Standing by our Principles: The Trades and Labor Congress of Canada and Immigration, 1933 – 1939

This paper explores the approach of Canada’slargest labour central, the Tradesand Labor Congress (TLC), to immigration from 1933 to 1939. This was a unique period in Canada’s immigration history, as in 1930the government responded to the onset of the Great Depression by closing the gates to almost allimmigration for the first time since Confederation, and by 1933 there was no doubt that the gates would remainclosedfor some time. Despite this …