Once the immigrant arrived in Winnipeg, however, the commercial elite did little to aid him. Prior to the construction of this Dominion Government Immigration Hall between 1902 and 1904 there were very few facilities for the new arrivals. And even this building was inadequate to meet the needs of the over 500,000 immigrants that entered Winnipeg after 1901. It had three floors with thirty-three 12' by 12' family bedrooms, and one floor with a 50' by 50' dormitory for single men. The result was that friends, relatives and even complete strangers rented out rooms on a day-to-day basis and this, of course, led to overcrowding and unsanitary conditions.
