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The history of immigration to Canada extends back thousands of years. Anthropologists continue to argue over various possible models of migration to modern-day Canada, as well as their pre-contact populations. The Inuit are believed to have arrived entirely separately from other indigenous peoples around 1200 AD. Indigenous peoples contributed significantly to the culture and economy of the early European colonies and as such have played an important role in fostering a unique Canadian cultural identity. Statistics Canada has tabulated the effect of immigration on population growth in Canada from 1851 to 2001.〔(Statistics Canada ) - immigration from 1851 to 2001〕 On average, censuses are taken every 10 years, which is how Canadian censuses were first incremented between 1871 and 1901. Beginning in 1901, the Dominion Government changed its policy so that census-taking occurred every 5 years subsequently. This was to document the effects of the advertising campaign initiated by Clifford Sifton. In 2006, Canada received 236,756 immigrants. The top ten sending countries, by state of origin, were People's Republic of China (28,896); India (28,520); Philippines (19,718); Pakistan (9,808); United States (8,750); United Kingdom (7,324); Iran (7,195); South Korea (5,909); Colombia (5,382); and Sri Lanka (4,068).〔(Report on the Demographic Situation in Canada: 2005 and 2006 )〕 The top ten source countries were followed closely by France (4,026), and Morocco (4,025), with Romania, Russia, and Algeria each contributing over 3,500 immigrants. ==History of immigration law== In 1828, during the Great Migration of Canada, Britain passed the first legislative recognition that it was responsible for the safety and well-being of immigrants leaving the British Isles. It was called ''An Act to Regulate the Carrying of Passengers in Merchant Vessels''. The ''Act'' limited the number of passengers who could be carried on a ship, regulated the amount of space allocated to them, and required that passengers be supplied with adequate sustenance on the voyage. The 1828 ''Act'' is now recognized as the foundation of British colonial emigration legislation.〔(Moving Here, Staying Here: The Canadian Immigrant Experience ) - "Right of Passage" at Library and Archives Canada〕 Canadian citizenship was originally created under the Immigration Act, 1910, to designate those British subjects who were domiciled in Canada. All other British subjects required permission to land. A separate status of "Canadian national" was created under the Canadian Nationals Act, 1921, which was defined as being a Canadian citizen as defined above, their wives, and any children (fathered by such citizens) who had not yet landed in Canada. After the passage of the Statute of Westminster in 1931, the monarchy thus ceased to be an exclusively British institution. Because of this, Canadians — and others living in countries that became known as Commonwealth realms — were known as ''subjects of the Crown''. However, in legal documents, the term "British subject" continued to be used. Canada was the second nation in the then British Commonwealth to establish its own nationality law in 1946, with the enactment of the Canadian Citizenship Act 1946. This took effect on January 1, 1947. To acquire Canadian citizenship on 1 January 1947, one generally had to be a British subject on that date, an Indian or Eskimo, or had to have been admitted to Canada as landed immigrants before that date. A ''British subject'' at that time was anyone from the UK or its colonies, or a Commonwealth country. Acquisition and loss of British subject status before 1947 was determined by United Kingdom law (see History of British nationality law). On February 15, 1977, Canada removed restrictions on dual citizenship. Many of the provisions to acquire or lose Canadian citizenship that existed under the 1946 legislation were repealed. Canadian citizens are in general no longer subject to involuntary loss of citizenship, barring revocation on the grounds of immigration fraud. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「History of immigration to Canada」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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