Dutch Immigration to Canada in 1950

Dutch immigration to Canada was common during much of the 1900s. In the early years of the century, many Dutch settlers crossed the border from America to Canada where land was more readily available. Immigrants also came directly from the Netherlands where economic strife, a scarcity of land and the promise for a better life made Canada appealing. Although thousands of Dutch immigrants moved to Canada during this period, the motivations of some of the immigrants in a wave that began in the late 1940s and lasted into the early 1950s went beyond economics.

The post-World War II period saw a large wave of Dutch immigrants flow into the country, according to Canada's Library and Archives. Immigrants from this period included agricultural workers, skilled laborers and professionals. War brides, however, also accounted for some of the newcomers during the post-war years. The Canadian Army’s work to liberate the Netherlands cast soldiers as “saviors” in the eyes of some Dutch women, according to the Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier 21. Subsequently, 2,000 Dutch war brides were first among the wave of immigrants that flowed into Canada through the early 1950s. Dutch immigration slowed following the 1950s, but Pier 21 estimates that 124,703 Dutch settlers had made their way to the country between 1950-59. Canada's total Dutch population is approximately 1 million today.