After 1867 the national government gave immigrants from Belgium a preferred status, and encouraged emigration to the Francophone Catholic communities of Quebec and Manitoba.

Edouard Simaeys became a part-time paid Canadian agent in Belgium to publicize opportunities in Canada and facilitate immigration.

[1] To provide financial support to Belgian immigrants suffering setbacks, the Société belge de bienfaisance was established in 1921 in Montréal.

Starting in the 1860s consular officials made on-site visits to inspect conditions in Canada, which eagerly welcomed the new arrivals.

The Walloon immigrants discovered they could continue to speak French in Canada, while the Flemish quickly learned English.

Some settled in towns such as St. Boniface, Manitoba, but most became farmers who specialized in dairy farming, sugar beets and market gardening.

[5] During the First World War, a realignment of the great powers made allies of Canada, which was part of the British Empire, and Belgium.

Some of the Canadian Expeditionary Force spent the First World War on Belgian soil and helped Belgium to repel the German invasion.

In November 1944, as a consequence of Operation Overlord, the Belgian port of Zeebrugge was liberated from the Germans by Canada's 12th Manitoba Dragoons, and a memorial commemorates the event.

Belgian exports include fuels, diamonds and mineral oils, vehicles, machinery and pharmaceutical products.