, native_name =
, native_name_lang =
, image = Chinese Canadian population by province.svg
, image_caption = Chinese Canadians as percent of population by province / territory
, pop = 1,715,770
4.63% of the Canadian population (2016)
, popplace =
Calgary
Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806, makin ...
,
Edmonton
Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city ancho ...
,
Montreal
Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...
,
Ottawa
Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...
,
Toronto
Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...
,
Vancouver
Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...
,
Victoria
Victoria most commonly refers to:
* Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia
* Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada
* Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory
* Victoria, Seychelle ...
,
Winnipeg
Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749,6 ...
, langs =
various other
varieties of Chinese
Chinese, also known as Sinitic, is a branch of the Sino-Tibetan language family consisting of hundreds of local varieties, many of which are not mutually intelligible. Variation is particularly strong in the more mountainous southeast of main ...
, rels =
, related =
Hong Kong Canadians
Hong Kong Canadians ( zh, t=加拿大港人 or ) are Canadians who were born or raised in Hong Kong, hold permanent residency in Hong Kong, or those who may trace their ancestry back to the territory. In Canada, the majority of Hong Kong Canadia ...
,
Taiwanese Canadians
Taiwanese Canadians are Canadian citizens who carry full or partial ancestry from the East Asian island country of Taiwan or from preceding Taiwanese regimes (Qing Taiwan, Japanese Taiwan, etc.). This includes Canadian-born Taiwanese (CBT).
The ...
Overseas Chinese
Overseas Chinese () refers to people of Chinese birth or ethnicity who reside outside Mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan. As of 2011, there were over 40.3 million overseas Chinese.
Terminology
() or ''Hoan-kheh'' () in Hokkien, refe ...
,
Chinese Americans
Chinese Americans are Americans of Han Chinese ancestry. Chinese Americans constitute a subgroup of East Asian Americans which also constitute a subgroup of Asian Americans. Many Chinese Americans along with their ancestors trace lineage from ...
Chinese Canadians are
Canadians
Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...
of full or partial
Chinese
Chinese can refer to:
* Something related to China
* Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity
**''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation
** List of ethnic groups in China, people of va ...
ancestry, which includes both
naturalized
Naturalization (or naturalisation) is the legal act or process by which a non-citizen of a country may acquire citizenship or nationality of that country. It may be done automatically by a statute, i.e., without any effort on the part of the in ...
Chinese immigrant
Waves of Chinese emigration have happened throughout history. They include the emigration to Southeast Asia beginning from the 10th century during the Tang Dynasty, to the Americas during the 19th century, particularly during the California g ...
s and Canadian-born Chinese. They comprise a subgroup of
East Asian Canadians
East Asian Canadians are Canadians who were either born in or can trace their ancestry to East Asia. The term East Asian Canadian is a subgroup of Asian Canadians. According to Statistics Canada, East Asian Canadians are considered visible mi ...
which is a further subgroup of
Asian Canadians
Asian Canadians are Canadians who were either born in or can trace their ancestry to the continent of Asia. Canadians with Asian ancestry comprise both the largest and fastest growing group in Canada, after European Canadians, with roughly 19 ...
. Demographic research tends to include immigrants from
Mainland China
"Mainland China" is a geopolitical term defined as the territory governed by the People's Republic of China (including islands like Hainan or Chongming), excluding dependent territories of the PRC, and other territories within Greater China. ...
,
Taiwan
Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...
,
Hong Kong
Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...
, and
Macau
Macau or Macao (; ; ; ), officially the Macao Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (MSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China in the western Pearl River Delta by the South China Sea. With a pop ...
, as well as
overseas Chinese
Overseas Chinese () refers to people of Chinese birth or ethnicity who reside outside Mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan. As of 2011, there were over 40.3 million overseas Chinese.
Terminology
() or ''Hoan-kheh'' () in Hokkien, refe ...
who have immigrated from
Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, south-eastern region of Asia, consistin ...
and
South America
South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the southe ...
into the broadly defined Chinese Canadian category.
Canadians who identify themselves as being of Chinese ethnic origin make up about 5.1% of the Canadian population, or about 1.77 million people according to the 2016 census.
While other Asian groups are growing rapidly in the country, the Chinese Canadian community fell slightly to 1.71 million, or 4.63% of the Canadian population, in the
2021 Canadian census
The 2021 Canadian census was a detailed enumeration of the Canadian population with a reference date of May 11, 2021. It follows the 2016 Canadian census, which recorded a population of 35,151,728. The overall response rate was 98%, which is sl ...
.
The Chinese-Canadian community is the second largest ethnic group of Asian Canadians, constituting approximately 40% of the
Asian Canadian
Asian Canadians are Canadians who were either born in or can trace their ancestry to the continent of Asia. Canadians with Asian ancestry comprise both the largest and fastest growing group in Canada, after European Canadians, with roughly 19.3 ...
population. Most Canadians of Chinese descent are concentrated within the provinces of
Ontario
Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...
and
British Columbia
British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...
.
History
Pre-19th century
The first record of Chinese in what is known as Canada today can be dated back to 1788. The British
fur trade
The fur trade is a worldwide industry dealing in the acquisition and sale of animal fur. Since the establishment of a world fur market in the early modern period, furs of boreal, polar and cold temperate mammalian animals have been the mos ...
r
John Meares
John Meares (c. 1756 – 1809) was an English navigator, explorer, and maritime fur trader, best known for his role in the Nootka Crisis, which brought Britain and Spain to the brink of war.
Career
Meares' father was Charles Meares, "formerly an ...
hired a group of roughly 70 Chinese carpenters from
Macau
Macau or Macao (; ; ; ), officially the Macao Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (MSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China in the western Pearl River Delta by the South China Sea. With a pop ...
and employed them to build a ship, the ''North West America'', at
Nootka Sound
, image = Morning on Nootka Sound.jpg
, image_size = 250px
, alt =
, caption = Clouds over Nootka Sound
, image_bathymetry =
, alt_bathymetry =
, caption_bathymetry = Map of Nootka So ...
,
Vancouver Island
Vancouver Island is an island in the northeastern Pacific Ocean and part of the Canadian Provinces and territories of Canada, province of British Columbia. The island is in length, in width at its widest point, and in total area, while are o ...
,
British Columbia
British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...
. This was then an increasingly important but disputed European outpost on the Pacific coast, which, after Spanish seizure, was abandoned by Mears, leaving the eventual whereabouts of the carpenters largely unknown.
19th century
![Chinese at work on CPR](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2f/Chinese_at_work_on_C.P.R._%28Canadian_Pacific_Railway%29_in_Mountains%2C_1884.jpg)
Before 1885 and the completion of the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR), access to British Columbia from other parts of Canada was difficult. The creation of a better transportation system was essential to integration of British Columbia into the new Confederation.
Chinese railway workers made up the labour force for construction of two one-hundred mile sections of the
Canadian Pacific Railway
The Canadian Pacific Railway (french: Chemin de fer Canadien Pacifique) , also known simply as CPR or Canadian Pacific and formerly as CP Rail (1968–1996), is a Canadian Class I railway incorporated in 1881. The railway is owned by Canadi ...
from the Pacific to
Craigellachie in the
Eagle Pass in British Columbia. When British Columbia agreed to join Confederation in 1871, one of the conditions was that the Dominion government build a railway linking B.C. with eastern Canada within 10 years. British Columbian politicians and their electorate agitated for an immigration program from the
British Isles
The British Isles are a group of islands in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-western coast of continental Europe, consisting of the islands of Great Britain, Ireland, the Isle of Man, the Inner and Outer Hebrides, the Northern Isles, ...
to provide this railway labour, but Prime Minister Sir
John A. Macdonald
Sir John Alexander Macdonald (January 10 or 11, 1815 – June 6, 1891) was the first prime minister of Canada, serving from 1867 to 1873 and from 1878 to 1891. The dominant figure of Canadian Confederation, he had a political career that sp ...
