However, Pier 21 experienced a surge
of activity during the war. It was the
port of departure for nearly 500,
Canadian service personnel heading to
the battlefields of Europe. It also received
“guest children” evacuated from Britain,
which was being heavily bombed. Sadly,
evacuations to Canada were curtailed after
a torpedo sunk the SS City of Benares—
which had children among its passengers—
on September 17, 1940.
After a fire in 1944, Pier 21 underwent
two years of repairs. This was yet another
chance to tweak and modernize the
facilities. It reopened in 1946, just in time for
a post-war rush of immigrants arriving from
Europe. By 1948, approximately 44,000 war
brides (women who married Canadian
servicemen overseas during the war) had
immigrated to Canada with their children.
During the 1940s and 1950s, thousands of
European refugees displaced by the war
also found new homes in Canada.
As air travel gained popularity in
the 1960s, the stream of people passing
through Pier 21 slowed to a trickle... then
a dribble... then a drip. Once known as the
gateway to Canada, Pier 21 closed its doors
in 1971.
Pier 21 was designated a national
historic site in 1996. It is now home to
the Canadian Museum of Immigration
at Pier 21. Its research center, exhibitions,
and events tell the story of immigration to
Canada. Visitors can try on costumes, pack
trunks, and board replicas of a ship and a
railcar to imagine what immigrating via
Pier 21 was like. Through official citizenship
ceremonies held there each Canada
Day, Pier 21 is once again welcoming
immigrants home to Canada.Welcome to Grosse Île
Like Halifax, Québec City was a major
port of entry for people immigrating
to Canada from Europe. Grosse Île
(pronounced: gross ee-l), a small island
in the St. Lawrence River, served as a
quarantine station for the Port of Québec
between 1832 and 1937. The station’s
staff cared for sick immigrants and
tried to prevent diseases like cholera,
smallpox, and typhus from reaching the
port.
The typhus epidemic that washed
over the island in 1847 took everyone
by surprise. That year, thousands of sick
immigrants fleeing the Great Famine
in Ireland were brought to Grosse Île
onboard tightly packed “coffin ships.”
More than 5,000 people died at sea.Personal items and legal documents are on display
at the Pier 21 Immigration Museum, National Historic
Site in Halifax, Nova Scotia.