1906 – Dominion Immigration Building, Maple Street, Winnipeg

Large four story building designed by the Chief Architect’s Branch of the Department of Public Works in Ottawa and finished externally in brick and stone. David Ewart was Chief Dominion Architect from 1896 to 1914. Costing $147,000 it was intended as the flagship for immigration halls across the country. Although sited alongside a railway line, it was intended to impress in its role as a public building. The building was large and imposing with a tall main floor, nineteen feet tall, with a mezzanine over a third of it. For many newly arriving immigrants at the Canadian Pacific Station next door, it would be the first impression of the new fledgling country. Originally level with the railway line, the line was later raised removing the building’s impact from the train.

On the three upper floors, the building could comfortably house up to 500 immigrants at any given time and frequently more. Immigrants would be given a free week of accommodation while they found work or arranged to settle on a homestead farm. Each floor had rooms for families, a dormitory for single men, large washrooms with baths, a communal kitchen, where immigrants could prepare their own food, and a dining hall. The immigration hall also contained the office of the Commissioner of Immigration for Western Canada.

During the Second World War it had been used as a barracks and afterward it provided accommodation for war brides. Used for a variety of purposes afterwards including offices, and providing shelter for flood refugees, and Hungarian refugees in the late 1950s escaping the Soviet takeover. Closed in 1969, the Federal Government was unable to find a buyer due to the decline of the neighbourhood, and it was finally demolished in 1975.

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