“As Long as He is an Immigrant from the United Kingdom”: Deception, Ethnic Bias and Milestone Commemoration in the Department of Citizenship and Immigration, 1953-1965

Abstract

This essay examines the Department of Citizenship and Immigration’s attempt in 1953 to commemorate the millionth postwar immigrant to Canada. Federal policy-makers decided to pre-select the millionth immigrant in order to ensure that he was white, male, young, British and potentially successful. An examination of these plans provides insights into the attitudes of Immigration officials in the early 1950s, how they wished their department to be perceived by the Canadian public, and the extent to which they would resort to deception to attain their ends.