Colonization and Agriculture Department and Canadian National Land Settlement Association [textual record, graphic material, cartographic material, graphic material]
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Record Information – Brief Colonization and Agriculture Department and Canadian National Land Settlement Association [textual record, graphic material, cartographic material, graphic material]
- Item ID number:
- 180433
- Hierarchical level:
- Series
- Date:
- 1913-1963.
- Reference:
- R231-929-5-E, RG30M 890678, RG30-V-A-9-f
- Type of material:
- Textual material, Maps and cartographic material, Photographs, Art
- Found in:
- Archives / Collections and Fonds
- Item ID number:
- 180433
- Link to this page:
-
This link identifies the web page describing this particular record. Unlike the temporary link in your browser, this link will allow you to access, and reference, this page in the future. To link to this descriptive record, copy and paste the URL where ever needed (wiki, blog, document).http://central.bac-lac.gc.ca/.redirect?app=fonandcol&id=180433&lang=eng
- Context of this record:
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Record Information – Details - Series includes:
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9 lower level description(s)View lower level description(s)
- Date(s):
- 1913-1963.
- Bilingual equivalent:
- Click here
- Place of creation:
- Canada
- Extent:
-
62.1 m of textual records.
ca. 2163 maps.
ca. 3500 photographs: includes 560 b&w prints and 73 b&w nitrate negatives.
32 posters
Positive - paper - silver - Language of material:
- English
- Accession:
- Scope and content:
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Series consists of records created and maintained by the Canadian National Railways Office of the Director of Colonization and Agriculture for the period 1919-1963. These records, sometimes known as the Devlin papers after T.P. Devlin who was in charge of the Department for much of its existence, cover every aspect, both administrative and operational of the Department. Note that records of the department were considered similar to the Canadian National Land Settlement Association. The records document Canadian National's efforts to obtain settlers, their placement on the land and their progress in both report and pictorial form. They include reports, policy and correspondence files, files concerning individuals and organizations (usually identified by ethnic origins), community progress reports, settlement proposals, shipping files, relations with various governments and copies of publications. There is also much internal administrative and financial material. Departmental material was classified in various file blocks, including some of the following highlights 1000 = Administration 1005 = Accounts 1035 = Personal Files 1105 = Canadian National Land Settlement Association 1110 - 1120 = Edmonton, Prince George, Saskatoon Offices 1410 = London Office 1415 - Toronto office 2025 = Immigrant Arrival Statistics 4010 = Advertising and Publicity 5011 = Individual Boat Arrival Files 5100 - 5200 = Immigration and Colonization (By Nationality) 5500 = Immigration and Colonization - Organizations and Schemes 6000 = Land Settlement Reports 9000 = Steamship Companies 9005 = Airlines For further details, please see lower level sub-series descriptions, including: MIKAN 180435 Saskatoon Office of the Department of Colonization and Agriculture MIKAN 5085592 Canadian National Land Settlement Association Reports and Photographs MIKAN 5123574 Canadian National Land Settlement Association Annual Reports MIKAN 5125365 Land Settlement Records for Immigrants MIKAN 5128535 Canadian National Land Settlement Association operational and administrative records There are also various reference publications and printed materials, located in vols. 5641-5642, 5941-5968 and 6009-6027. These include copies of T. Eaton publications, 5000 Facts About Canada, and Canadian Pacific Railway publications (1928); Radio Talk by CN (1931-1932); Manitoba Free Press Annual Agricultural Financial Review (1929); British Columbia Farm Lands (1928-1930); The Scottish Farmer (Jan 1939 to Dec. 1949), The Northern Argonaut (1938), The Nor'west Farmer (1923-1926; 1932-1936). There are also several containers of clippings on agricultural topics. There is an index to the clippings, with main topics such as 1. Alberta's Agricultural Policy; 2. Federal Agricultural Policy; 3. Manitoba's Agricultural Policy. Various reference publications, pamphlets, and photo reports by CN and other sources can be found in vols. 11445-11447, ca. 1934-1960. There are also several containers of posters. The posters are currently housed in vols. 5879-5890. Please see lower level file level descriptions for more details. There is a large quantity of photographic material, which consists of many photographic reports and albums of immigrants. Some albums showing European families settled on land in the Provinces of Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba by the Land Settlement Association of the Canadian National Railways, 1927-1930; 73 identified individuals and family portraits taken on their farm and corresponding nitrate negatives of European immigrants (Polish, Hungarian, German, Norwegian, Swedish, Roumanian, Swiss, Austrian, Slovaks, Dutch and Danish settlers) in Saskatchewan, 1926-1935; harvesting and farming activities in Sakatchewan, 1954-1958 - cities and villages include: Sturgis, Morse, Regina, La Ronge, Kipling, Broderick, Rowatt, Indian Head, Leinan, Abernethy, Esterhazy, North Battleford, Maple Creek, Balcarres, Moose Jaw, Macrorie, Kronau, Gull Lake, Davidson, La Loche, Grenfell, Estevan, Rush