, betrayed the wishes of his constituency (
Victoria
Victoria most commonly refers to:
* Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia
* Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada
* Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory
* Victoria, Seychelle ...
) by insisting the project cut costs by employing Chinese immigrants to build the railway, and summarized the situation this way to Parliament in 1882: "It is simply a question of alternatives: either you must have this labour or you can't have the railway." (British Columbian politicians had wanted a settlement-immigration plan for workers from the British Isles, but Canadian politicians and investors said it would be too expensive).
Chinese communities in Canada in the 19th and well into the 20th centuries were organized around the traditional kinship systems linking people belonging to the same clans together.
As not everyone in the Chinese communities necessarily belonged to the same clans, "voluntary" associations that functioned in many ways like guilds that provided social welfare, community events and a forum for politics became very important in Chinese-Canadian communities.
Linking together all of the voluntary associations were Benevolent Associations that in effect ran the various
Chinatowns in Canada
Chinatowns in Canada generally exist in the large cities of Vancouver, Ottawa, Calgary, Edmonton, Toronto, and Montreal, and existed in some smaller towns throughout the history of Canada. Prior to 1900, almost all Chinese were located in Briti ...
, mediating disputes within the communities and providing for leaders who negotiated with Canadian politicians.
As many Chinese immigrants knew little or no English, and most white Canadians did not welcome them, the Chinatowns tended to be cut off from the wider Canadian communities, functioning as "islands". The Canadian media in the late 19th and early 20th centuries depicted the Chinatowns in lurid and sensationalist terms as centres of "filth"; using the very poverty of the Chinese against them, Canadian newspapers frequently claimed that the Chinese immigrants were an innately dirty people who carried infectious diseases and were prone to criminality.
Reflecting the popularity of "
Yellow Peril
The Yellow Peril (also the Yellow Terror and the Yellow Specter) is a racist, racial color terminology for race, color metaphor that depicts the peoples of East Asia, East and Southeast Asia as an existential danger to the Western world. As a ...
" stereotypes, the media blamed Chinese immigrants for all the crime in Canada, depicting the Chinese as luring innocent white Canadians into gambling, prostitution and drug addiction.
Many workers from
Guangdong
Guangdong (, ), alternatively romanized as Canton or Kwangtung, is a coastal province in South China on the north shore of the South China Sea. The capital of the province is Guangzhou. With a population of 126.01 million (as of 2020) ...
Province (mainly
Taishanese people
Taishanese people or Sze Yup people or Toisanese (, Taishanese: Hlei Yip Gong Ong Ngin) are a Han Chinese group coming from Sze Yup ( 四 邑), which consisted of the four county-level cities of Taishan, Kaiping, Xinhui and Enping. Heshan has s ...
and
Pearl River Delta
The Pearl River Delta Metropolitan Region (PRD; ; pt, Delta do Rio das Pérolas (DRP)) is the low-lying area surrounding the Pearl River estuary, where the Pearl River flows into the South China Sea. Referred to as the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Mac ...
peoples) arrived to help build the
Canadian Pacific Railway
The Canadian Pacific Railway (french: Chemin de fer Canadien Pacifique) , also known simply as CPR or Canadian Pacific and formerly as CP Rail (1968–1996), is a Canadian Class I railway incorporated in 1881. The railway is owned by Canadi ...
in the 19th century as did Chinese veterans of the gold rushes. These workers accepted the terms offered by the Chinese labour contractors who were engaged by the railway construction company to hire them—low pay, long hours, lower wages than non-Chinese workers and dangerous working conditions, in order to support their families that stayed in China. Their willingness to endure hardship for low wages enraged fellow non-Chinese workers who thought they were unnecessarily complicating the labour market situations. Most of the Chinese immigrants in the 19th century spoke Cantonese and their term for Canada was ''Gum San'' ( zh, c=
金山, j=gam1 saan1, cy=gām sāan, l=golden mountain).
[Yu, Henry "Asian Canadian History" p.116-134 from ''The Oxford Handbook of Asian American History'', edited by David Yoo & Eiichiro Azuma, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2016 p. 119] The name ''Gum San'', which concerned a supposed gigantic mountain made of pure gold located somewhere in the Rockies, was not taken literally, but instead was a metaphor for the hopes of Chinese immigrants for greater wealth in Canada.
Almost all of the Chinese immigrants in the 19th century were young men, with women staying behind in China with the hope of marrying a "Gold mountain guest" as those who made money in Canada usually returned to China. Unable to marry white women, many Chinese men in Canada married First Nations women as the Indian peoples were more willingly to accept them.
From the passage of the
Chinese Immigration Act
The ''Chinese Immigration Act, 1885'' was a Canadian Act of Parliament that placed a head tax of $50 () on all Chinese immigrants entering Canada. It was based on the recommendations published in the Royal Commission on Chinese Immigration in 1 ...
in 1885, the Canadian government began to charge a substantial
head tax
A poll tax, also known as head tax or capitation, is a tax levied as a fixed sum on every liable individual (typically every adult), without reference to income or resources.
Head taxes were important sources of revenue for many governments fr ...
for each Chinese person trying to immigrate to Canada.
The Chinese were the only ethnic group that had to pay such a tax. Owing to the fear of the "
Yellow Peril
The Yellow Peril (also the Yellow Terror and the Yellow Specter) is a racist, racial color terminology for race, color metaphor that depicts the peoples of East Asia, East and Southeast Asia as an existential danger to the Western world. As a ...
", in 1895 the government of
Mackenzie Bowell
Sir Mackenzie Bowell (; December 27, 1823 – December 10, 1917) was a Canadian newspaper publisher and politician, who served as the fifth prime minister of Canada, in office from 1894 to 1896.
Bowell was born in Rickinghall, Suffolk, En ...
passed an act forbidding any Asian-Canadian to vote or hold office.
Early 20th century
In 1902, the Liberal Prime Minister Sir
Wilfrid Laurier
Sir Henri Charles Wilfrid Laurier, ( ; ; November 20, 1841 – February 17, 1919) was a Canadian lawyer, statesman, and politician who served as the seventh prime minister of Canada from 1896 to 1911. The first French Canadian prime minis ...
appointed a Royal Commission on Chinese and Japanese Immigration, whose report stated that the Asians were "unfit for full citizenship ... obnoxious to a free community and dangerous to the state."
Following the Royal Commission's report, Parliament voted to increase the Chinese
head tax
A poll tax, also known as head tax or capitation, is a tax levied as a fixed sum on every liable individual (typically every adult), without reference to income or resources.
Head taxes were important sources of revenue for many governments fr ...
to $500 dollars, which temporarily caused Chinese immigration to Canada to stop.
However, those Chinese wishing to go to Canada began to save up money to pay the head tax, which led to agitation, especially in British Columbia for the Dominion government to ban Asian immigration.
Between September 7–9, 1907, an
anti-Asian pogrom took place in Vancouver. The
Asiatic Exclusion League
The Asiatic Exclusion League (often abbreviated AEL) was an organization formed in the early 20th century in the United States and Canada that aimed to prevent immigration of people of Asian origin.
United States
In May 1905, a mass meeting was he ...
organized attacks against homes and businesses owned by Chinese, Japanese, Korean and Indian immigrants under the slogan "White Canada Forever!"; though no one was killed, much property damage was done and numerous Asian-Canadians were beaten up.
