A LENS ON VANCOUVER'S PAST
Photography by Walter Frost
IMMIGRANT SHIPS
M.S. TABIAN [at Ballantyne Pier]
August 30, 1954
(Vancouver Archives, CVA 447-8448, Photographer - Walter E. Frost)
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For Dutch emigrants leaving for Canada, their transatlantic crossing typically started in the world’s largest port of Rotterdam.
Emigrants would board one of five former troop transports such as the TABINTA (inset), sister ship of the TABIAN (pictured), the ocean liner NIEUW AMSTERDAM, or the economy liner MAASDAM; all chartered by the Netherlands government.
Travel times could take as little as four days or up to twelve days depending on the port of departure, route, type of ship, and if foul weather was encountered.
Arriving at Halifax's Pier 21 (Canada's Ellis Island), Quebec City or Montreal, Dutch immigrants were met by voluntary service agencies that provided for their immediate needs and arranged for train travel to their new homes across Canada.