Lake, Abbey, Humbolt, Moosomin, Craik, Eastend, Cochin, Fort Qu'Appelle, Cumberland, Uranium City, Melville and Lipton - and one album of Dutch immigrants settled in Southern Ontario, 1958. There is also cartographic material, dating from ca. 1910-1960, which consists of maps collected by the Natural Resources Development Dept. of the CNR in Winnipeg. The Natural Resources Department was attached for a while to the Colonization Department. The map collection appears to be part of a reference library created by the department. Only a few of the maps were annotated by the office in which they originated and these office stamps and notations are not significant. There are indications that this collection was organized according to a classification system. So maps appear to be classified according to geographical region (whether it be parts of Canada or the world); by type of industry (such as lumbering); or by type of natural resource (geological). Some more specific highlights include: land settlement and other tourist guides, highway and railway maps of Manitoba, tourist maps of Quebec, railway maps of Quebec and New York, mining maps for Ontario and Manitoba, tourist pamphlets for Canadian Airways Limited, Zoning Maps and related bylaw information for selected cities (Port Arthur, Thunder Bay, Toronto, Saskatoon, Regina, Winnipeg), Mineral Maps, several copies of Tourist Booklet for Triangle Tour of BC, Map of Churchill and Vicinity 1932, showing CN property, Tourist Map of Flin Flon, 1946, Protein Maps, Climate Map, Map of Eskimo Populations in NWT 1929, Auto Road Map of Western US 1920s, Geological Map of Ottawa, 1901, Map of Moose River Basin, Maps of Red Lake Gold Area 1927, Road Maps for Calgary, Northern Ontario, Western Canada and US Connections ca. 1930. There are currently no finding aids.(RG30M 890678).
- Additional name(s):
- Biography/Administrative history:
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Canadian National Railways. Office of the Director of Colonization and Agriculture : Canadian National Railways was anxious to promote immigration and land settlement in Canada, particularly of agriculturalists in the prairie provinces. This would both increase traffic in these regions and assist the railway to dispose of some of its land grants. A Colonization and Agriculture Department was created in 1919 to attract farm settlers to Canada and to assist them both materially and by advice to become established after their arrival. This work continued (with a name change in the 1930s to include Natural Resources) through the pre-Second World War, wartime and post-war years until the department was closed down in 1963. The activities of the department are summarized as follows: 1. Immigration (in co-operation with various steamship lines) 2. Colonization; 3. Agricultural Development. The department was split over four regions, with a headquarters office in Montreal and district offices in Toronto, Quebec, and Halifax responsible for Eastern Canada; a regional headquarters office in Winnipeg responsible for Western Canada with district offices in Saskatoon, Edmonton, and Prince George; a United States office in St. Paul Minnesota; and European Office in London, England, with various smaller offices in Europe (including Liverpool, Glasgow, Oslo, Copenhagen, Rotterdam, Gothenburg, Warsaw, and Zagreb). A land settlement division within the department was the Canadian National Land Settlement Association. In 1925 the Canadian Department of Citizenship and Immigration enacted regulations, which remained in effect until 1951, and which stated that, where possible, immigrant land settlers from Continental Europe should deposit money in trust with a Government-approved land settlement agency. This was to insure, as much as possible, that the immigrants would settle on farm land upon arrival in Canada. Therefore, under Dominion Letters Patent of March 9, 1925 the Canadian National Land Settlement Association was incorporated to perform this function on behalf of Canadian National Railways. Thousands of immigrants were assisted (one report in 1934 noted that 177000 people were brought to Canada between 1925-1934, including 8000 families). Land was located and money was released to the immigrant for its purchase and the purchase of equipment and livestock. The association also encouraged the movement of residents of Canada to move within Canada. There are a couple of names associated with the department and the association. Thomas Parker (T.P.) Devlin (born in Ayleshire, Scotland) joined CN in 1926 as an Assistant Agricultural Agent, and shortly after was promoted to District Superintendent of Colonization and Agriculture for Saskatchewan, a position based in Saskatoon. In 1929, he became Western Region Superintendent, based at the Winnipeg office. In 1942, he came Assistant Director of the Winnipeg Office. The other name of note is Joseph Samuel (J.S.) McGowan (born Lurgan, Northern Ireland), who joined CN in 1924. After some time travelling in England and some time working as head of the Western Region Office in Winnipeg, he was posted to Montreal as Assistant Director. In 1938, he became Director of the department, a position he held into the 1950s. McGowan was also a president of the Canadian Railway Club and a Fellow of the Agricultural Institute of Canada. Most of the records relating to the department and the CNLSA are for activities in Western Canada. Because both the Colonization and Agriculture Department and the Canadian National Land Settlement Association were closely associated in the work of bringing immigrants to Canada, the association being virtually part of the Department, the records are often intermingled. RG30 General Inventory.
- Finding aid:
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(Electronic) Finding aid 30-29 is a computer generated boxlist relating to volumes 2384- 2385, 2387, and 2398. 30-29 (90: Open)Textual records (Electronic) Finding aid 30-38 is a typed shelf list relating to volumes 3135-3137. Finding aid 30-38 is an unverified file list. The finding aid is available as a PDF attached to this record. 30-38 (90: Open)
http://data2.archives.ca/pdf/pdf002/30-38_vols_3134-3139_open.pdf(Electronic) Finding aid 30-39 is a computer generated boxlist relating to volumes 5568-5878, 5891-5915, 5921, and 5924-6043. The finding aid is available as a pdf attached to this record. 30-39 PDF (90: Open)
http://data2.archives.ca/pdf/pdf002/30-39_180433_volumes_5567-5617_open.pdf
http://data2.archives.ca/pdf/pdf002/30-39_180433_volumes_5618-5678_open.pdf
http://data2.archives.ca/pdf/pdf002/30-39_180433_volumes_5678-5711_open.pdf
http://data2.archives.ca/pdf/pdf002/30-39_180433_volumes_5711-5745_open.pdf
http://data2.archives.ca/pdf/pdf002/30-39_180433_volumes_5745-5810_open.pdf
http://data2.archives.ca/pdf/pdf002/30-39_180433_volumes_5810-5840_open.pdf
http://data2.archives.ca/pdf/pdf002/30-39_180433_volumes_5840-6102_open.pdf(Electronic) Finding aid 30-50 is a computer generated boxlist relating to volumes 8293-8443. The finding aid is available as a PDF attached to record. 30-50 PDF (90: Open)
http://data2.archives.ca/pdf/pdf002/30-50_180433_volumes_8293-8433_open.pdf(Electronic) Finding aid 30-70 is a file list relating to volumes 11445-11447. 30-70 PDF (90: Open)
http://data2.archives.ca/pdf/pdf002/30-70_180433_vols_11445-11447.pdfCartographic material (No finding aid) (Restrictions not set) - Additional information:
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- General Note:
- Finding aids, as well as copy of the full file block classification system for the department, are currently being scanned and will be available in digital format in the near future., A small amount of digitized information on immigrants is available via the Ancestry.ca website, under the heading Canada, Canadian National Railway Immigrant Records, 1937-1961 and via the following link: https://www.ancestryinstitution.ca/search/collections/9211/. More specifically, there is basic information about immigrants that were brought over from Europe in 1937-1939 as well as correspondence and related information on immigrants and immigrant organizations dating from the 1950s to about 1961. Currently, a membership to ancestry.ca is required to view this material and search their database, but that may change going forward.
- Source of title:
- Title is based on the contents of the series.
- Custodial history:
- RG30M 890678 was transferred from the CN Servicentre, Montreal in Sept. 1982, by the Corporate Archivist.
- Accruals:
- No further accruals are expected.
- Related material:
- Further photographic material can be found in MIKAN 4958005, a sub-series of the Canadian National Railways photograph series. Several thousand photographic individual photographic prints as well as reports with photos pasted into them can be found here. All relate to immigration in Western Canada between the 1920s and 1950s.
- Source:
- Government
- Related control no.:
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117-040677-6
1983-84/013 GAD
1997-00247-7
1997-98/513 GAD
890678 CA
RG30
RG30M 890678 - Former registration no.:
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97-577
- Former archival reference no.:
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RG30M 890678
RG30-V-A-9-f
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Ordering and Viewing Options - Conditions of access:
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Textual records[Consultation90 Open]Volume [R231][Consultation 90 Open]15845;[Consultation 90 Open]16084;[Consultation 90 Open]Volume [RG30][Consultation 90 Open]2384--2387;[Consultation 90 Open]2389;[Consultation 90 Open]2396--2398;[Consultation 90 Open]3135--3137;[Consultation 90 Open]5566;[Consultation 90 Open]5568--6043;[Consultation 90 Open]6103;[Consultation 90 Open]6118;[Consultation 90 Open]6130;[Consultation 90 Open]6138--6140;[Consultation 90 Open]6145--6150;[Consultation 90 Open]8293--8443;[Consultation 90 Open]11445--11447;[Consultation 90 Open]Finding aid box [FA 30-38] 4[Consultation 10 Closed]Finding aid box [FA 30-50] 4[Consultation 10 Closed]Cartographic material[Consultation90 Open]Volume [R231] 15845[Consultation 90 Open]Box [RG30M 890678] 2000866100--2000866114[Consultation 32 Restricted by law]Graphic (photo)[Consultation90 Open]Volume [R231] 15845[Consultation 90 Open]Volume [RG30] 5891--5915[Consultation 90 Open]Graphic (art)[Consultation90 Open]
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- Date modified: