Full text: Origin, birthplace, nationality and language of the Canadian people

110 URBAN AND RURAL DISTRIBUTION OF VARIOUS STOCKS 
were they classed separately. While such copsiderations minimize to some extent the dis- 
tinction between the East and West in this regard, it is probable that they are not adequate 
to account for the whole difference, and that other important forces are at work. 
The immigrants from the British Isles are more urban than the foreign born in every 
province in Canada. Reference has already been made to the urban propensities of immi- 
grants from the British Isles. The difference is most marked in the provinces of Alberta 
and Saskatchewan. In Alberta immigrants from the British Isles show a 30 p.c. higher pro- 
portion in urban districts than immigrants from foreign countries, and in Saskatchewan a 
proportion 22 p.c. higher. In Manitoba the difference :s not so marked, amounting to only 
17 p.c., and in the East the spread is, on the whole, very much smaller than in the West. 
The significant fact seems to be that in Canada as a whole immigration from Great Britain 
has become directed toward urban centres to a much more marked degree than immigra- 
tion from foreign countries in general and that this tendency, while absolutely less marked 
in the West than in the East, is relatively more pronounced, when compared with. the 
small percentages of both the foreign born and of the population as a whole in urban dis- 
tricts. In Saskatchewan foreigh immigrants are slightly less urban than the population as 
a whole, while the British born show proportions in incorporated cities, towns and villages 
nearly 50 p.c. larger. 
A few other striking facts are revealed when the analysis is pushed still further The 
percentage urban of those immigrants coming from the South, East and Central sections of 
the Continent is greater 'for every province than the proportions urban for immigrants from 
the countries of North Western Europe. In Nova Scotia and Quebec immigrants from 
both parts of the Continent are more urban than the population as a whole. In New 
Brunswick. and Ontario, while the South, Eastern and Central Europeans are very much 
more urban than the total population, those from the north and western part of Europe 
are decidedly less urban. In Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta and British Columbia 
immigrants from both sections of Europe show a greater inclination to live in mural districts 
than the total population resident in those provinces. These facts are very significant. 
From Ontario east, the South, Eastern and Central Europeans are concentrating to an 
abnormally marked extent in the cities, while from Manitoba west they are settling to an 
equally marked extent in the rural parts. The same applies to the North Western Euro- 
peans except in the case of the province of New Brumswick. where they are more rural 
than in the province of Manitoba. . 
Passing to the linguistic groups, similar differences are noted between the proportion 
living in urban and rural districts in the various provinces. The high percentage of 90-05 
pc. urban for the Scandinavian group in the province of Quebec represents a very small 
aumber of resident Scandinavians and is not at all typical of the group. In fact, figures of 
Scandinavians for provinces east of Manitoba should not be considered of great importance 
pecause of the exceptionally small percentage of Scandinavians resident in these eastern 
provinces. In the West, Manitoba shows the largest proportion of Scandinavians in urban 
centres and Saskatchewan shows the smallest. In all parts of the West the percentage urban 
is much lower for the Scandinavians than that {for the total population. 
Greater importance may be attributed to the fluctuation of the percentages urban for 
the Germanic group because of their more even distribution throughout the country. In 
the two cases of Nova Scotia and Quebec, where the percentages urban exceed the propor- 
tions for the total population, the numbers are comparatively small, but in all other cases 
and notably in those provinces where they form larger proportions of the total population, 
the Germanijc people are resident in urban districts to a much smaller extent than the total 
population. : 
Of all Europeans the Latins and Greeks are the most urban, and in all but two provinces 
of the Dominion their percentage urban is much higher than that for the population as a 
whole. Those provinces are Saskatchewan and Alberta, and the explanation is simple when 
the actual numbers are considered. In Saskatchewan in 1921 there were 221 immigrants 
born in Greece, 383 in Italy, and 7,324 immigrants from Roumania. Somewhat the same 
proportions obtain in Alberta. Now the Roumanians are a much more rural people than
	        
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