LEGAL ASPECTS OF THE BELARUSIAN EMIGRATION TO CANADA (1921–1939)

UDC 325.2:34(476=71)

  • Koval Volha Uladzimirauna – PhD (History), Associate Professor, the Department of History of Belarus and Political Science. Belarusian State Technological University (13a, Sverdlova str., Minsk, Republic of Belarus). E-mail: koval@belstu.by

DOI: https://doi.org/10.52065/2520-6885-2023-269-1-16

Keywords: Belarusian emigration, Belarusian diaspora, Canada, legal adaptation, Polish immigration policy.

For citation: Koval V. U. Legal aspects of the Belarusian emigration to Canada (1921–1939). Proceedings of BSTU, issue 6, History, Philosophy, 2023, no. 1 (269), pp. 91–94 (In Belarusian). DOI: https://doi.org/10.52065/2520-6885-2023-269-1-16.

Abstract

This article examines the legal aspects of the formation the development of the emigration wave from Western Belarus to Canada. The intensity of the Belarusian emigration to Canada during the interwar period was analyzed, when the territory of Western Belarus was a part of Poland. The article presents the police of the Polish emigration authorities, which stimulated the intercontinental Belarusian emigration for the effectual polonization of the Belarusian population. The Canadian-Polish «railway agreements» were sign in 1926. According to the agreements, the possibilities for recruiting emigrants from Poland were expanded. The recruitment of emigrants in Poland was carried out by the Canadian railway companies «Canadian National Railways» and «Canadian Pacific Railways», which was recorded in regulatory intergovernmental documents. Particular attention is paid to the Canadian emigration policy, when the «railway agreements» were periodically suspended by the Canadian authorities. Restrictions on the possibilities of agreements limited the possibility of resettlement in the dominion.

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