The Newcomers: Alberta's Immigrants

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The first people to come to Alberta from other areas of the world were European fur traders who came in the mid-1700s. Some returned to their homeland, but many others stayed and formed settlements. Missionary activity in the 1800s brought more immigration, although it was not until the early 1900s that masses of immigrants moved into Alberta, shaping the province as we know it today.

At the turn of the 19^th century the Canadian federal government began an active campaign to settle it’s western regions. Facilitated by the completion of the Canadian Pacific Railway, between 1895 and 1914 over a million settlers, from within the Dominion, from the United States and abroad, ventured to this "Last Best West."

The western settlement campaign was so successful that by 1914, nearly one in every four Canadians was residing in the West, many in the new province of Alberta. These new citizens all came from varying backgrounds. Some settled in large cultural or ethnic blocs, some came alone, and others sent for their family once they had established themselves.

	Ivan Pylypow and Wasyl Eleniak Come to Alberta. The earliest Ukrainian settlers came to Alberta in search of better economic conditions, and once they got here, encouraged others to follow. Listen to their story here. [Listen]

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The First People

The Newcomers: Alberta's Immigrants

Women

Notable Albertans