Block settlement

A block settlement (or bloc settlement) is particular type of land distribution which allows settlers with the same ethnicity to form small colonies.

This settlement type was used throughout western Canada between the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Some were planned and other were spontaneously created by the settlers themselves.

The policy of planned blocks was pursued primarily by Clifford Sifton during his time as Interior Minister of Canada. It was essentially a compromise position. Some politicians wanted all ethnic groups to be scattered evenly though the new lands to ensure they would quickly assimilate to Anglo-Canadian culture, while others did not want to live near "foreign" immigrants (as opposed to British immigrants who were not considered foreign) and demanded that they be segregated. At the time Canada was receiving large amounts of non-British, non-French, immigrants for the first time, especially Italians, Germans, Scandinavians, and Ukrainians. The newcomers themselves wanted to settle as close as possible to people with a familiar language and similar customs. The government did not want the west to be fragmented into a few large homogenous ethnic blocks, however. So several smaller colonies were set up where particular ethnic groups could settle, but these were spaced across the country.

Examples of ethnic block settlements in western Canada

This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.

Black Canadian

Further information: Black Canadians

• Amber Valley, Alberta
• Breton, Alberta
• Happy Valley, British Columbia
• Saltspring Island, British Columbia
• Wildwood, Alberta

British

• Walhachin, British Columbia
• Kelowna, British Columbia

Doukhobor

• Benito, Manitoba
• Pelly, Saskatchewan
• Arran, Saskatchewan
• Kamsack, Saskatchewan
• Veregin, Saskatchewan
• Canora, Saskatchewan
• Buchanan, Saskatchewan
• Kylemore, Saskatchewan
• Langham, Saskatchewan
• Blaine Lake, Saskatchewan
• Cowley, Alberta
• Lundbreck, Alberta
• Arrowwood, Alberta
• Grand Forks, British Columbia
• Gilpin, British Columbia
• Castlegar, British Columbia
• Brilliant, British Columbia
• Champion Creek, British Columbia
• Ootischenia, British Columbia
• Glade, British Columbia
• Shoresacres, British Columbia
• Pass Creek, British Columbia
• Krestova, British Columbia
• Salmo, British Columbia
• Thrums, British Columbia
• Perry Siding, British Columbia
• Slocan Valley
  • Slocan, British Columbia
  • Slocan Park, British Columbia
  • Winlaw, British Columbia

French

See also: Franco-Manitoban, Fransaskois, and Franco-Albertan

• Bonnyville MD and St. Paul County, Alberta, especially near the towns of Bonnyville and St. Paul
• Gravelbourg, Saskatchewan
• Lac La Biche and Plamondon, Alberta
• Sturgeon and Lac Ste. Anne counties, Alberta. Specifically the communities of St. Albert, Morinville, Legal, Rivière Qui Barre, Villeneuve, Pickardville, and around the shores of Lac Ste. Anne and Lac La Nonne.
• Falher, Alberta
• Maillardville, British Columbia
• Terrace, British Columbia

German

• around Regina, Saskatchewan
• Bruderheim, Alberta - Josephburg, Alberta
• Langenburg, Saskatchewan
• St. Walburg, Saskatchewan
• Goodsoil, Saskatchewan
• Pierceland, Saskatchewan
• Paradise Hill, Saskatchewan
• Leader, Saskatchewan
• Burstall, Saskatchewan
• Eatonia, Saskatchewan
• Strasbourg, Saskatchewan
• Kerrobert, Saskatchewan
• Unity, Saskatchewan
• Luseland, Saskatchewan
• Macklin, Saskatchewan
• Humboldt, Saskatchewan
• Watson, Saskatchewan
• Cudworth, Saskatchewan
• Lemberg, Saskatchewan
• Neudorf, Saskatchewan
• Heinsburg, Alberta - Lindbergh, Alberta

Italian

• Silverdale, British Columbia

Hungarian

• Esterhazy, Saskatchewan
• Kipling, Saskatchewan
• Prince Rupert, British Columbia (from 1956 on)

