819...ge/26/mode/2up

Map of Montreal wards, 1931:

https://archivesdemontreal.ica-atom....66-6P036op.pdf

Toronto wards, 1964:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/File...d_map_1964.PNG

[Docere]

Occupational distribution from the 1931 census:

Agriculture 28.8%
Fishing, logging, mining 3.8%
Manufacturing 12.1%
Construction 5.2%
Transportation 7.7%
Commerce 8.9%
Professional 6.1%
Personal service 9.1%
Clerical 6.1%
Labourers (excluding primary industry) 11.1%

[Docere]

British Isles-born

Agriculture 18.3%
Fishing, logging, mining 2%
Manufacturing 17%
Construction 7.4%
Transport 9.7%
Commerce 9.5%
Professional 5.3%
Personal service 11.5%
Clerical 7.5%
Labourers 9.8%

European-born

Agriculture 34.6%
Fishing, logging, mining 6.9%
Manufacturing 11.1%
Construction 4.3%
Transport 4.6%
Commerce 6.5%
Professional 1.8%
Personal service 9.2%
Clerical 0.9%
Labourers 19.8%

US-born

Agriculture 42%
Fishing, logging, mining 2.7%
Manufacturing 9.4%
Construction 3.8%
Transport 6.5%
Commerce 9.2%
Professional 6.7%
Personal service 6.9%
Clerical 4.3%
Labourers 5.9%

[Docere]

By ethnic origin:

British

Agriculture 26%
Fishing, logging, mining 2.7%
Manufacturing 11.5%
Construction 5.5%
Transport 7.9%
Commerce 10.3%
Professional 7.4%
Personal service 8.1%
Clerical 8.6%
Labourers 8.2%

French

Agriculture 28.3%
Fishing, logging, mining 3.7%
Manufacturing 12.3%
Construction 6%
Transport 6.3%
Commerce 7.4%
Professional 6.2%
Personal service 9.1%
Clerical 4.1%
Labourers 14.1%

German

Agriculture 50.4%
Fishing, logging, mining 2.5%
Manufacturing 17.5%
Construction 4%
Transport 4.5%
Commerce 5.5%
Professional 3.1%
Clerical 2.6%
Labourers 8.8%

Eastern European

Agriculture 43.8%
Fishing, logging, mining 5.9%
Manufacturing 6.5%
Construction 2.6%
Transport 4.8%
Commerce 2.2%
Professional 1.2%
Personal service 10.7%
Clerical 0.8%
Labourers 20.8%

Scandinavian

Agriculture 48.8%
Fishing, logging, mining 8.1%
Manufacturing 5.7%
Construction 5.8%
Transport 4.4%
Commerce 4.1%
Professional 3.1%
Personal service 7.6%
Clerical 2.2%
Labourers 8.8%

Jewish

Agriculture 1.3%
Fishing, logging, mining --
Manufacturing 29.6%
Construction 3.2%
Transport 2.8%
Commerce 37.3%
Professional 5.1%
Personal service 5.9%
Clerical 10.1%
Labourers 2.7%

Italian

Agriculture 5.8%
Fishing, logging, mining 9.6%
Manufacturing 15.8%
Construction 6.5%
Transport 7.3%
Commerce 9.6%
Professional 1.6%
Personal service 8.8%
Clerical 2.3%
Labourers 31.9%

Chinese

Agriculture 11.7%
Fishing, logging, mining 2.6%
Manufacturing 2.6%
Construction --
Transport 1.4%
Commerce 6.8%
Professional 0.3%
Personal service 52%
Clerical 0.5%
Labourers 21.4%

Japanese

Agriculture 18.5%
Fishing, logging, mining 25.3%
Manufacturing 8.7%
Construction 2.2%
Transport 3.2%
Commerce 8%
Professional 1.3%
Personal service 13.5%
Clerical 1.2%
Labourers 18.3%