![ChineseCanadiansinHighPark](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bb/ChineseCanadiansinHighPark.jpg)
The 1907 pogrom was merely the most dramatic expression of the continuous agitation in Canada, especially in western Canada and among the working class, for the total exclusion of Asian immigration to Canada. In 1922, the feminist
Emily Murphy
Emily Murphy (born Emily Gowan Ferguson; 14 March 186827 October 1933) was a Canadian women's rights activist and author. In 1916, she became the first female magistrate in Canada and in the British Empire. She is best known for her contributio ...
published her best-selling book ''The Black Candle'' blaming Chinese and black immigrants for allegedly causing the problems of drug addiction among white Canadians. In 1923, the federal
Liberal
Liberal or liberalism may refer to:
Politics
* a supporter of liberalism
** Liberalism by country
* an adherent of a Liberal Party
* Liberalism (international relations)
* Sexually liberal feminism
* Social liberalism
Arts, entertainment and m ...
government of
William Lyon Mackenzie King
William Lyon Mackenzie King (December 17, 1874 – July 22, 1950) was a Canadian statesman and politician who served as the tenth prime minister of Canada for three non-consecutive terms from 1921 to 1926, 1926 to 1930, and 1935 to 1948. A Li ...
banned Chinese immigration with the passage of the
Chinese Immigration Act of 1923
The Chinese Immigration Act, 1923, known today as the Chinese Exclusion Act (the duration of which has been dubbed the Exclusion Era), was an act passed by the government of Liberal Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King, banning most forms o ...
, although numerous exemptions for businessmen, clergy, students and others did not end immigration entirely. With this act, the Chinese received similar legal treatment to blacks before them who Canada also had specifically excluded from immigration on the basis of race. (This was formalised in 1911 by Prime Minister Sir Wilfrid Laurier who in Sub-section (c) of Section 38 of the Immigration Act called blacks "unsuitable" for Canada.) During the next 25 years, more and more laws against the Chinese were passed. Most jobs were closed to Chinese men and women. Many Chinese opened their own restaurants and laundry businesses. In
British Columbia
British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...
,
Saskatchewan
Saskatchewan ( ; ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada, western Canada, bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and on t ...
and
Ontario
Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...
, Chinese employers were not allowed to hire white females. Ernest Chewant Mark, an immigrant who arrived in Canada in 1908, emerged as one of the leading critics of the 1923 Exclusion Act, and worked closely with Senator
William Proudfoot
William Proudfoot, (February 21, 1859 – December 3, 1922) was an Ontario politician and barrister.
He was born in Colborne Township, Ontario, Colborne Township, Huron County, Ontario, Huron County, Canada West, the son of Robert Proudfoot ...
, a Presbyterian minister, into seeking to pressure the government to repeal the act.
![High Park - Toronto, Ontario - 1920](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f3/High_Park_-_Toronto%2C_Ontario_-_1920.jpg)
Some of those Chinese-Canadian workers settled in Canada after the railway was constructed. Most could not bring the rest of their families, including immediate relatives, due to government restrictions and enormous processing fees. They established
Chinatown
A Chinatown () is an ethnic enclave of Chinese people located outside Greater China, most often in an urban setting. Areas known as "Chinatown" exist throughout the world, including Europe, North America, South America, Asia, Africa and Austra ...
s and societies in undesirable sections of the cities, such as Dupont Street (now East Pender) in Vancouver, which had been the focus of the early city's red-light district until Chinese merchants took over the area from the 1890s onwards. During the Great Depression, life was even tougher for the Chinese than it was for other Canadians. In
Alberta
Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...
, for example, Chinese Canadians received relief payments of less than half the amount paid to other Canadians. And because the Chinese Exclusion Act prohibited any additional immigration from China, the Chinese men who had arrived earlier had to face these hardships alone, without the companionship of their wives and children. Census data from 1931 shows that there were 1,240 men to every 100 women in Chinese-Canadian communities. To protest the Chinese Exclusion Act, Chinese Canadians closed their businesses and boycotted
Dominion Day
Dominion Day was a day commemorating the granting of certain countries Dominion status — that is, "autonomous Communities within the British Empire, equal in status, in no way subordinate one to another in any aspect of their domestic or external ...
celebrations every July 1, which became known as "Humiliation Day" by the Chinese Canadians. The film-maker Melinda Friedman stated about her interviews with Chinese-Canadian veterans of World War II: "The thing that was the most shocking to me was hearing from the veterans ... describe what life was like in Vancouver as late as 1940, with the Ku Klux Klan living in Vancouver who were targeting, quite often, the Chinese community."
In 1937, when Japan attacked China, the
government of Chiang Kai-shek asked for the overseas Chinese communities to support the homeland. From 1937 onward, the Chinese-Canadian community regularly organized fund-raising events to raise money for China.
[Con, Harry & Con, Ronald ''From China to Canada A History of Chinese Communities in Canada'', Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, 1982 page 189.] By 1945, the Chinese Canadians had contributed $5 million Canadian dollars to China.
Following the Xi'an Incident of December 1936, a "United Front" bringing together the Chinese Communist Party and the Kuomintang had been formed to resist Japanese aggression, which was soon put to the test when Japan invaded China in July 1937. Within the Chinese-Canadian communities, a "United Front" atmosphere prevailed from the summer of 1937 on as various community leaders put aside their differences to focus on supporting China. Starting in 1937, a boycott was organized of Japanese goods, and Canadian businesses that sold war materials to Japan were subject of demonstrations. One of the main slogans used at the demonstrations was "Don't Kill Babies", a reference to the Imperial Japanese Army's habit of using Chinese infants for "bayonet practice".
Second World War
![WWII Veteran George Chow](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/28/WWII_Veteran_George_Chow.jpg)
The Second World War became the turning point in history of Chinese Canadians. To show support for the war, fund-raising events were held from September 1939 to raise money for the Canadian war effort, and by 1945, Chinese Canadians had purchased some $10 million worth of Victory Bonds.
[Con, Harry & Con, Ronald ''From China to Canada A History of Chinese Communities in Canada'', Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, 1982 page 200.] The Chinese community of Victoria was praised in a parliamentary resolution for being especially active in holding events to encourage people to buy Victory Bonds.
In December 1941, Canada declared war on Japan, and from time onward, China was an ally, which helped to change white Canadian views.
![WWII_Chinese_Victory_Bonds_Advertisement](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/23/WWII_Chinese_Victory_Bonds_Advertisement.jpg)
The Afro-American newspaper
''The Pittsburgh Courier'' called for the "double victory" or "
Double V campaign
The Double V campaign was a slogan and drive to promote the fight for democracy in overseas campaigns and at the home front in the United States for African Americans during World War II. The Double V refers to the "V for victory" sign prominen ...
" in a 1942 editorial, urging black Americans to work for victory over fascism abroad and racism at home.
Though originally intended for black Americans, the slogan of "double victory" was taken up by Asian-American groups as well. The same slogan of "double victory" came to be embraced by Chinese Canadians. Despite not being allowed to vote or hold office, about 600 Chinese Canadians enlisted as "active" members to fight overseas (until late 1944 all Canadians serving abroad were volunteers).
The prime minister,
William Lyon Mackenzie King
William Lyon Mackenzie King (December 17, 1874 – July 22, 1950) was a Canadian statesman and politician who served as the tenth prime minister of Canada for three non-consecutive terms from 1921 to 1926, 1926 to 1930, and 1935 to 1948. A Li ...
, did not want Chinese Canadians to serve in the military as he knew that veterans would demand the right to vote just as Chinese-Canadian veterans had done after World War I, but strong pressure from the British
Special Operations Executive
The Special Operations Executive (SOE) was a secret British World War II organisation. It was officially formed on 22 July 1940 under Minister of Economic Warfare Hugh Dalton, from the amalgamation of three existing secret organisations. Its pu ...
