Crown, corporation and church: the role of institutions in the stability of pioneer settlements in the Canadian West, 1870–1914

The agricultural settlement of western Canada took place within the framework of a complex socio-economic system produced by Canadian national institutions: the Crown, corporations and churches. The interaction of these Canadian institutions with institutions introduced to western Canada by immigrants played an important role in determining the long-term stability of immigrant rural communities. Whether an immigrant group achieved long-term stability or suffered social disintegration depended on the degree to which immigrant and host institutions werecongruentordissonant. The interaction of social and economic institutions is examined through the settlement experiences of five diverse groups that settled in western Canada before 1914: the Mennonites, Doukhobors, Jews, Mormons and Ukrainians.