By 1871, at 24.3 per cent of the Irish formed the largest non-French ethnic group; the figures were even more striking in the provinces of Ontario (34.5 per cent) and New Brunswick (35.2 per cent).
Perhaps even more interesting was that approximately 60 per cent of the group were Protestants and Ulster was the principal province of origin in Ireland for those migrants.
In the case of New Brunswick, the particular history of migration from the port of Londonderry to St John during the 19th century has resulted in a large percentage of the New Brunswick population (38 per cent) tracing 'Irish' ancestry today, much of this from northwest Ulster - especially counties Tyrone, Londonderry, and Donegal - and of both Protestant and Catholic denominations.
Most interesting for Orange Order historians and academics is that New Brunswick and Ontario provide examples of how 'Orange and Green' factionalism has been resolved in the New World, lessons still being learning in Ireland.
Anyone who might like to research for ancestors who migrated to Canada can now log on to the Provincial Archive of New Brunswick at http://archives.gnb.ca/Archives/default.aspx?culture=en-CA