, which needed Asian-Canadians to work as agents who could go undercover in Japanese-occupied Asia, forced his hand. Unlike in the First World War, where about 300 Chinese Canadians had served in the Canadian Expeditionary Force, this time Chinese Canadians serving in the Canadian military were given officers' commissions.
All three services were reluctant to have Chinese Canadians given officers' commissions as having Asian men serving as officers giving orders to white men challenged the racial hierarchy.
However, all those serving as airmen in the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) were officers, and once Chinese-Canadian airmen received officers' commissions, both the Army and the Navy were forced to follow suit. The RCAF was the service most open to Chinese Canadians because of the heavy losses taken in the bombing offensive against Germany. For RCAF, a 5% loss ratio was considered crippling and between March 5-June 24, 1943, the 6th Group of the RCAF lost 100 bombers in air raids over Germany, suffering a 7% loss ratio; altogether, 9,980 Canadians were killed in bombing raids against German cities between 1940–45, making the strategic bombing offensive one of the most costly operations for Canada in World War II.
In 1943,
William Lore William Lore RCN (William K.L. Lore/Traditional Chinese : 羅景鎏, February 28, 1909 – September 22, 2012) was a lieutenant in the Royal Canadian Navy during World War II.
He was the first Chinese Canadian to join the Royal Canadian Navy an ...
was commissioned as a Lieutenant-Commander in the Royal Canadian Navy, becoming the first person of Chinese descent to be given an officer's commission in any of the Commonwealth navies.
Lore was the first Allied officer to land in Hong Kong on August 30, 1945 and it he who announced to the surviving Canadian POWs, who had been held in barbaric conditions by the Japanese since surrendering on Christmas Day in 1941, being reduced down to "human skeletons", that they were now free men.
Kam Hem Douglas Sam of the Royal Canadian Air Force, who had been serving on a Halifax bomber was shot down over France on June 28, 1944, and joined the French resistance, being awarded the Croix de Guerre from France after the war for his work with the resistance.
Sam, who came from Victoria and could remember some French from high school, was able to pass himself off as a Vietnamese student in Reims.
Sam first served with as a liaison with the SOE to organize landings of arms to the resistance from Britain.
Sam later fought with the resistance, ambushing German troops on their way to Normandy.
Flying Officer Quan Jil Louie of the RCAF was killed in early 1945 when his bomber was shot down over Germany.
As Louie came from one of the more wealthier families of Vancouver's Chinatown, his death in action attracted much attention in Vancouver, and with it commentary he was not allowed to vote or hold office.
![Chinese-Canadian Soldiers-WW2](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/60/Chinese-Canadian_Soldiers-WW2.jpg)
A number of Chinese Canadians were recruited by the
Special Operations Executive
The Special Operations Executive (SOE) was a secret British World War II organisation. It was officially formed on 22 July 1940 under Minister of Economic Warfare Hugh Dalton, from the amalgamation of three existing secret organisations. Its pu ...
(SOE) to serve in Japanese-occupied regions of China and Southeast Asia.
About 150 Chinese Canadians served with the SOE
Force 136
Force 136 was a far eastern branch of the British World War II intelligence organisation, the Special Operations Executive (SOE). Originally set up in 1941 as the India Mission with the cover name of GSI(k), it absorbed what was left of SOE's Or ...
behind Japanese lines in Burma.
Douglas Jung
Douglas Jung, (; February 25, 1924 – January 4, 2002) was a Canadian lawyer, politician, military officer, and Special Operations Executive secret agent. A Conservative, he was the first member of a visible minority elected to the Parliament ...
, who later become the first Chinese-Canadian MP, served as a SOE agent in Japanese-occupied Malaya in 1944–45, which was highly dangerous work as the ''Kenpeitai'', the much feared Japanese military police, would give no mercy to any Allied agent whom they captured.
Those serving with the Force 136 were given cyanide pills to take if faced with capture by the Japanese as it was known that any SOE agent captured by the Japanese would be tortured and killed.
Another Chinese Canadian,
Bill Chong William Gun Chong BEM (鄭根) (1911–2006) was a Canadian who served in the British Military Intelligence unit MI9 during World War II. He is the only Chinese Canadian to be awarded the British Empire Medal, the highest honor that Britain award ...
, served with the
British Army Aid Group
The British Army Aid Group (B.A.A.G.) was a para-military organisation for British and Allied forces in southern China during the Second World War. The B.A.A.G. was officially classified in the British Army's order of battle as an MI9 unit t ...
in Hong Kong and southern China, smuggling out POWs to Free China (i.e. not occupied by the Japanese) and delivering aid to resistance groups.
The willingness of Chinese Canadians to fight and if necessary die for Canada in the war changed public perceptions, and for the first time newspapers began to call for the repeal of the 1895 law which forbade all Asian-Canadians to vote or hold offices.
The Canadian historian Brereton Greenhous wrote of the efforts of the men of Force 136: "Several of them were decorated for their actions, and their service was a major factor in influencing the Canadian government to grant Chinese and Japanese-Canadians full rights as Canadian citizens several years later".
Frank Wong of Vancouver who served with the Royal Canadian Electrical and Mechanical Engineers in north-west Europe in 1944-45 recalled that his service with the Army was the first time he had been treated as an equal, stating: "They treated me just like an equal. You have your uniform, you're in it together; you eat together and you sleep together.".
Like other Chinese-Canadian veterans, Wong argued for equality of treatment, asking why he should be treated as a second-class citizen despite his war services. Wong stated his reasons for enlisting were: "I decided maybe if I joined the armed forces, after the war they would give me the right to vote".
Peggy Lee of Toronto by contrast stated her reasons for enlisting in 1942 with the Women's Ambulance Corps was "do my bit" for Canada.
Roy Mah who served with the SOE behind Japanese lines in Burma stated: "We thought that serving in the armed forces would be an opportunity for us to prove to the general public that we are loyal Canadians, that in time of need, they would see that we have no hesitation to don the King's uniform and go overseas to fight for our country, fight to preserve democracy." The Canadian historian Henry Yu stated about the efforts of Chinese-Canadian veterans: "They had to accept that they had fought this war—a good war in everyone's estimation—and they were still coming back to places built around white supremacy. So for some of them, they began vocally to argue: Why can't we vote still?"
Many Chinese Canadians argued that if Canada was fighting against not only Nazi Germany but her racist ideologies such as the
''Völkisch'' movement, then it was hypocritical for so many white Canadians to support attitudes of white supremacy back home. Chinese-Canadian veteran Frank Wong described the situation as being unable to “live outside Chinatown, and professional jobs were not available to
hinese Canadians I wasn’t even allowed to go swimming in a public pool.”
[Con, Harry & Con, Ronald ''From China to Canada A History of Chinese Communities in Canada'', Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, 1982 page 201.] The contributions of Chinese Canadians toward the eventual allied victory did not spell an end to discrimination for them in Canada, although these attitudes did eventually start to dissipate.
According to Chinese-Canadian veteran George Chow, after being treated “like a second-class citizen” in youth, during his service he was treated “just like an equal", elaborating on his service as such: “you have your uniform, you’re in it together; you eat together and you sleep together."
Catherine Clement, the curator of Chinese Canadian Military Museum in Vancouver stated: "It's called a double victory because they not only helped Canada win the war, but they also helped propel the civil rights movement for the Chinese-Canadians."
