o - Memorial University of Newfoundland DAI

served as inlmned.iaries between the immi&fants and 'Canadian society' helping the
immignro to undersand and pin enay imo Canadian institutions. Initially, new
immigranls 'NU'e sqrepted into roomin&-bouses, fWs and Ienements ofien near
industrial areas. As immigranls became more enablished, often with the first
generation of CanadiaJl.bom wqe-earners. they moved to newer areas with more
adequale condicions. IO In some cues poI.itical. mllcua.l aid and reliaious
organizations screnacttened tics to the homeland and rewded immigrant assimilation
into Canadian sociecy. This was the case in the lralian and German-Canadian
commWlicies in che 1930s where the Consular, culOJtl1 and mlleua! aid societies
focused 00 ties to !he homelaDd racbcr than ties to ean.da.
The ItaJo-Canadian rommWlicy was ROC a homotenous entity. in faa ic was
made up of many people who considered themselves more ofa IOWn (puu) chan of a
nation.II This bepD co chante wicb the shared miararioo experiences of new IeaHan
immigrancs. Many immip'ana from different putS of Italy were thrown IOIetber
once they JOt 10 CallIda, shari.. nlOIl'lS at a boItdinc house. wortina fOIeCbcr and
sh.ariD& labour .,eaa. They also faced similar expcrienca in dealin& widl. a
mainscream Canadian 1OCie(y witicb often could ROC distifllllisb becwcen different
aroups of lIalianl. This cfw1&e from diverse sutM:ommWlicics co a more consolidacc:d
l°Bayley, -The Socia! SCl'UCtIIIe of lIaiian. - 10.
llRoben F. Harney, -Toronco's Litde Italy, 1885-190'5, - in Harney and J.
Vincenza Scarpaci, edt., liJtk lttllies ill NonIt AIIVriaI (Toronco: MlilticulOJtlI
HislOr)' Society of Oncario, 1911), 44-45.