Similarly, those African Americans - many of whom were from Oklahoma - who responded to the Canadian Government's promotion of immigration to western Canada and who migrated to Alberta and Saskatchewan soon realized that the recruitment campaign was not meant for them. According to Stewart Grow and R. Bruce Shepard, the African American migrants encountered attitudinal and administrative barriers (Grow, 1974; Shepard, 1991). When a group of 200 African Americans sought admission to Manitoba in March 1911, the group's members were submitted to rigorous examinations regarding their health and financial and moral standing. When all passed and were admitted, some White Canadian citizens (especially in Edmonton and Winnipeg) protested and parts of the press argued for a ban on Black immigration to prevent 'the Negro question' and race riots (Winks, 2000, p. 308).  
By 1912, the movement for exclusion had spread: the Great Northern Railway sent notices to its employees advising them that potential Black immigrants would not be admitted to Canada. In the same year, W.D. Scott, Superintendent of Immigration, dispelled any doubts among African Americans by publicly asking them 'not to come to western Canada since opportunities for them were better in a warmer climate' (Winks, 2000, p. 312). With the start of the Great War, the Canadian Government took the opportunity to prohibit entry 'to any nationality or race [...] deemed unsuitable having regard to the climatic, industrial, social, educational, labour or other conditions [...] [or] because of their probable inability to become readily assimilated' (Shepard, 1997; Winks, 2000, p. 31). Although persons of African descent had lived in - and made their contributions to - Canada for centuries, the exclusionary intentions of the Canadian authorities were clear: Afrodescendants' alleged 'unsuitability' for the climate and society were regularly used as excuses for their extremely low rates of admission to the country.