The NFB is committed to respecting your privacy

We use cookies to ensure that our site works efficiently, as well as for advertising purposes.

If you do not wish to have your information used in this way, you can modify your browser settings before continuing your visit.

Learn more
Skip to content Accessibility

Socio-economic contribution of Immigrants (15)

  • Eye Witness No. 2
    Eye Witness No. 2
    1948 10 min
    Canada takes her seat on the United Nations Security Council and speeches by delegates are heard. Following scenes at Lake Success are scenes of British Columbia's Pacific slope, where, through the enterprise of a family of new Canadians, once worthless stands of hemlock are turned into a resource of immense value and usefulness.
  • Enemy Alien
    Enemy Alien
    Jeanette Lerman 1975 26 min
    This documentary tells the story of the frustration and injustice experienced by Japanese Canadians, who fought long and hard to be accepted as Canadians.
  • From Sherbrooke to Brooks - Inside a Migration Corridor
    From Sherbrooke to Brooks - Inside a Migration Corridor
    We're sorry, this content is not available in your location.
    Roger Parent 2016 1 h 7 min
    This documentary travels the migration corridor forged between Sherbrooke, Quebec, and the town of Brooks, Alberta, by French-speaking Africans. Most have come from the Democratic Republic of Congo, some by way of refugee camps in Uganda and Tanzania. Unable to find employment in Quebec, they travelled out West. An interweaving of personal stories and the filmmaker’s own trips back and forth through the corridor offer an honest look at how much work is yet to be done to successfully integrate these newcomers.
  • Iceland on the Prairies
    Iceland on the Prairies
    Radford Crawley 1941 21 min
    This film tells the inspiring story of the rise of the Icelandic communities in western Canada and their fine contribution to the Canadian heritage. Like many people who have emigrated to Canada and become true Canadians, the prairie Icelanders have retained many of the customs and traditions of their ancestral land. Their food, for instance, is prepared in Icelandic fashion; and although their children go to Canadian schools, they also learn the sagas and legends of their forefathers.
  • The Lumberfros
    The Lumberfros
    Stéphanie Lanthier 2010 1 h 11 min
    In Abitibi, hundreds of kilometres from the city, thousands of workers go North, as did Jos Montferrand and François Paradis. Working as brush cutters, these 21st-century lumberjacks discover Quebec's boreal forest. Far from their families, they spend 5 or 6 months a year in logging camps that mirror a new Quebec, those of French-Canadian descent and neo-Quebecers from Africa, Eastern Europe and Asia. All have come to earn a living in the forest. Filmmaker Stéphanie Lanthier invites us to spend an entire season inside this northern micro society. Using a direct cinema technique in the style of Pierre Perrault, she documents the lives of the brush cutters.
  • Mediterraneo Sempre - Mediterranean Forever
    Mediterraneo Sempre - Mediterranean Forever
    We're sorry, this content is not available in your location.
    Nicola Zavaglia 2000 1 h 12 min
    This feature documentary explores the roots and communities of the Italian immigrants who have made Montreal their home across the 20th century. Starting from a village in Calabria, the filmmaker recounts the saga of Italian immigrants and presents a chapter from the history of his own community. Wherever the tides of immigration carried them, the exiled descendants of Leonardo and Michelangelo have re-created a Mediterranean of the heart, to which they turn to reconnect with their roots.
  • The Newcomers
    The Newcomers
    We're sorry, this content is not available in your location.
    David Bennett 1953 27 min
    All across Canada, at every level, national life is being enriched and strengthened by the talents and skills, as diverse as the countries from which they come, which are being poured into their adopted land by immigrants from the British Isles and Europe. This film travels to many places from coast to coast to present a visual inventory of the many ways in which Canada's expansion is being helped by the newcomers, who see fresh opportunities to develop existing resources--both economically and culturally--and who also arrive as the purveyors of specialized knowledge from abroad.
  • Passport to Canada
    Passport to Canada
    We're sorry, this content is not available in your location.
    Roger Blais 1949 11 min
    In the 1940s thousands of immigrants are coming from Europe to Canada offering strength and skills in exchange for hope and a new life. 'The long night is ended, the morning draws nigh,' sums up the feelings of those who are sped through immigration formalities on their way to a fresh existence. Though the language may be different, these new Canadians soon find things in Canada that remind them of Holland, Poland or Belgium. Some immigrants carry on with their old trades--sewing, farming, diamond cutting. Others, on huge projects such as Des Joachims, use their muscles to help build their adopted homeland, while their love of culture and their skilled professions will make valuable contributions to Canada in the future.
  • A Passage Beyond Fortune
