Section 41 of the Immigration Act (1919)
- Section 41 of the Immigration Act was enforced in June 1919 (following the Winnipeg General Strike) and allowed government officials to deport individuals who advocated to overthrow of the government using force.
- This change allowed the government to add more restrictive regulations to its immigration policy to protect Canada from what they deemed as dangerous ideologies.
- As a result, officials could deport any alien or naturalized citizen who supported organizations that advocated for the overthrow of the government using force.
- This led to the deportation of hundreds of trade unionists and communists and between 1931–1932, deportation numbers peaked at just over 7,000.
- In 1931 23% of Canada's population at the time (being over 2.3 million) were at risk of deportation due to the provisions of the Immigration Act.
Citation
An Act to amend the Immigration Act, 9-10 George V. Chap. 25, Assented to 6th June, 1919. https://www.canadiana.ca/view/oocihm.9_08048
Further Readings
For more information on the implications of Section 41 of the Immigration Act: https://books.openedition.org/uop/2443?lang=en & https://ccrweb.ca/en/hundred-years-immigration-canada-1900-1999
& https://pier21.ca/research/immigration-history/immigration-act-amendment-1919
Overlapping Topics
Labour
Policy Sub-Topic