Jewish

See also: Jewish Colonization Association

• Hirsch, Saskatchewan
• Qu'Appelle or Lipton, Saskatchewan (1901)
• Cupar, Saskatchewan (1901)
• Bender Hamlet or Narcisse, Manitoba (1903)
• La Macaza, Quebec (1904)
• Ste-Sophie, Quebec (1904)
• Edenbridge, Saskatchewan (1906)
• Sonnenfeld, Saskatchwan (1906)
• Trochu, Alberta (1906)
• Rumsey, Alberta (1906)
• Pine Ridge, Manitoba (1907)
• Birds Hill, Manitoba (1911)
• Camper, Manitoba or New Hirsch, Manitoba (1911)
• Eyre, Saskatchewan (1910)
• Montefiore, Saskatchewan (1911)
• Rosetown, Saskatchewan (1911) [near the town of the same name]

Mennonite

• Steinbach, Manitoba
• Niverville, Manitoba
• Gretna, Manitoba
• Rosthern, Saskatchewan
• Osler, Saskatchewan
• Waldheim, Saskatchewan
• Abbotsford, British Columbia

Mormon

• Cardston, Alberta

Portuguese

• Kitimat, British Columbia

Romanian

• Boian, Alberta
• Assiniboia, Saskatchewan

Scandinavian

Key: N = Norwegian S = Swedish I = Icelandic F = Finnish D = Danish

• Gimli, Manitoba (I)
• Arborg, Manitoba (I)
• Geysir, Manitoba (I)
• Baldur, Manitoba (I)
• Glenboro, Manitoba (I)
• Morden, Manitoba (I)
• Skaro, Alberta (N)
• Quill Lakes, Saskatchewan (I)
• New Stockholm, Saskatchewan (S)
• Thingvalla-Logberg, Saskatchewan (I)
• Vallar, Saskatchewan (I)
• Holar, Saskatchewan (I)
• New Finland, Saskatchewan (F)
• Percival, Saskatchewan (S)
• Birch Hills, Saskatchewan (N)
• Torquay, Saskatchewan (N)
• Ibsen, Saskatchewan (N)
• Lake Alma, Saskatchewan (N)
• Norge, Saskatchewan (N)
• Lillestrom, Saskatchewan (N)
• Rose Valley, Saskatchewan (N)
• Wadena, Saskatchewan (S)
• Simmie, Saskatchewan (N)
• Turtle Lake, Saskatchewan (F)
• Leroy, Saskatchewan (N)
• Norwegian Cove, Saskatchewan (N)
• Danevirke Redvers, Saskatchewan (D)
• Waterville, Quebec (S)
• New Denmark, New Brunswick (D)
• New Norway, Alberta (N)
• Cape Scott, British Columbia (D)
• Sointula, British Columbia (F)
• Webster's Corners, British Columbia (F)
• Hagensborg, British Columbia (N)
• Agerton, British Columbia (N)
• Thunder Bay, Ontario (F)

Ukrainian

With approximate date of founding:

1. Edna-Star, Alberta (1892). Founded by the original Ukrainian Canadian pioneers Iwan Pylypow and Wasyl Eleniak, this is the oldest and largest of the Ukrainian block settlements and was once considered the largest Ukrainian community in the world outside Eastern Europe. It is now the world's largest eco-museum, called Kalyna Country, which includes the counties of Sturgeon, Thorhild, St. Paul, Vermillion River, Two Hills, Minburn, Beaver, Lamont, and Strathcona, and many of the neighbouring towns and cities.
2. Rabbit Hills, Alberta
3. Prince Albert, Saskatchewan
4. Battleford, Saskatchewan
5. Stuartburn, Manitoba (August 1896)
6. Dauphin, Manitoba (September 1896)
7. Interlake, Manitoba (June 1897)
8. Yorkton, Saskatchewan
9. Fish Creek, Saskatchewan (June 1898)
10. Shoal Lake, Manitoba (April 1899)
11. Whitemouth, Manitoba

"White Russians" (Old Believers)

• Plamondon, Alberta

See also

• List of named ethnic enclaves in North American cities

Further reading

• Alan Anderson, "Ethnic Bloc Settlements," Encyclopedia of Saskatchewan (2006) online
• Paul Robert Magocsi, ed. Encyclopedia of Canada's Peoples (1999)

External links

• The Atlas of Saskatchewan provides a map of the entire province showing all major ethnic bloc settlements.
• Government of Alberta's Heritage Department's page about the history of the Ukrainian settlements in East-Central Alberta
• Ukrainian Cultural Heritage Village is a living history village 50 km east of Edmonton, Alberta which focuses on the experiences of Ukrainian immigrants and the block settlements.