History & Geography · Grade 8

Active learning ideas

Clifford Sifton and Western Immigration

Active learning helps students confront the complexities of immigration and settlement by moving beyond abstract facts to engage with primary sources and multiple perspectives. For this topic, students need to see how policies shaped people's lives while recognizing the human cost of displacement and unequal treatment. Hands-on activities make these ideas tangible rather than theoretical.

• Ontario Curriculum Expectations
• ON: History: Canada, 1890–1914: A Changing Society - Grade 8

• 35–50 min
• Pairs → Whole Class
• 4 activities

Activity 01

• Gallery Walk
• 45 min · Small Groups

Gallery Walk: Immigration Posters

Display reproductions of historical recruitment posters around the classroom. In small groups, students rotate to analyze each poster's targeted audiences, promises of land, and visual stereotypes. Groups jot notes and share one observation in a whole-class debrief.

Explain who the 'stalwart peasants in sheepskin coats' were and why they were targeted.

Facilitation Tip

For the Gallery Walk, circulate as students examine posters and ask guiding questions like, 'Whose voices are missing from this poster?' to push critical thinking.

What to look for

On an index card, students will write two sentences explaining who the 'stalwart peasants' were and one reason why they were targeted. They will also list one potential negative impact of the Dominion Lands Act.

• Understand
• Apply
• Analyze
• Create
• Relationship Skills
• Social Awareness

Activity 02

• Jigsaw
• 50 min · Pairs

Role-Play: Sifton's Policy Debate

Assign roles as Sifton, ethnic representatives, Indigenous leaders, and critics. Pairs prepare 2-minute arguments for or against the immigration hierarchy. Hold a structured debate where students vote and justify positions based on evidence.

Analyze how the Canadian government ranked different ethnicities in its immigration hierarchy.

Facilitation Tip

During the Role-Play Debate, assign roles with specific instructions and quotes to ensure students stay grounded in historical evidence rather than improvising inaccurately.

What to look for

Pose the question: 'If you were a government official in 1900, would you prioritize immigrants from Britain or Eastern Europe for prairie settlement, and why?' Students should use evidence from the lesson to support their arguments, considering economic and social factors.

• Understand
• Analyze
• Evaluate
• Relationship Skills
• Self-Management

Activity 03

• Concept Mapping
• 40 min · Small Groups

Concept Mapping: Settlement Patterns

Provide blank prairie maps. In small groups, students plot pre- and post-1900 settlements using data from the Dominion Lands Act records. Discuss overlaps with Indigenous reserves and predict long-term impacts.

Evaluate the impact of the Dominion Lands Act on settlement patterns and Indigenous lands.

Facilitation Tip

In the Mapping activity, have students trace the borders of reserves alongside homestead claims to highlight the spatial impact of settlement policies.

What to look for

Present students with three short quotes, one from Sifton, one from an immigrant diary, and one from an Indigenous leader. Ask students to identify the perspective of each speaker and explain how it relates to immigration and settlement in Western Canada.

• Understand
• Analyze
• Create
• Self-Awareness
• Self-Management

Activity 04

• Jigsaw
• 35 min · Individual

Jigsaw: Sifton Quotes

Divide Sifton's speeches and letters into segments. Individuals read and summarize one, then teach their group. Groups synthesize how quotes reflect ethnic preferences and recruitment strategies.

Explain who the 'stalwart peasants in sheepskin coats' were and why they were targeted.

What to look for

On an index card, students will write two sentences explaining who the 'stalwart peasants' were and one reason why they were targeted. They will also list one potential negative impact of the Dominion Lands Act.

• Understand
• Analyze
• Evaluate
• Relationship Skills
• Self-Management

A few notes on teaching this unit

Experienced teachers approach this topic by balancing empathy with critical analysis, ensuring students understand both the ambition of Sifton's policies and their human consequences. Avoid framing immigration as an unqualified success; instead, use primary sources to reveal contradictions and conflicts. Research shows that students grasp the nuances of this topic best when they engage with diverse perspectives and see how policy decisions played out in daily life.

Students will demonstrate understanding by connecting Sifton's policies to real experiences of immigrants and Indigenous peoples, using evidence from posters, quotes, and maps to support their arguments. They should articulate how government decisions influenced settlement patterns and recognize the biases embedded in recruitment strategies. Successful learning includes thoughtful debate, careful analysis of sources, and respectful discussion of differing viewpoints.

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Watch Out for These Misconceptions

• During the Mapping activity, watch for students referring to the prairies as 'empty land' before European settlement.

  Ask students to overlay Indigenous reserve boundaries onto the homestead map and discuss what the overlap reveals about land use and ownership before and after 1872.

• During the Role-Play: Sifton's Policy Debate, watch for students assuming all immigrants were treated equally under Sifton's policies.

  Have students refer to their assigned roles and quotes to defend why certain groups were prioritized, then challenge them to argue how this hierarchy affected specific communities.

• During the Gallery Walk: Immigration Posters, watch for students accepting the posters' promises of prosperity and opportunity at face value.

  Ask students to identify unfulfilled promises or omissions in the posters and compare them to diary entries or Indigenous testimonies to weigh the costs and benefits of settlement.

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Methods used in this brief

• Gallery Walk
• Jigsaw
• Concept Mapping