Canada was slow to lift the restrictions against the Chinese Canadians and grant them full rights as Canadian citizens. Because Canada signed the United Nations Charter of Human Rights at the conclusion of the Second World War, the Canadian government had to repeal the Chinese Exclusion Act, which contravened the UN Charter. The same year, 1947, Chinese Canadians were finally granted the right to vote in federal elections. Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King was opposed to granting the franchise to Chinese Canadians, but Chinese-Canadian veterans led a coalition of churches, unions, civic groups and veterans' associations into pressuring the King government to end the exclusion of Chinese Canadians from the franchise. Friedman stated about Chinese-Canadian enfranchisement: "Canada has this great spot on the world stage—as just, fair and level-headed country—but the reason it is that way is because Chinese residents forced that issue and made it more just."
One Second World War veteran, Ronald Lee, remembered when he learned that Chinese Canadians could now vote together with repeal of the Exclusion Act: "Down in Chinatown, we celebrated because we were Canadians! We were able to bring our families from China. It was quite the jubilation."
Arguing that it was unjust to discriminate against veterans, professions such as the law, medicine and engineering were opened for Chinese Canadians for the first time after 1945.
![Chinese Children playing basketball in Chinatown, Vancouver, B](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8a/Chinese_Children_playing_basketball_in_Chinatown%2C_Vancouver%2C_B.C.jpg)
However, it took another 20 years, until the points system was adopted for selecting immigrants, for the Chinese to begin to be admitted under the same criteria as any other applicants. In the 1957 election, the Second World War veteran
Douglas Jung
Douglas Jung, (; February 25, 1924 – January 4, 2002) was a Canadian lawyer, politician, military officer, and Special Operations Executive secret agent. A Conservative, he was the first member of a visible minority elected to the Parliament ...
was elected as a Progressive Conservative for the riding of Vancouver Centre, becoming the first Chinese Canadian elected to the House of Commons. Jung's election, which proved that white voters would vote for a Chinese Canadian, marked the beginning of a trend where Chinese Canadians cease to depend upon the Benevolent Associations to negotiate with the politicians and instead Chinese Canadians became politically active themselves.
After many years of organized calls for an official Canadian government public apology and redress to the historic
Head tax
A poll tax, also known as head tax or capitation, is a tax levied as a fixed sum on every liable individual (typically every adult), without reference to income or resources.
Head taxes were important sources of revenue for many governments fr ...
, the minority Conservative government of Stephen Harper announced, as part of their pre-election campaign, an official apology. On June 22, 2006, Prime Minister
Stephen Harper
Stephen Joseph Harper (born April 30, 1959) is a Canadian politician who served as the 22nd prime minister of Canada from 2006 to 2015. Harper is the first and only prime minister to come from the modern-day Conservative Party of Canada, ...
delivered a message of redress in the House of Commons, calling it a "grave injustice".
Some educated Chinese arrived in Canada during the war as refugees. Since the mid-20th century, most new Chinese Canadians come from university-educated families, who of still consider quality education an essential value. These newcomers are a major part of the "
brain gain
Human capital flight is the emigration or immigration of individuals who have received advanced training at home. The net benefits of human capital flight for the receiving country are sometimes referred to as a "brain gain" whereas the net cost ...
", the inverse of the infamous "
brain drain", i.e., the occurrence of many Canadians leaving to the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
, of which Chinese have also been a part.
Late 20th century
From 1947 to the early 1970s, Chinese immigrants to Canada came mostly from Hong Kong, Taiwan, or Southeast Asia. Chinese from the mainland who were eligible in the family reunification program had to visit the Canadian High Commission in Hong Kong, since Canada and the PRC did not have diplomatic relations until 1970. From the late 1980s, an influx of
Taiwanese people
Taiwanese people may be generally considered the people of Taiwan who share a common culture, ancestry and speak Taiwanese Mandarin, Hokkien, Hakka or indigenous Taiwanese languages as a mother tongue. Taiwanese people may also refer to the i ...
immigrated to Canada forming a group of
Taiwanese Canadian
Taiwanese Canadians are Canadians, Canadian citizens who carry full or partial ancestry from the East Asian island country of Taiwan or from History of Taiwan, preceding Taiwanese regimes (Taiwan under Qing rule, Qing Taiwan, Taiwan under Japanes ...
s. They settled in areas such as
Vancouver
Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...
,
British Columbia
British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...
and to the adjacent cities of
Burnaby
Burnaby is a city in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia, Canada. Located in the centre of the Burrard Peninsula, it neighbours the City of Vancouver to the west, the District of North Vancouver across the confluence of the Burrard I ...
,
Richmond
Richmond most often refers to:
* Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States
* Richmond, London, a part of London
* Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England
* Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada
* Richmond, California, ...
and
Coquitlam
Coquitlam ( ) is a city in the Lower Mainland of British Columbia, Canada. Mainly suburban, Coquitlam is the List of cities in British Columbia, sixth-largest city in the province, with a population of 148,625 in 2021, and one of the 21 municipa ...
. There was a significant influx of wealthy Chinese entrepreneurs from
Hong Kong
Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...
in the early and mid-1990s before the
handover of Hong Kong
Sovereignty of Hong Kong was transferred from the United Kingdom to the China, People's Republic of China (PRC) at midnight on 1 July 1997. This event ended 156 years of British rule in the British Hong Kong, former colony. Hong Kong was establ ...
to the
People's Republic of China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
(PRC). Canada was a preferred location, in part because investment visas were significantly easier to obtain than visas to the United States.
Vancouver
Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...
,
Richmond
Richmond most often refers to:
* Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States
* Richmond, London, a part of London
* Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England
* Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada
* Richmond, California, ...
and Toronto were the major destinations of these Chinese. During those years, immigrants from Hong Kong alone made up to 46% of all Chinese immigrants to Canada. After 1997, a significant portion of Chinese immigrants chose to move back to Hong Kong, some of a more permanent nature, after the dust of the handover was settled and fears of a "Communist takeover" turned out to be unnecessary.
Starting in the late 20th century, Chinese Canadians have become active in the cultural scene in Canada, with the writers such
Larissa Lai
Larissa Lai (born 1967) is an American-born Canadian novelist and literary critic. She is a recipient of the 2018 Lambda Literary Award for Lesbian Fiction and Lambda Literary Foundation's 2020 Jim Duggins, PhD Outstanding Mid-Career Novelist Pr ...
,
Evelyn Lau
Evelyn Lau (; born July 2, 1971) is a Canadian poet and novelist.
Biography
Evelyn Lau was born in Vancouver, British Columbia on July 2, 1971 to Chinese-Canadian parents from Hong Kong, who intended for her to become a doctor. Her parents' am ...
,
Denise Chong
Denise Chong, OC (; born 9 June 1953) is a Canadian economist and writer.
Early life and schooling
A third-generation Chinese Canadian, Chong was born in Vancouver, British Columbia on 9 June 1953,[Wayson Choy
Wayson Choy (崔維新 Pinyin: Cuī Wéixīn ; Jyutping: Ceoi1 Wai4-san1) (April 20, 1939 – April 28, 2019) was a Canadian novelist.] ,
Paul Yee
Paul Yee (born 1 October 1956) is a Chinese-Canadian historian and writer. He is the author of many books for children, including ''Teach Me to Fly, Skyfighter'', ''The Curses of Third Uncle'', ''Dead Man's Gold'', and ''Ghost Train''—winner of ...
,
Jim Wong-Chu
Jim Wong-Chu (朱藹信; January 28, 1949 – July 11, 2017) was a Canadian activist, community organizer, poet, author, editor, and historian. Wong-Chu is one of Canada's most celebrated literary pioneers. He was a community organizer known for ...
, and
Vincent Lam
Vincent Lam (born September 5, 1974) is a Canadian writer and medical doctor.
Early life and education
Born in London, Ontario and raised in Ottawa, Lam's parents came to Canada from the Chinese expatriate community in Vietnam. He attended ...
all winning acclaim.
