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AbstractAmong rural French Canadians migrating to Montreal during the crucial decades of thefirst stage of industrialization (1845-75), as in many other contexts, migration did notproduce a radical separation from kin and community of origin. A series of mechanismsallowed migrants to integrate migration and the adjustment to an urban and industrialcontext into their strategies of family organization. The predominance of familiesmigrating as units seems to be at the root of these mechanisms. This predominance offamily migration suggests the need to reexamine explanations of rural depopulation based solely on the experience of noninheriting sons, looking elsewhere than on the landfor the means to establish themselves. In addition to this integration into family units,most migrants were members of complex kinship networks, which played a role in theprocess of migration, secured ties with the community of origin, and were present in thecity. Chain migration and the formation of kin-networks in the city indeed indicate theimportance of kin as a potential resource. Its active role is reflected in its clustering inspace, its presence at baptisms and marriages, and by the overlap between kinship andoccupational lies.