Strathcona's activities in Hamburg precipitated an official complaint by the German Ambassador in London to the British Prime Minister. Canada's High Commissioner, who had no diplomatic immunity, was told he would be arrested if he returned to Germany "for inciting booking agents to emigration work". (Strathcona was formerly Donald Smith of the Canadian Pacific Railway, the financier who drove the "last spike" in 1886).

Canada's resident agents in Belgium and France had little success in persuading French-speaking farmers to leave for Canada. Between 1900 and 1910, Canada received only 21,000 settlers from France and Belgium combined, a matter of great concern in French Canada.