In the world of film-making, Christina Wong, William Dere, Colleen Leung, Richard Fung, Dora Nipp, Tony Chan, Yung Chang Julia Kwan, Karin Lee, Mina Shum, Michelle Wong, Paul Wong, and Keith Lock have worked as directors and/or as script writers.
The Confucian tradition emphasizing hard work, scholarship, self-discipline and learning has meant the Chinese-Canadians families have strongly aspired for higher education and the 2001 census reported that over a quarter of Chinese Canadians had a university degree.
As it was the Liberal government of Lester Pearson that liberalized the immigration system in 1967, Chinese Canadians tended to vote for the Liberals in the late 20th and early 21st centuries.
In 1993, Raymond Chan became the first Chinese-Canadian cabinet minister, and in 1999 Adrienne Clarkson became the first Chinese-Canadian governor-general.
21st century
In the 21st century, Chinese immigration from Hong Kong has dropped sharply and the largest source of Chinese immigration are now from the
mainland China
"Mainland China" is a geopolitical term defined as the territory governed by the People's Republic of China (including islands like Hainan or Chongming), excluding dependent territories of the PRC, and other territories within Greater China. ...
. A smaller number have arrived from
Taiwan
Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...
and very small numbers from
Fiji
Fiji ( , ,; fj, Viti, ; Fiji Hindi: फ़िजी, ''Fijī''), officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists ...
,
French Polynesia
)Territorial motto: ( en, "Great Tahiti of the Golden Haze")
, anthem =
, song_type = Regional anthem
, song = " Ia Ora 'O Tahiti Nui"
, image_map = French Polynesia on the globe (French Polynesia centered).svg
, map_alt = Location of Frenc ...
, and
New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
.
Today,
mainland China
"Mainland China" is a geopolitical term defined as the territory governed by the People's Republic of China (including islands like Hainan or Chongming), excluding dependent territories of the PRC, and other territories within Greater China. ...
has taken over from Hong Kong and Taiwan as the largest source of Chinese immigration. The PRC has also taken over from all countries and regions as the country sending the most immigrants to Canada. According to the 2002 statistics from the
Citizenship and Immigration Canada
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC; french: Immigration, Réfugiés et Citoyenneté Canada)Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada is the applied title under the Federal Identity Program since 2015; the legal title is Departm ...
, the PRC has supplied the biggest number of Canadian immigrants since 2000, averaging well over 30,000 immigrants per year, totalling an average of 15% of all immigrants to Canada. This trend shows no sign of slowing down, with an all-time high of more than 40,000 reached in 2005. According to 2006 census, 70% of Chinese Canadians live either in the greater Vancouver area or the greater Toronto area.
On June 22, 2006, Prime Minister
Stephen Harper
Stephen Joseph Harper (born April 30, 1959) is a Canadian politician who served as the 22nd prime minister of Canada from 2006 to 2015. Harper is the first and only prime minister to come from the modern-day Conservative Party of Canada, ...
delivered a message of redress in the
House of Commons
The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...
, offering an apology in
Cantonese
Cantonese ( zh, t=廣東話, s=广东话, first=t, cy=Gwóngdūng wá) is a language within the Chinese (Sinitic) branch of the Sino-Tibetan languages originating from the city of Guangzhou (historically known as Canton) and its surrounding are ...
and compensation for the
head tax
A poll tax, also known as head tax or capitation, is a tax levied as a fixed sum on every liable individual (typically every adult), without reference to income or resources.
Head taxes were important sources of revenue for many governments fr ...
once paid by Chinese immigrants. Survivors or their spouses will be paid approximately $20,000 CAD in compensation.
In December 2008, the Philippines passed China as Canada's leading source of immigrants. In 2010, when
Mainland China
"Mainland China" is a geopolitical term defined as the territory governed by the People's Republic of China (including islands like Hainan or Chongming), excluding dependent territories of the PRC, and other territories within Greater China. ...
became the second largest economy in the world after the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
, its economic growth sparked even greater immigration opportunities to mainland Chinese. A 2011 survey shown that 60% of Chinese millionaires plan to immigrate, where 37% of the respondents wanted to immigrate to Canada. Many foreign countries such as Canada hold very large attraction for rich Chinese, because of their better social welfare system, higher quality of education and a greater opportunity for investment. The main reasons Chinese businesspeople want to move abroad was for some educational opportunities for their children, advanced medical treatment, worsening pollution back home (especially urban air quality) and food safety concerns.
The Canadian Federal Investor Immigrant Program (FIIP) as a cash-for-visa scheme allows many powerful Chinese to seek for a
Canadian
Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...
citizenship, and recent reports show that 697 of the 700 (99.6%) of the applicants to this visa in 2011 were mainland Chinese.
However, Canada—along with other English-speaking countries such as the United States and Australia—has increased its immigration requirements, forcing Chinese millionaires to seek permanent residency elsewhere.
Demographics
At the turn of the 20th century, the Chinese population in Canada was 17,312. From the years 1988 to 1993, 166,487 Hong Kong immigrants had settled in Canada.
[
In 2001, 25% of Chinese in Canada were Canadian-born.]["Chinese Canadians: Enriching the cultural mosaic,]
Canadian Social Trends, Spring 2005, no. 76
During the same year, the Chinese population stood at 1,094,700 accounted for 3.5% of Canada's total population. By 2006 the population stood at 1,346,510 comprising 4.3% of the Canadian population. StatsCan
Statistics Canada (StatCan; french: Statistique Canada), formed in 1971, is the agency of the Government of Canada commissioned with producing statistics to help better understand Canada, its population, resources, economy, society, and culture ...
projects by 2031, the Chinese-Canadian population is projected to reach between 2.4 and 3.0 million, constituting approximately 6 percent of the Canadian population. Much of the growth will be bolstered by sustained immigration as well as creating a younger age structure.
During the 2011 census in Canada, it was estimated that 1,324,700 individuals of pure Chinese origin resided in Canada. This number increased to 1,487,000 individuals, when including those of both pure Chinese origin and people of partial Chinese ancestry (meaning, individuals with both Chinese and some other racial and ethnic origin) during the 2011 census in Canada.
Most of the Chinese-Canadian community is concentrated within the provinces of British Columbia
British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...
and Ontario
Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...
. The four metropolitan area
A metropolitan area or metro is a region that consists of a densely populated urban agglomeration and its surrounding territories sharing industries, commercial areas, transport network, infrastructures and housing. A metro area usually com ...
s with the largest Chinese-Canadian populations are the Greater Toronto Area
The Greater Toronto Area, commonly referred to as the GTA, includes the City of Toronto and the regional municipalities of Durham, Halton, Peel, and York. In total, the region contains 25 urban, suburban, and rural municipalities. The Greater T ...
(631,050), Metro Vancouver
The Metro Vancouver Regional District (MVRD), or simply Metro Vancouver, is a Canadian political subdivision and corporate entity representing the metropolitan area of Greater Vancouver, designated by provincial legislation as one of the 28 ...
(474,655), Greater Montreal
Greater Montreal (french: Grand Montréal) is the most populous metropolitan area in Quebec and the second most populous in Canada after Greater Toronto. In 2015, Statistics Canada identified Montreal's Census Metropolitan Area (CMA) as with a ...
(89,400), and the Calgary Region
The Calgary Metropolitan Region (CMR), also commonly referred to as the Calgary Region, is a conglomeration of municipalities centred on Calgary, the largest city in Alberta.
With the Government of Alberta's establishment of the Calgary Metropol ...
(89,675). The Chinese are the largest visible minority group in Alberta and British Columbia, and are the second largest in Ontario. The highest concentration of Chinese Canadians is in Vancouver and Richmond (British Columbia), where they constitute the largest ethnic group by country, and one in five residents are Chinese.
