Hi June

It is possible his parents had died and he was put into the Douglas Industrial Home for Orphan and Destitute Children - this was established in 1868 , and changed in 1881 to Isle of Man Industrial Home.
The Home did not have a ' Distributing Centre' in Canada, but used Quarrier to send children to Fairknowe in Brockville , Ontario until 1897, then Barnado.
I have a list of 300 children that were in the home from the late 1880's and early 1900's.
There is a John Christian on the list , but he was born 1880.
Hope this helps.
John Christian is a very popular name on the IOM , do you have possibilities for his birth ?
David Dwyer