From Hardships to Hope: The Intersection of Race, Labour, and Identity in Italian Immigration to Canada

This paper explores the complexities of Italian immigration to Canada, focusing on the intersections of race, labor, and identity through three distinct periods and perspectives. The first chapter examines Alberto Clot’s 1916 immigration guidebook, Guida e consigli per gli emigranti italiani negli Stati Uniti e nel Canada, analyzing the comparative experiences of Italian immigrants in Canada and the United States from the late 19th century to the 1930s. By exploring differences in education, work opportunities, labor laws, and religious life, this chapter highlights how these factors shaped the identities and opportunities of Italian immigrants. The second chapter delves into the impact of the Second World War and the post-war period on Italian communities in Canada, with particular attention given to the internment of Italians during WWII. This historical moment serves as a lens to examine racial and national tensions, as well as the enduring legacy of these experiences for Italian Canadians. The third chapter offers a literary comparison between two contemporary novels—Nino Ricci’s In a Glass House (1993) and Melania G. Mazzucco’s Vita (2003) both of which portray Italian immigrant experiences through the lens of child protagonists. This chapter discusses the novels’ historical settings and their contemporary relevance. These works are considered as acts of reclamation, filling a gap in literary representations of Italian immigration and offering new insights into this pivotal moment in history. Ultimately, this paper argues that Canada’s commitment to multiculturalism provided Italian immigrants with the ideal location, which has in turn shaped the collective memory and ongoing legacy of Italian Canadian identity.