Europeans knew about North America for over a century before they began settling here. Basque, Portuguese, French, and English fishermen regularly sailed to Newfoundland and Nova Scotia in the 1500s and 1600s for the rich offshore cod harvest. They often camped on the beaches but rarely stayed through the harsh winters. At the time, most Europeans lived in smoky, windowless huts heated by an open fire on the floor—hardly an incentive to brave even colder conditions overseas.

Archaeologist William Gilbert, working at Cupids in Newfoundland, suggests a few changes in homes construction changed everything.

“Recently it has been suggested that the late 16th century innovations such as fireplaces, wooden floors, glazed windows and woolen and felt clothing may have made it easier for Europeans to adapt to and survive during our cold northeastern winters. The first successful colony was established at Port Royal in Nova Scotia in 1605, followed by Jamestown, Virginia, in 1607, Quebec City in 1608, and Cupids in 1610.”

The exception was the Norse settlement at L’Anse aux Meadows. The Norse built peat houses with what interpreters call “smoke windows” in the roof or gable ends. As long as these remained open, their homes were relatively smoke-free and comfortable even in winter. They stayed at L’Anse aux Meadows for at least three years and explored parts of New Brunswick and the Maritimes in warmer months. However, their numbers were small—never more than about a hundred—and they soon lost interest in permanent settlement, preferring new trade opportunities in Europe.

When European settlement began in earnest six centuries later, it was driven by overcrowding in Europe, the promise of free land and abundant resources, and the search for religious or personal freedom. 

The rights of the non-Christian populations already living here were ignored. Under the Doctrine of Discovery, first laid out by Pope Nicholas V in 1452, Spain and Portugal were authorized to seize lands and enslave non-Christian inhabitants. French explorers like Jacques Cartier and Samuel de Champlain also claimed large parts of North America by “discovery.”

Britain did not recognize papal authority. The Royal Proclamation of 1763 acknowledged Indigenous land rights, though subject to the Crown. Instead of simply taking land, the British began negotiating treaties—a process left incomplete in many places, which is why most of British Columbia remains unceded territory today.

Canada’s First Nations were widely viewed by settlers as “ignorant savages” in need of civilization. Yet who was truly ignorant depends on perspective. An interpreter at Halifax’s Maritime Museum of the Atlantic explained how the Mi’kmaq planted and maintained semi-managed “forest gardens” along travel routes, carefully timing journeys to coincide with hunting, fishing, and gathering cycles. Before British arrival, there was always food nearby. Europeans however, did not recognize these forest gardens as agriculture and cleared them for roads, farms, and settlements.

The long conflict between England and France in North America began in 1613 when Sir Samuel Argall launched a naval attack on Port Royal, burning it and taking prisoners. Wars continued for 150 years until France ceded its North American territories in 1763.

Britain’s rule was soon challenged by the American Revolution (1775-83). Thirteen colonies broke away to form the United States. Nova Scotia—sometimes called the “14th colony”—also saw unrest but remained under British control. After the war, 40,000 to 50,000 Loyalists who wished to stay under British rule moved north, mostly to Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, with others settling in Quebec and Ontario.

By the time English and Spanish explorers reached the Pacific Northwest, these eastern settlements were well established. In 1792, British and Spanish officers agreed to name Vancouver Island “Quadra’s and Vancouver’s Island.” When Spain later withdrew, the simpler name ‘Vancouver Island’ stuck; nearby Quadra Island retained the Spanish commander’s name. The Spanish named Cortes Island after Hernán Cortés, the 16th century conqueror of the Aztec Empire in Mexico.

Thousands of settlers poured into British Columbia after Victoria’s founding and during the Fraser Canyon Gold Rush, yet by 1871 the population was still only about 36,000. In contrast, Ontario and Quebec had each long surpassed one million residents. 

BC’s real growth came after the completion of the Canadian Pacific Railway in 1885, which provided an affordable way to cross Canada. Many newcomers were European immigrant families. By 1911, BC had over 400,000 people, a quarter living in booming Vancouver, whose population would more than triple over the next four decades.

After World War II, Canada’s economy surged. Veterans could afford single-family homes, financed by new mortgage systems, and cheaper automobiles made commuting from suburbs feasible. This trend was especially strong in BC’s Lower Mainland. 

As urban costs rose, many families sold city properties and moved to remote places like Campbell River, Cortes, and Quadra Islands.

Meanwhile, Canada’s immigration policies evolved. Until 1962, they explicitly favoured British and northern European immigrants. The Continuous Journey Regulation of 1908 effectively barred South Asians, and Canada imposed a head tax on Chinese immigrants in 1885 before outright banning them under the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1923. 

Discrimination extended to First Nations, who were barred from voting in federal elections unless they renounced their treaty rights and Indian status—until Prime Minister John Diefenbaker’s reforms in 1960.

Diefenbaker also began dismantling racially biased immigration rules. This process continued under Lester Pearson and Pierre Trudeau. In 1967, Canada introduced a points system that assessed immigrants by skills rather than race. The 1976 Immigration Act formally embedded principles of non-discrimination, family reunification, and humanitarian protection.

As immigration became more globally inclusive, advances in air travel replaced long sea voyages and rail trips, allowing less affluent families to immigrate. Today, many newcomers settle in urban centres. Between 2016 and 2021, about 80% of immigrants to BC moved to Metro Vancouver, where the 2021 census showed that 60.3% of Richmond, 51.3% of Vancouver, and 49% of Surrey residents were immigrants—mostly from Asia, followed by Europe, the Americas, and fewer from Africa.

The latest wave of immigration has reached Vancouver Island, though in smaller numbers. Immigrants made up 26% of Victoria, 16% of Nanaimo, and around 10–13% in Courtenay, Comox, and Campbell River, where over half of the ‘settler’ population still comes from Europe. 

The Discovery Islands have seen a sharp rise in US-born residents, but aside from First Nations, most locals continue to have European roots.

Close to 6% of the respondents to the 2021 census were First Nations,
Métis or Inuit. They are found in every community.

Top image credit: An interpreter guides tourists through the Cupids Archaeological site in Newfoundland; all undesignated photos by Roy L Hales

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