Reeeepoaaast of an old question that never got an answer. I'm a hard working dirt-farmer Gael and some lordling just evicted me for the Agricultural Revolution so now I am homeless. How do I choose a new home and why was it so often in Canada?
As this one seems to have to some trouble being answered, I’ll attempt. I’m not a historian, but my family happens to have descended from those displaced by the Highland Clearances and who had settled in Nova Scotia; Cape Breton to be specific, so I’ve researched it quite a bit over the years. This is vastly simplified by necessity, but hopefully addresses your question.
So as a bit of background for those unaware, Scottish emigrants from the Highland Clearances (and earlier) tended to settle in various parts of Canada, the Carolinas, Australia, and New Zealand, but they formed particularly close communities in Nova Scotia (Cape Breton and Antigonish regions notably), PEI, and in Ontario. In these regions, Gaelic was widely spoken in the 18th and 19th centuries, forming its own unique dialect which survives to this day with an estimated 2000 [1] speakers of the language in Nova Scotia, with 300 claiming it to be their mother tongue as of 2011 [2]. Gaelic cultural identity is still a vibrant part of these regions like the well-attended Highland Games in Antigonish, Gaelic language courses, fiddle and pipping sessions, English-Gaelic road signs, and highland dancing. More recently the Province of Nova Scotia established an office of Gaelic Affairs to support and preserve the culture and Gaelic language.
Back to the main question of why it seems that many Scottish immigrate to Nova Scotia and this region in general. Cape Breton was under French control until 1758 when Fortress Louisburg was surrendered to the British after a six-week siege. This siege was attended by 78th Fraser Highlanders whose troops by accounts developed an affinity for countryside with its rich resources and similar geography to their native Scotland [3]. At the end of the end of the war in 1763, they were disbanded in Canada where some remained and some returned to Scotland.
When the Scottish Highland Clearances started to intensify a few years later, it's suggested that the region was remembered by many who returned from the war and was thought as a good place resettle. In Nova Scotia, this began with “The Hector,” a ship from Scotland that arrived in Pictou in 1773 carrying 169 Scottish settlers. When land-ownership in Cape Breton was made legal in 1784 and distinct Gaelic communities were created, the population of Gaelic settlers exploded with a more than 50,000 estimated settlers arriving on the island and Nova Scotia in general between 1815 and 1870.[4]
However, from there, the Gaelic population went into decline exacerbated by discrimination and isolation.
Nova Scotia is pocketed with diaspora. French communities exist on the South Shore and in Northern Cape Breton, Germans settled in New Germany and Lunenburg County; and of course the Scots in the North-Western parts of the province.
[1] https://gaelic.novascotia.ca/community
[3] [4] Bumstead, J.M (2006). "Scots”
Like The_Blackthorn, I'm not a historian, but I do have a B.A. Honours in History with most of my courses focused on Canadian, and western Canadian, history.
To add on to what The_Blackthorn said, Thomas Douglas, 5th Earl of Selkirk was granted a huge tract of land in what is now Manitoba, North Dakota, and Minnesota from the Hudson's Bay Company in 1811. (1) Lord Selkirk was Scottish and so brought many of those removed by the Highland Clearances to the Red River Settlement as colonists and homesteaders. Not all of Selkirk's settlers were Scottish but many were and many were displaced by the Clearances.
A lot of place names in Manitoba are Scottish in origin, including many parts of Winnipeg that were initially Scottish settlements. Towns like Selkirk and Minto and MacGregor all have Scottish origins.
(1) Ross, Alexander. The Red River Settlement: its rise, progress, and present state. London, Smith, Elder & Co. (1856) 8.