Canadian Australians () refers to Australians who identify as being of Canadian descent. It may also refer to Canadian immigrants and expatriates residing in Australia. According to statistics from 2006, there were as many as 21,000 Australians who have Canadian ancestors. Many Canadian Australians have immigrated from mainland Canada, as well as from the United States of America and from the United Kingdom. According to the 2016 Australian Census, there were 43,049 Canadian born Australians in Australia in 2016, which is an increase from 38,871 persons according to the 2011 Australian Census. The number of immigrants stem from both countries being former British colonies and both being parliamentary democracies in the Westminster tradition (Collins, 2015).
History
The first Canadian Australians were immigrants from both upper (now Ontario) and lower (now Quebec) mainland Canada who came to New South Wales and Tasmania because they were in exile during the 1837-38 Canadian civil war (High Commission of Canada, 2011). There were 154 prisoners that were sent to Australia (High Commission of Canada, 2011). Fifty eight of those were French Canadians that were sent to New South Wales without speaking English(High Commission of Canada, 2011). Of the convicts that settled in New South Wales, all were initially assigned as labourers and eventually allowed to be free settlers. These workers helped to build the foundation of Sydney's infrastructure that we still have today including Parramatta Road, Canada Bay, Exile Bay and a monument in Cabarita Park in Concord (High Commission of Canada, 2011).
The second wave of Canadian Australians came in 1851 in search of gold (Museums Victoria, 2017). The Australian Gold Rush saw people from around the world flock to Australia in search of gold, which included hundreds of Canadians (Museums Victoria, 2017). They made an impact in the popular town of Ballarat, where the ‘Canadian Gully’ was the name given to a gully after a Canadian gold miner found success and a large gold nugget was also named ‘The Canadian’ (Museums Victoria, 2017).
Canadian Australians helped to develop the foundations of modern-day Australian society in the years during and after the gold rush. In 1854 Samuel McGowan created Australia's first telegraph line which stretched from Melbourne to Williamstown (Museums Victoria, 2017). Around the same time, George and William Chaffe made multiple irrigation schemes throughout the Murray River (Museums Victoria, 2017). This allowed for water to be transported further away than before, which led to greater farming success and eventually the beginning of the dried fruit industry in South Australia and Victoria.
Australian-Canadian similar experiences during WWI
On the 4th of August in 1914 Great Britain declared war on Germany. Both Canada and Australia's prime ministers accepted that their armies would join the imperial armies due to Australia and Canada being British Dominions at the time. Canada's opposition leader, Wilfrid Laurier said that Canada was “Ready, aye, Ready” in relation to Canada going to war and Australia's then opposition leader and later prime minister, Andrew Fisher, similarly commented that Australia was committed ‘to the last man and the last shilling’ (Australian National University, 2017)
There were many similarities of Australians and Canadians during World War 1. The Australian 1st Division was initially commanded by Canadian-educated Major-General Sir William Throsby Bridges. In 1915 the Canadian army was grouped together in divisions which followed the precedent of the ANZAC (Australian and New Zealand Army Corps). Canadian and Australian soldiers also fought side by side on the western front (Australian National University, 2017). Australians and Canadians fought together again in Passchendaele in late 1917 and launched the final allied offensives of 1918 in the east of Amiens which involved a spearhead of Australian soldiers and another of Canadian soldiers (Australian National University, 2017).