In 1874, 8000 Old Colony Mennonites left Russia for southern Manitoba and Saskatchewan, Canada. The threat of Canadian military draft and state-controlled education pushed nearly 7000 of the most conservative members to move to north and central Mexico. An authoritarian church and a collapsing Mexican economy caused another exodus back to Canada. The Mennonites work in the seasonal labor market, planting and harvesting on Ontario's vegetable farms. Many continue to live a transient life journeying the highways back and forth from Mexico.