By Valerie Sacchetti for Transformation Canada
The first wave of immigration to the newly created Dominion of Canada lasted until the Great Depression of the 1930s. During this formative period, many immigrant workers joined the Canadian labour force in such areas as railroad construction, mining, lumbering and harvesting. In the early part of this period, most Italian immigrants were considered sojourners. A sojourner is an individual who leaves his/her home country temporarily, to work in another country for a set period of time.
The early Italian sojourners that came to Canada were usually unskilled men who travelled alone. After a steady period of work, they would either send money to their families or return home with their earnings. Although most Italians initially came to Canada as sojourners, many soon discovered new possibilities for a better life in Canada. Many decided to stay and to bring over their families.
Years of war, rebellion and economic collapse had left many European countries in a condition where they could no longer comfortably feed all of their citizens. Peasant farmers and unskilled labourers began looking to the Americas for work and greater opportunity. When it became more difficult to get into the United States after the start of World War I in 1914, Canada became the America of choice for many Italians looking to better their lives. Montreal, Canada’s largest city at the time, became a logical choice for many early immigrants. Over time, a strong Italian community developed in Montreal, but its awkward beginnings were greatly influenced by the padrone system (Ramirez, 2007).
From the Italian word padre meaning father, these enterprising father-figures served as employment brokers for immigrant labourers.
Often, padroni were fellow Italians who had arrived earlier and managed to establish themselves in the community. They served to connect newcomers with job opportunities, living accommodations and fellow Italians. They often helped labourers come to the new country as well.
This was not a new word or concept for most sojourners or Italian citizens wishing to immigrate. A similar system was in place in Italy’s farming industry. Italians understood the system of working and tending to a farm owned by another person. They also understood that the farmer owed much to the padrone (landlord), in some farming villages as much as 3/4 of the harvest went to the padrone in the end. Connecting to a padrone may have been a cultural and symbolic link to the old world, but it also helped to link Italians to job opportunities in the new country.
Despite the familiarity of the padrone system, there were several new challenges for Italian workers who decided to take their chances in Canada.
Padrones were powerful in the Canadian system and with this uncontested power came several injustices. Sometimes padrones advertised for workers when there were few jobs available. In other instances, the work was seasonal, with meagre pay or harsh working conditions. Some Italian workers came to Canada intent on working the land as farmers, but were forced to work in infrastructure construction as manual labourers. Once Italians were in Montreal, they were at the mercy of the padrone who brought them there or assumed them as clients. Immigrant workers and sojourners had no one else to protect their rights. Some padrones received large financial incentives for each labourer that they brought in (Ramirez). Through a system of kickbacks, immigrant labourers were denied certain jobs if they were not represented by a padrone. Many padrones, like Antonio Cordasco, became respected business leaders in the community, but their methods and intentions were most often exploitative and self-serving.
