In the first few years of the twentieth century, Sikhs with agricultural roots were seeking economic mobility and migrated to Canada which was seen as a sister colony to India which was under the British Raj at the time. As British subjects they saw opportunity to strengthen their land holdings by working and remitting their earnings back to their families, even as they lived in bachelor societies without the support of family for almost one decade. Many were enterprising and entrepreneurial coming from both farming and service industries (in service to the Crown). These men laid the groundwork for many more to follow even though Canadian public opinion and government racism dogged their every step.