The ever-increasing number of European immigrants to Canada prompted the government to establish, in 1832, a quarantine station on Grosse-Île, one of 21 islands making up the Île-aux-Grues archipelago. In the station's first year of operation, some 50,000 immigrants were examined in an effort to limit the spread of cholera into Canada. The western part of the island was known as the Hotel Sector. The Village Sector in the island's centre housed employees of the station and their families. To the east the Hospital Sector included 21 hospitals, of which one is still standing. In 1990 Parks Canada opened the site to the public.