The province of Saskatchewan
Saskatchewan ( ; ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada, western Canada, bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and on t ...
has a growing Chinese community, at over one percent as of 2006, mainly in the city of Saskatoon
Saskatoon () is the largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Saskatchewan. It straddles a bend in the South Saskatchewan River in the central region of the province. It is located along the Trans-Canada Hig ...
(2.1%), the province's largest city, and to a lesser extent, Regina (1.9%), the capital of the province. The Riversdale neighbourhood of Saskatoon has a historical Chinese settlement dating back to the early 1900s, where Chinese immigrants were employed by the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway
The Grand Trunk Pacific Railway was a historic Canadian transcontinental railway running from Fort William, Ontario (now Thunder Bay) to Prince Rupert, British Columbia, a Pacific coast port. East of Winnipeg the line continued as the National Tra ...
, and established businesses within this district. Riversdale is currently home to many Chinese restaurants and stores. Chinese are the largest visible minority group in Saskatchewan.
The Chinese-Canadian population stood at 1.4 million in 2011, according to Statistics Canada in that year's census.[NHS Profile, Canada, 2011]
, National Household Survey (NHS) Profile, 2011
The Chinese Canadian community stood at 1.71 million, or 4.63% of the Canadian population, in the 2021 Canadian census
The 2021 Canadian census was a detailed enumeration of the Canadian population with a reference date of May 11, 2021. It follows the 2016 Canadian census, which recorded a population of 35,151,728. The overall response rate was 98%, which is sl ...
.
Geographical distribution
Data from this section from Statistics Canada, 2021.
Provinces & territories
Canadian metropolitan areas with large Chinese populations:
Language
In 2001, 87% of Chinese reported having a conversational knowledge of at least one official language, while 15% reported that they could speak neither English nor French. Of those who could not speak an official language, 50% immigrated to Canada in the 1990s, while 22% immigrated in the 1980s. These immigrants tended to be in the older age groups. Of prime working-age Chinese immigrants, 89% reported knowing at least one official language.
In 2001, collectively, the varieties of Chinese
Chinese, also known as Sinitic, is a branch of the Sino-Tibetan language family consisting of hundreds of local varieties, many of which are not mutually intelligible. Variation is particularly strong in the more mountainous southeast of main ...
are the third-most common reported mother tongue, after English and French. 3% of the Canadian population, or 872,000 people, reported the Chinese language
Chinese (, especially when referring to written Chinese) is a group of languages spoken natively by the ethnic Han Chinese majority and many minority ethnic groups in Greater China. About 1.3 billion people (or approximately 16% of the wor ...
as their mother tongue—the language that they learned as a child and still understand. The most common Chinese mother tongue is Cantonese
Cantonese ( zh, t=廣東話, s=广东话, first=t, cy=Gwóngdūng wá) is a language within the Chinese (Sinitic) branch of the Sino-Tibetan languages originating from the city of Guangzhou (historically known as Canton) and its surrounding are ...
. Of these people, 44% were born in Hong Kong, 27% were born in Guangdong Province in China, and 18% were Canadian-born. The second-most common reported Chinese mother tongue was Mandarin
Mandarin or The Mandarin may refer to:
Language
* Mandarin Chinese, branch of Chinese originally spoken in northern parts of the country
** Standard Chinese or Modern Standard Mandarin, the official language of China
** Taiwanese Mandarin, Stand ...
. Of these people, 85% were born in either Mainland China
"Mainland China" is a geopolitical term defined as the territory governed by the People's Republic of China (including islands like Hainan or Chongming), excluding dependent territories of the PRC, and other territories within Greater China. ...
or Taiwan
Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...
, 7% were Canadian-born, and 2% were born in Malaysia
Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...
. However, only about 790,500 people reported speaking Chinese at home on a regular basis, 81,900 fewer than those who reported having a Chinese mother tongue. This suggests some language loss
Language attrition is the process of losing a native or first language. This process is generally caused by both isolation from speakers of the first language ("L1") and the acquisition and use of a second language ("L2"), which interferes with ...
has occurred, mainly among the Canadian-born who learned Chinese as a child, but who may not speak it regularly or do not use it as their main language at home.
Census data
Some varieties may be underreported due to respondents simply responding "Chinese" rather than specifying:
Immigration
As of 2001, almost 75% of the Chinese population in Canada lived in either Vancouver
Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...
or Toronto
Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...
. The Chinese population was 17% in Vancouver and 9% in Toronto. More than 50% of the Chinese immigrants who just arrived in 2000/2001 reported that their reason for settling in a given region was because their family and friends already lived there.
The economic growth of mainland China since the turn of the 21st century has sparked even greater emigration opportunities for mainland Chinese. A 2011 survey showed that 60% of Chinese millionaires planned to emigrate, where 37% of the respondents wanted to emigrate to Canada. The main reasons Chinese businesspeople wanted to move abroad was for greater educational opportunities for their children, advanced medical treatment, worsening pollution back home (especially urban air quality), concerns of political instability and food safety concerns. The Canadian Immigrant Investor Program
The Canadian Immigrant Investor Program was an initiative of the federal government of Canada lasting from 1986 to 2014 that promoted immigration from people investing in Canada. Under the program, successful applicants and their families received ...
(CANIIP) allows many powerful Chinese to qualify for Canadian citizenship: among the 700 applicants to this program in 2011, 697 (99.6%) were mainland Chinese. In addition, many Chinese immigrants to Canada apply through the provincial nominee program, which requires immigrants to invest in a business in the province in which they settle.
Socioeconomics
In 2001, 31% of Chinese in Canada, both foreign-born and Canadian-born, had a university education, compared with the national average of 18%.
Of prime working-age Chinese in Canada, about 20% were in sales and services; 20% in business, finance, and administration; 16% in natural and applied sciences; 13% in management; and 11% in processing, manufacturing, and utilities. However, there is a trend that Chinese move toward small towns and rural areas for agricultural and agri-food operations in recent years.
Chinese who immigrated to Canada in the 1990s and were of prime working-age in 2001 had an employment rate of 61%, which was lower than the national average of 80%. Many reported that the recognition of foreign qualifications was a major issue. However, the employment rate for Canadian-born Chinese men of prime working-age was 86%, the same as the national average. The employment rate for Canadian-born Chinese women of prime working-age was 83%, which was higher than the national average of 76%.
Religion
Generational differences are also evident regarding religious practice and affiliation within this population group.
Among Toronto's early Chinese immigrants especially, the church body was an important structure serving as a meeting place, hall and leisure club. Even today, over 30 churches in Toronto continue to hold Chinese congregations.
Christianity
Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...
reached its peak of popularity in the early 1960s, with the 1961 census still reporting that 60% of the Chinese declared themselves Christians. Over the following 40 years Christianity has been steadily declining both among Canadian-born Chinese and new immigrants. Religiousy, the Chinese-Canadian community is different from the broader Canadian population in that about half of Chinese Canadians reportedly practise Chinese folk religion
Chinese folk religion, also known as Chinese popular religion comprehends a range of traditional religious practices of Han Chinese, including the Chinese diaspora. Vivienne Wee described it as "an empty bowl, which can variously be filled ...
.
In 2001, 56% of Chinese Canadians aged 15 and over said that they did not have any religious affiliation, compared with the national average of 17%. As a result, Chinese Canadians make up 13% of all Canadians who did not report a religious affiliation despite making up 4% of the population. Among Chinese Canadians, 14% were Buddhist
Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...
, 14% were Catholic
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
and 9% belonged to a Protestant
Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...
denomination.
