Largest Ethnicities in regions of Saskatchewan and Manitoba, 1911

Largest Ethnicities in regions of Saskatchewan and Manitoba, 1911

6826 × 4801

‘British Isle origins (Scottish, English, Irish): Mostly came from Ontario, who previously settled in large numbers in Ontario as Loyalists (originally from the 13 colonies who left for Ontario around 1793), or Quakers (who left for Ontario in the early 1800s, or other immigrants to Ontario up until the late 1800s. Their descendants then headed out west in the late/later 1800s and very early 1900s.

French: 3-way combination, not all from the same place. Many came from the US as descendants of the original New France French (from Michigan, Illinois, etc, whose descendants still spoke French). Many came from Quebec and Ontario. And there were those who came from Belgium. Small French towns (which remain today) have families from one of these three main places.

German: Two different origins: (1) Russian Volga Germans (Catherine the Great’s Germans) who either came from Nebraska (think of Lawrence Welk’s folks), or directly from Russia. Both groups spoke German upon their arrival to Sask / Manitoba. OR Pennsylvania Dutch who settled in Ontario in the late 1700s/early 1800s (almost completely separate from Loyalists, whose motives were land), who became assimilated into mainstream culture (and lost their German language), and then went out West to Saskatchewan and Manitoba.

Austrian: My hunch is this is the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and should actually be classified as “Ukrainian”. Why you ask? Because by 1911 there a ton of “Ukrainians” heavily settling and founding many towns in Saskatchewan and Manitoba. But, they were NOT from Ukraine. Rather, they were from the Austro-Hungarian Empire massive northeastern province of Galacia. These people spoke a variety of Ukrainian. They had a similar but yet different culture compared to Ukraine proper (even the food was different, which means that Canadian perogies in Alberta, Sasktachewan and Manitoba are different than what you’ll find in Ukraine today, and now extinct in Galacia after World War ethnic cleansing and movement of people’

Forest cover map of the Maritime provinces

Forest cover map of the Maritime provinces

“I’m from Prince Edward Island and you can really see the difference between us and the rest of the Maritimes. In Nova Scotia and New Brunswick if you go outside of a city you’re basically going to be in/near a forest. On PEI if you find yourself lost in the “forest” you can walk 30 minutes in any direction and you’ll wind up on a farm or the shore. Whenever you cross the Confederation Bridge the difference in scenery is night and day”–Mitby

Canada's Mountains

Canada’s Mountains

[3678 x 3020]

“And that’s why the roads in British Columbia are a shit show lol. There’s a few highways that just zigzag throughout the interior and the north. Blows my mind when I see how many roads they have in the USA”–Fixitman77

Ethnicities of Manitoba and Saskatchewan, 1901 (produced 1906)

Ethnicities of Manitoba and Saskatchewan, 1901 (produced 1906)

“I wonder if Hungarians are included as Austrians and if Ukrainians are included as Russians due to their inclusion in their respective European empires.

I was surprised to not see any Ukrainians specifically due to the very sizeable minority we have in Canada, especially in the prairie provinces, however they may have migrated later in the century. (Perhaps during Stalin’s regime?)“–ElectroMagnetsYo