The Canadian Museum of Immigration At Pier 21

After checking out the views at the Halifax Citadel, I took a ride to the Canadian Museum of Immigration, which is one of Canada’s national museums. Rather appropriately, Halifax’s Pier 21 is where this museum is located, where nearly one million immigrants landed here between 1928 and 1971. I know immigration is a hot topic these days in Canada and around the world, but this museum serves as a reminder of how important immigration was to Canada in its formation and identity as a country.

After paying the $16.25 admission fee, I was free to explore the museum. There are two main exhibitions of the museum. The first exhibition was a history of immigration in Canada with different artifacts, activities, and art pieces. There was one such activity where you had a single suitcase, and you had to decide which things were important to take and which to leave behind in your journey to settle in Canada. The exhibition itself touched on topics like deciding to come to Canada, how you travelled to Canada, and how you would adjust in Canadian life. 

There was an activity in this exhibition where you could take a practice citizenship test (permanent residents of Canada would have to take and pass this test to become Canadian citizens). I never had to complete one of these tests because I was born in Canada, but I wanted to test myself and see if I could pass the test. I barely passed with 16 of 20 questions correct, and some of these questions were legitimately difficult.

The second exhibition is a history of Pier 21 itself and its place in Canadian immigration history. In the mid 20th century, most immigrants would come to Canada by ship, and Pier 21 served as the Canadian version of Ellis Island in New York City. There were displays where you could see how the ship cabins would normally look, as well as big suitcase trunks where you could basically fit your whole life in.

For example, there is this picture of a Dutch settler’s belongings that he brought over to Canada.

There was a replica waiting room where prospecting settlers would wait to see if the authorities would allow them into Canada or not.

Most of the time, Halifax would not be the destination for settlers, so they would load themselves and their belongings onto train cars to take them further inland to find somewhere to live. I could not imagine sitting here for an extended period, and so settlers would have to do things to pass the time, such as play chess or checkers.

At least there was a station on the train car where you could make some food or coffee.

I did not take too many pictures during this exhibition as I think it would be more beneficial for you to go visit the Canadian Museum of Immigration if you ever end up in Halifax. There were more things in this museum that I have not talked about, including a film on Canadian immigration that you could go and watch. All in all, I am glad that I went to the Canadian Museum of Immigration, as it was a refreshing experience.

More pictures below: