Boarding the Ship
Emigrants for Canada, onboard the Empress of Ireland, 1910. Glenbow Archives, NA-1960-1.
Imagine leaving behind your home and starting a new life in a foreign country. Many people did: between 1904 and 1913, 2.5 million people from across Europe immigrated to Canada. Their journey began on the Empress or a ship like it.
Landing Stage, Liverpool, postcard, not dated. Royal Alberta Museum, Western Canadian History collection.
The Canadian Pacific Railway offered combined ship and railway rates as a means to further entice potential immigrants to the Prairies. Fares included a swift and comfortable voyage aboard the Empress. Upon disembarking, passengers were met by a train that transported them west to their Prairie destinations.
last review/update: Feb. 6, 2009
