The Making of the Mosaic: A History of Canadian Immigration Policy

Joseph Garcea is a professor of political Studies at the University of
Saskatchewan.

The Making of the Mosaic is not the first major book on the history of
Canadian immigration policy, but it is probably the most substantial.
Two of its greatest strengths are its lucidly articulated theoretical
perspective on the forces that shape immigration policy and its
comprehensive analysis of the history of immigration policy. The authors
use a historical chronological approach in their review of immigration
policy from 1497 to 1995. The bulk of the book focuses on the period
from 1867 to the present. The last two chapters examine the efforts of
successive federal governments to update immigration policy and to
regulate the refugee influx.

This well-researched and extensively footnoted book does not offer any
major new insights; instead, it gives us a solid treatment of Canadian
immigration policy and its effect on the “making of the mosaic.”