Secret Life of Canada

Pier 21 and Canada's evolving immigration policy

Falen and Leah take a look back at this historic port of entry that saw almost a million immigrants and refugees arrive in Canada .

Pier 21, located in Halifax, was a historic port of entry and now houses the Canadian Museum of Immigration

New arrivals in the Immigration Examination Hall, Pier 21, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.
New arrivals in the Immigration Examination Hall, Pier 21, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. (Chris Lund/National Film Board of Canada)

In 1955, Canada's immigration officials began a special experimental program to bring in Palestinian refugees through Pier 21. Falen and Leah take a look back at this historic port of entry that saw almost a million immigrants and refugees arrive in Canada and then find out what has changed since Pier 21's heyday. And then they try to find out  if we are currently better or worse at responding to refugees in crisis zones like Gaza and Sudan.

With special guests Jan Raska from the Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier 21 and Gauri Sreenivasan from the Canadian Council for Refugees.

Pier 21 in Halifax is Canada's national museum of immigration. It is a brick building with a sign that says Pier 21 in block letters on the top centre of it. A Canadian flag flies in the front of it.
Pier 21 in Halifax is Canada's national museum of immigration. (CBC)

Listen to the episode here, and get transcripts of our series here.

Related episodes:

Key References