 Any male farmer who was at least 21 years of age and agreed to cultivate at least of the land and build a permanent dwelling on it (within three years) qualified.The population of the Canadian prairies grew rapidly in the last decade of the 19th century, and the population of Saskatchewan quintupled from 91,000 in 1901 to 492,000 to 1911.The vast majority of these people were immigrants from Europe.