    A Passage Beyond Fortune
    We're sorry, this content is not available in your location.
    Weiye Su 2022 16 min
    Through an intimate archive of the Chow’s family lineage, A Passage Beyond Fortune offers an homage to the culturally significant but buried history of Chinese-Canadian communities in Moose Jaw.
  • The Third Heaven
    The Third Heaven
    Georges Payrastre 1998 48 min
    This documentary gives us a glimpse inside the influential but little-known community of Vancouver’s Hong Kong Chinese. Prejudices fall by the wayside as we discover the community's way of life and the vital role it plays in the Canadian and world economy through a moving, intimate portrait of the Lam family, who arrived here in 1991.
  • Walk a Mile: The Immigrant Experience in Canada - Episode 3 - Discrimination
    Walk a Mile: The Immigrant Experience in Canada - Episode 3 - Discrimination
    Dan Moscrip 1999 27 min
    Canada espouses the concept of a cultural mosaic, where ethnic and cultural diversity is respected. In episode 3, immigrant Canadians share their experience of this mosaic, presenting realities that do not always coincide with official policy. Many newcomers, especially visible minorities, encounter discrimination in imployment, housing and social acceptance. This film also addresses the experiences of refugees seeking asylum in Canada. Walk a Mile: The Immigrant Experience in Canada is a 4-part series that reveals the challenges faced by immigrants who leave all they know to make a new home in Canada. The aim of this series, as the title suggests, is for viewers to walk that symbolic mile in the others' shoes and to more readily show understanding and tolerance of the immigrant experience in Canada.
  • Walk a Mile: The Immigrant Experience in Canada - Episode 2 - Language
    Walk a Mile: The Immigrant Experience in Canada - Episode 2 - Language
    Dan Moscrip 1999 27 min
    Through interviews with new Canadians and supporting dramatizations, episode 2 looks at the trials and successes of newcomers struggling to learn one or both of Canada's official languages. Language, immigrants stress, is of major importance since the ability to communicate in English and/or French affects employment, social integration and acceptance. Without the necessary language skills, immigrants with academic or professional credentials often find themselves doing menial jobs. In some cases, newcomers are exploited by members of their own ethnic community. Walk a Mile: The Immigrant Experience in Canada is a 4-part series that reveals the challenges faced by immigrants who leave all they know to make a new home in Canada. The aim of this series, as the title suggests, is for viewers to walk that symbolic mile in the others' shoes and to more readily show understanding and tolerance of the immigrant experience in Canada.
  • Walk a Mile: The Immigrant Experience in Canada - Episode 4 - Employment
    Walk a Mile: The Immigrant Experience in Canada - Episode 4 - Employment
    Dan Moscrip 1999 27 min
    This final segment looks at the challenges newcomers face finding employment. The problem of having credentials recognized in a new country is explored. Immigrants with job training and skills cannot always work in their field of expertise since Canadian professional associations may not recognize their qualifications. An added difficulty surrounding employment arises from traditional gender roles where the man is expected to be the bread winner. Newcomers may have to adjust to new roles that disrupt family life. The problem posed by lack of job experience in Canada is also addressed. Walk a Mile: The Immigrant Experience in Canada is a 4-part series that reveals the challenges faced by immigrants who leave all they know to make a new home in Canada. The aim of this series, as the title suggests, is for viewers to walk that symbolic mile in the others' shoes and to more readily show understanding and tolerance of the immigrant experience in Canada.
  • Walk a Mile: The Immigrant Experience in Canada - Episode 1 - Identity
    Walk a Mile: The Immigrant Experience in Canada - Episode 1 - Identity
    Dan Moscrip 1999 26 min
    This episode puts a human face on the immigrant experience. Newcomers tell us why they have come to Canada and talk about how this move has affected their sense of identity. Families also discuss the conflicts between generations that immigration can cause. Walk a Mile: The Immigrant Experience in Canada is a 4-part series that reveals the challenges faced by immigrants who leave all they know to make a new home in Canada. The aim of this series, as the title suggests, is for viewers to walk that symbolic mile in the others' shoes and to more readily show understanding and tolerance of the immigrant experience in Canada.
  • World In a City
    World In a City
    Brett Story 2016 13 min
    World in a City is a portrait of Toronto and the steps Torontonians are taking to create a society that welcomes and encourages new immigrants to flourish. Join photographer Colin Boyd Shafer as he celebrates diversity in this short film, Canada’s contribution to the Big Cities project, an exciting international collaboration that uses documentary storytelling to outline both the challenges facing growing urban areas and the bold solutions to these ongoing problems.