20th Century Dutch migrants to Canada

The first Dutch people to travel to Canada were Dutch Americans. The largest migration wave was in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, when large numbers of Dutch helped settle the Canadian west. During this period significant numbers also settled in major cities like Toronto.

While interrupted by World War I, this migration returned in the 1920s, but again halted during the Great Depression and World War II. After that war, with a devastated Dutch economy, a large number of Dutch immigrants moved to Canada, including a number of war brides of the Canadian soldiers who liberated the Low Countries. One of my uncles moved to Canada after the flood of 1952 had destroyed his home. A majority of these newcomers settled in Ontario, including one of my aunts and her husband.

By 1958, emigration from the Netherlands declined significantly as the country’s economy began to recover, due in part to international assistance. There are now over 1 million Canadians of Dutch descent, including those of full or partial ancestry. While one of the largest minority groups in Canada, Dutch Canadians have tended to rapidly assimilate.

Emigrants to Canada wait until they can board the SS "Volendam". 

Rotterdam, Netherlands, May 15, 1951.

Links: 

• Canadians of Dutch descent  
• Ottawa County Cemeteries
• Canada Immigration Records
• Postwar Dutch Immigration through Pier 21
• Digital Resources of The Netherlands - Passenger Lists (link top left)
• Passengers of the Holland-America Line