180,000 people
Hello sir, you must be a newcomer. You know, you’re not the first immigrant to arrive this year. It is 1905, and there are 180,000 people living in British Columbia; this number only continues to grow. We are currently in Vancouver, the province’s largest city. It has nearly 30,000 inhabitants and its population has doubled in the last ten years. The main reason? Immigration! Come, I’ll show you around Vancouver.
Different faces
Do you know where all these people have come from? From all over the world! Look around and you’ll see people with very different faces. First you have first the British, who have come from Great Britain; they account for 75% of the population. Then there are the Asians who came here during the construction of the railways and who stayed because they could not afford the return trip home. Many people from China have even begun to establish small Chinatowns in certain areas.Chances are you’ll also encounter Europeans from all over, such as France, Germany and Italy.
You will also find Indigenous Peoples whose ancestors have lived here long before colonization. I cannot tell you the exact population of Indigenous Peoples in the West. When British Columbia joined Canada in 1871, it initially did not recognize Indigenous Peoples rights to the territory or form treaties in the same way as other ares like the Prairies did. A lot of Indigenous Peoples were dispossessed; the government took possession of their traditional territory to make way for the railroad and non-Indigenous settlements. Most Indigenous Peoples on the West Coast now live on reserves.
You will probably also notice that the population of the West Coast is very young. Women looking for a husband certainly have plenty of choices. There are almost two men for every woman here. I hope this information will be of help. I’ll let you go look for work now. I suggest you go over by the port; they are hiring young, healthy people.
Author: Service national du Récit de l’univers social