by the turn of the twentieth century in the midst of almost every significant urban centre of canada and the united states, there existed a so-called "little italy" or "italian colony". these were sections of cities or towns where the recent italian immigrants lived in overcrowded dwellings. the purpose of this study of fort william's "little italy" is to present an analysis of the experience of italian immigrants within the context of this particular canadian setting from the beginning of the twentieth century to the second world war.