Back in the day, Canada needed more people to build up its country and, in particular, in its vast western inland plains. With lots of land and not so many people, the federal and provincial governments and land companies starting in the late 1800s on into the early twentieth century launched recruitment campaigns around the world, especially in Europe, with the lure of free land grants and the potential for prosperity. The distance was far and farm life was (is!) tough, but the appeal drew many new immigrants to Canada’s west. I love the variety and details in some of these posters! (Click on images to enlarge)
O' Canada 
Those are beautiful posters Brett. I drove across Canada in the early ’80s. Those are some wide open spaces.
Dan, thanks! Very wide indeed!
Thanks for sharing these! They seem to be circa 1890 – 1910, but I had a friend whose family arrived at the border in the 1960s, everything they owned in a couple of trucks, hoping to move in and get free Saskatchewan land. By then, it wasn’t so easy to enter and they were sent back to the States.
Although some land was free, once title was secured, it could be sold. Quite a few of your posters were sponsored by either Canadian National Railway or Canadian Pacific Railway. In a bit of a scam, in the late 19th C, those railways were given title to every second section (square mile) that touched the new rail lines (in addition to government cash subsidies). The railways were allowed to sell the sections to raise cash. So, as some people arrived to get free land, others bought railway land, too.
These posters are lovely and – as you wrote – the detail is great. Thanks again for posting them!
Thanks for commenting. The railroad companies in Canada and the U.S. knew how to paint a rosy picture to make a buck.
But the price being paid for all this expansion by other people was high indeed…
Back then it’s likely that the desire to see the land settled trumped many other concerns.
Yes, probably.
Incredible and awesome share- thank u
Thanks!
Oh boy, imagine the surprise when they encountered virgin land, so much work. And then, along comes the Canadian winter.
Hahaha! I was thinking the same thing!
I grew up in Manitoba and these posters are so interesting; knowing they might have influenced my ancestors to move to Sask. from England. Thanks for sharing, Cheryl
Very interesting. I’m sure those posters influenced many from England and Europe to uproot and relocate.
Funny how not a single person is wearing a winter coat. I guess they decided to omit our beautiful Canadian winters. 🙂
That’s very true — and funny!
April 11th and they’re calling for a few flakes this afternoon, here in Quebec. 😀
Be gone winter! 🙂
Seeing the photo of the child in the prickly stubble, inside the stook, sent me off to see what I could find about stooks. I remember well the bleeding ankles we kids had from walking through that darn stubble on our way to school!
stook
(stuːk)
n
1. (Agriculture) a number of sheaves set upright in a field to dry with their heads together
vb
2. (Agriculture) (tr) to set up (sheaves) in stooks
[C15: variant of stouk, of Germanic origin; compare Middle Low German stūke, Old High German stūhha sleeve]
Interesting stuff! The small stubs of wheat left in the ground when hardened would be a pain to cross, even carefully.
This is a great history lesson on propaganda, settlement and graphic design.
Covers all the bases!
I wonder which poster my great grandparents saw in Germany or South Russia when they decided to take advantage of the free farmland and immigrate to the Canadian prairies in 1911. The terrain and climate was similar to the steppes they had been living on but it was a hard life. I am so glad they made that decision.
Darlene, nice comment (and thanks)! That makes for some good “but for”- or “if that hadn’t happened”-type musings! We’re all partly the result of so many choices made by others before we ever arrived on the scene.
So true Brett.
🙂
Reblogged this on J4D3D W1LDC4T's Den Of Horrors.
Great sequence of poster art. Where did you get the images ?
The whole blog is very interesting. Canadians love to hear others talk about ( not aboot) how great we are, especially Americans. We are an insecure lot, but polite & nice. 😀
The posters are great cultural history! The pics are curated mainly from different archives.
Thanks for the comment about the blog — and your wonderful sense of humor! 🙂
Jeepers, that expresses it all and….now, our problems with urban sprawl in the prairies where commercial developers want to pay the lowest development fees compared to other provinces.
I live in Alberta…..
Actually kind of shocking that the land was “free”, when it belonged to the First Nations, native Indians.
Great observations!
Such a different era. Yes, dreadful to think of land being given away from the native Americans. I had an ancestor make a similar trek from New York to the Dakotas. You have a very nice blog.
New York to the Dakotas is quite a change! Thanks for the nice comment about the blog also!
That is an interesting post and I loved the vintage posters. I did not know they ever gave free land in Canada. But I know that when I decided to go to travel in the USA (in 1961) I found out I had to get a visa, green card and sponsor if I wanted to stay for a while and work. I was told though (not sure if that was really true) that if I went to Quebec instead I would get a free apartment for a while and help in finding a job. After checking the weather in Canada and San Francisco – I flew to San Francisco … but now, after ending in Atlanta, I wonder if I should not have gone to Quebec then…
I find choices made about where to live are interesting. Weather can be a big factor — and Quebec winters are very cold!
This explains why my grandfather’s family moved to Alberta.
🙂
Incredible posters, a real portrait of Canada at the time. The maple leaves make me feel a little patriotic.
🙂
Great images, again, Brett. Thanks for sharing. My grandparents from Norway were among those who heard the call and came to the “new homeland”. It was an open secret that there were already people there who were cleared off the land in preparation for their arrival – the First Nations. In that sense the posters are chilling as well as beautiful.
Thanks for the comment. It’s interesting to me that there are many commenters, such as yourself, who have such a direct, personal connection to this history.
Outstanding !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
🙂
Wow, great find!
🙂
An incredibly great collection! I know I’ll have to be back to take another look… right up my alley. Thanks for sharing.
Much appreciated!
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I love them… They do really stand out! … Best wishes. Aquileana 😊😊 !!!!
🙂
Hi Brett, this is an amazing selection of posters that you’ve managed to cull together! I`m wondering if you`ve noted down or remember which archives you used to gather these? I’m doing some research on ads from this era related to homesteading and pioneering. Thanks!
Hi, Amy, I can go back and look but don’t recall offhand. That era was a fascinating time in the country’s development.
Hi Brett. I’m a researcher on a Knowledge Network documentary series about British Columbia history. You can read more about the project here: https://www.knowledge.ca/media-releases/2019/02/13/screen-siren-pictures-commissioned-knowledge-network-bc-history
We’re very curious about where you found the ‘Canada West’ poster that’s in the centre of the second row of images. (The family by the tree with man and his hand outstretched.) Do you know what the source is?
Hi Ben, thanks for your message. I can check and let you know. Best, Brett