There were three factors that largely determined how easy the initial years were for a homesteader: money, contacts and the time of arrival. Based on a survey of families in East Central Alberta, done in 1917, over 50% of the immigrants had arrived with no capital at all and another 42% had come with less than $500. Obviously any cash that was available would allow the homesteader to supplement what their land was providing with additional materials for food, clothing, etc. and would allow them to spend their time improving their own land without having to work for pay elsewhere. Those who moved near family and friends were often able to take advantage of material assistance while getting settled, but perhaps more importantly they had a support network which could help reduce feelings of loneliness and homesickness. Finally, by arriving in the spring a homesteader could have sufficient time to plant potatoes and some grains which they could harvest in the fall to get them through the very difficult first winter in their new homes.
The first critical decision a homesteader needed to make was on which quarter section they would file. As described earlier, there were 65 sections available per township which could be claimed for a $10 filing fee. Once claimed, the homesteader was required to clear at least 10 acres of land, undertake some cultivation, have built a habitable dwelling and some farm buildings, and live on the land for six months a year for three years. Once these requirements were met, the individual would submit an application for title (letters patent) to the land. If they failed to meet the conditions or chose to abandon their claim for whatever reason it would be available for another person to claim.
It is often claimed that the Canadian government intentionally led Ukrainian settlers to marginal lands, though there is little evidence to support this. In actuality the early Ukrainian settlers chose land that they valued more highly than what other groups considered to be ideal farming lands. While some other ethnic groups were already used to large-scale farming operations and chose their land based on what would suit such operations the Ukrainian assumptions of what made good land were based on the idea that they would be leading a subsistence economy similar to what they left. Thus, in addition to fertile land they also had other requirements, including woodlands for fuel, building materials and fencing. Fruits, berries, mushrooms and ingredients for folk medicines could be gathered in forests. Marsh or swamp land was valued as a source of slough grass, water for cattle, thatched roofing and game birds. Heavy yellow clay was essential for the construction of traditional dwellings. Stone, sand, willow and juniper were also valued for building resources. Because most of the Ukrainian immigrants came with few resources their choices were more about immediate survival than the potential for long term growth. For these reasons they generally settled along the edge of the northern edge of the prairie lands in a strip following the second trans-continental railway, the CN line, from south-eastern Manitoba through Winnipeg, Yorkton, Saskatoon and Vegreville to Edmonton. On the other hand it is likely that the government did develop a stereotype based on these early settlers which led them to suggest similar lands to late arriving Ukrainians as opposed to more favorable open prairie lands that other groups may have been settling.
Once the land was filed on, the first thing for the homesteader to take care of was to build a rudimentary shelter into which he could move his family from the immigration hall. Usually these shelters consisted of dug-outs framed over with a network of logs and covered in turn with sod. Ledges, in sod, were cut inside the huts to serve as seats, shelves, etc. A thick layer of hay or reeds took the place of beds and on these the whole family would sleep. Such basic huts would serve well if the weather happened to be dry, but would turn into mud holes in the event of rain.
At this point the more destitute settlers were often forced to leave the house, his wife and children in order to go out and work in order to earn enough to furnish that house and to provide for the initial needs of his family. In the winter time, men worked in the lumber camps and coal mines while in the summer time, once the spring seeding was over, the men and boys signed up for the railway gangs hired to build the branch-line railways which extended to all parts of Western Canada. The hours of labor were long (10-12 hours a day) and the wages were low (10-25 cents an hour). While he was away the women and children would begin clearing land for a garden and accumulating logs for the house. The construction of a house was a major undertaking involving months of hard labor. All members of the family would participate, often with help from neighbors. The men would normally cut and assemble logs to form the walls and frame the roof while the women usually did all of the work involving clay, such as plastering the walls and glossing the floors. These houses were built in the old country style from logs, or heavy slabs with the empty spaces between filled with a kind of brown clay mixed with hay and then whitewashed with lime on the interior and covered with a thatched roof.
The first purchase for most families after settling on their land was a cow. This animal would provide a source of nourishment to supplement the berries and wild game which were the primary source of food for the family in their early days. Often the berries picked would be carried on foot for miles to be sold in the nearest town with the money earned being used for sugar, flour, fat and sometimes even articles of clothing. Many times the household income would be provided by working in the woods, either on their own homestead or on neighboring properties. Trees were cut into cordwood and hauled to town to be sold, which often required hiring oxen from neighbors. The earnings from this back-breaking work were not very large. One cord of wood was priced at 40 cents and sometimes a little more. This amount would barely cover the going wages of the average homesteader-farmer, but one had to work to pay for implements - the plow, harrows, and binder - whose prices were high.
Before growing any crops, a farmer needed to clear the land of trees, roots and rocks and then plow the land. This was backbreaking work in which all family members participated. Some of the work was usually done during the process of building the house as trees cleared from the land could be used in construction. Often only an acre or two would be cleared in a year, but each year the land available for cultivation increased and little by little life became easier.
Long after the initial homestead was completed a farmer could consider obtaining additional land. After 1908 it was possible to pre-empt an adjoining unclaimed quarter for $4 an acre payable to the government within three years. Of course, there was rarely unclaimed land among the block settlements of the Ukrainians. What was available was the railway and Hudson's Bay Company lands though the price charged for that rose quickly. CPR land went from under $3.25 per acre between 1890 and 1902 to $21.53 per acre by 1917. HBC land first became available in 1906 at a price of $12.10 per acre. The other possibilities for increasing land lay in filing claims for all sons over the age of 18 and in buying out neighbors who had fallen on hard times.
What many of the Ukrainian settlers found lacking in their new homes was a sense of community. They left behind well-established villages where their neighbors were all close at hand and such amenities as existed were also nearby. The small parcels which they farmed were often not contiguous but rather a few acres in one place and a few more elsewhere. Many came to Canada expecting to be living in similar villages. Instead the homestead system meant that there were no real villages at all and such neighbors as they had were often miles away. There were also no churches, schools or stores outside of the cities such as Winnipeg or Edmonton. If they wanted such institutions they would need to build them for themselves. As the Ukrainian peasants historically have had very strong religious beliefs they would shortly build many churches across their settlements. What they lacked was clergy to lead their worship. The existing churches in the region such as the Roman Catholics and Russian Orthodox attempted to fill this void and sent missionaries which did lead to some communities deciding that a similar religion to their own was better than nothing and switching their allegiances. In due time the Ukrainian Greek Orthodox and Ukrainian Catholic churches would also be represented. This did occasionally lead to conflicts within the fledgling communities and in some extreme cases the church that had been built sat unused while different factions fought for legal control of it.
Under the Dominion Land Survey there was land set aside for schools, though the actual buildings needed to be constructed by the local settlers. The Ukrainian immigrants took advantage of this opportunity eagerly, though there were ongoing issues with regard to the language of instruction and with attempts at forcing children to conform to "western" standards. The schools question also was fought in the courts of the various provinces with the end result often being that schools were permitted to provide additional education in languages such as Ukrainian outside of regular class hours providing that qualified educators could be found.
The current of Ukrainian immigration which began with Ivan Pylypow in 1891 continued unabated into the twentieth century. For a full decade the Ukrainians formed one of the major immigrant groups arriving in Canada. The flow was directed almost exclusively to Manitoba and the Northwest Territories (the Districts of Assiniboia, Saskatchewan, and Alberta), contributing substantially to the growth of the population in these regions. Even today, over a century later this wave of immigrants leaves a distinctive mark across the Canadian prairie provinces.