Media
Canadians of Chinese origin have established a presence in the Canadian media scene spearheading several Chinese language
Chinese (, especially when referring to written Chinese) is a group of languages spoken natively by the ethnic Han Chinese majority and many minority ethnic groups in Greater China. About 1.3 billion people (or approximately 16% of the wor ...
media outlets in Canada.
According to Mei Duzhe of the Jamestown Foundation
The Jamestown Foundation is a Washington, D.C.-based conservative defense policy think tank. Founded in 1984 as a platform to support Soviet defectors, its stated mission today is to inform and educate policy makers about events and trends, which ...
in 2001 and Sarah Cook of the Center for International Media Assistance
The Center for International Media Assistance (CIMA) is an initiative of the National Endowment for Democracy (NED). CIMA works to improve the development of independent media worldwide while working to strengthen the support for such develop ...
in 2013, ''Ming Pao'', ''Sing Tao Daily'' and ''World Journal'' have been under the influence of the Communist Party of China. Conversely, Jason Q. Ng of China Digital Times
China Digital Times (CDT; ) is a US-based 501(c)(3) organization that runs a bilingual news website covering China. The site focuses on news items which are blocked, deleted or suppressed by China's state censors.
History
The website was started ...
and Citizen Lab
The Citizen Lab is an interdisciplinary laboratory based at the Munk School of Global Affairs at the University of Toronto, Canada. It was founded by Ronald Deibert in 2001. The laboratory studies information controls that impact the openness ...
considered ''World Journal'' in 2013 to be relatively critical of mainland China, and a 2019 Reuters Institute
The Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism (RISJ) is a UK-based research centre and think tank founded in 2006, which operates Thomson Reuters Journalism Fellowship Programme, also known as the Reuters Fellowship.
History
The institute ...
survey on selected media from Hong Kong
Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...
listed ''Ming Pao'' and ''Sing Tao'' as respectively the 3rd and 6th most trusted outlets in the city.
Newspapers
* ''Ming Pao Daily News''
* ''Sing Tao Daily''
*''The Epoch Times
''The Epoch Times'' is a far-right international multi-language newspaper and media company affiliated with the Falun Gong new religious movement. The newspaper, based in New York City, is part of the Epoch Media Group, which also operates New ...
''
*Sept Days
Sept Days is a weekly Chinese language Chinese newspaper in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It publishes a Chinese Language Newspaper Sept Days, a Business Weekly and a monthly Newspaper La Connexion in French. It also has a readers club organizing al ...
* ''Today Daily News'' - now Today's Commercial News
* ''World Journal'' - Canadia edition ceased publication in 2016
* ''Oriental Weekly''
Radio
* A1 Chinese Radio in Toronto
*CHMB
CHMB is a Canadian AM radio station, broadcasting from Vancouver, British Columbia on 1320 kHz. The station airs a Chinese language programming format. CHMB's studios are located on Commerce Parkway in Richmond, while its transmitters are ...
in Vancouver
* Fairchild Radio CHKF-FM
CHKF-FM is a radio station that broadcasts multicultural content, including a major Chinese programming block entitled Fairchild Radio at 94.7 FM in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. It is owned by Fairchild Group.
CHKF's studios are located on 37th Ave ...
in Calgary
* Fairchild Radio CHKT
CHKT (1430 kHz) is a commercial AM radio station in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The station, owned by the Fairchild Group service, airs mainly Cantonese and Mandarin Chinese programs as well as weekend shows in the following languages: Khmer langu ...
and CIRV-FM
CIRV-FM is a Canadian radio station, broadcasting at 88.9 FM in Toronto, Ontario. The station airs a multicultural programming format. CIRV's studios are located in Brampton, while its transmitter is located atop First Canadian Place in Toront ...
in Toronto
*Fairchild Radio and CHKG-FM
CHKG-FM is a radio station in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. It broadcasts on the frequency 96.1 FM. It airs mostly Mandarin programming and is owned by the Fairchild Group. CHKG's studios are located inside Aberdeen Centre in Richmond, wh ...
and CJVB
CJVB (1470 kHz) is a radio station in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, which broadcasts multilingual programming. Owned by the Fairchild Group, the station with a power of 50,000 watts, using two different directional patterns for daytim ...
in Vancouver
Television
*C Today TV
CCCTV is a Canadian Chinese-language specialty channel broadcasts programming in Cantonese and Mandarin and airs content from China, Hong Kong and Taiwan
Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the ju ...
in Toronto
*Fairchild TV
Fairchild TV or FTV is a Canadian Cantonese language exempt specialty channel."Waging a war over a large, wealthy, educated audience ; Fairchild TV and CFMT are battling it out to deliver the news to Canada's Chinese community". ''Toronto Star'' ...
across Canada
*Fairchild TV 2 HD
Fairchild TV 2 or FTV2 (Traditional Chinese: 新時代電視2台, Simplified Chinese: 新时代电视2台, Pinyin: xinshídàidiànshì èr tái), is a Canadian Cantonese language exempt Category B specialty channel. It is co-owned by majority ow ...
across Canada
*LS Times TV
LS Times TV is a Canadian exempt Category B specialty channel (Traditional Chinese: 龍祥頻道, Simplified Chinese: 龙祥频道) owned by Waylen Group (緯麟集團). LS Times TV is a national 24-hour TV station airing current feature films fr ...
across Canada
* New Tang Dynasty Television Canada
*Omni News
Omni News (styled as OMNI News) is the name of local and national newscasts in various languages on the Omni Television system in Canada.
National
Omni Television produces daily newscasts in Italian, Punjabi, Arabic, Filipino, Cantonese, and Man ...
across Canada
*Talentvision
Talentvision is a Television in Canada, Canadian Mandarin Chinese, Mandarin Chinese specialty channel. It is owned by the Vancouver-based Fairchild Group, Fairchild Media Group (a subsidiary of the Fairchild Group) and TVB. Talentvision's studio ...
across Canada
*Talentvision 2 HD
Talentvision 2 HD (Traditional Chinese/Simplified Chinese: 城市2高清台, Pinyin: chéngshì èr gāoqīng tái) was a Canadian Mandarin Chinese Category B specialty channel. It was owned by the Vancouver-based Fairchild Media Group (a subsidia ...
across Canada
*WOWtv
WOWtv is a Canadian exempt Category B Chinese language specialty channel and is owned by Canadian Chinese Media Network (CCMN). WOWtv broadcasts programming in Cantonese, Mandarin and Vietnamese from predominantly foreign sources as well as loc ...
across Canada
Cultural adjustment and assimilation
According to the Canadian Ethnic Diversity Survey conducted in 2002, 76% of Canadians of Chinese origin said they had a strong sense of belonging to Canada; at the same time, 58% said that they had a strong sense of belonging to their ethnic or cultural group. Canadians of Chinese origin are also active in Canadian society; 64% of Chinese Canadians who were eligible to vote reported doing so in the 2000 federal election, while 60% said they voted in the 1996 provincial election. About 35% reported that they had participated in an organization such as a sports team or community association in the 12 months preceding the survey. 34% of Canadians of Chinese origin also reported that they had experienced discrimination, prejudice, or unfair treatment based on their ethnicity, race, religion, language or accent in the past five years, or since they came to Canada. A majority of those who had experienced discrimination said that they felt it was based on their race or skin colour, while 42% that the discrimination took place at work or when applying for a job or promotion.
Most Canadian-born Chinese during the 1970s and 1980s were descended from immigrants of Hong Kong and Southern China, while more recent Canadian-born Chinese come from mainland Chinese immigrants. Most Chinese-Canadians born in Canada who have assimilated into Canadian society identify as solely Canadian while those born overseas and immigrated to Canada later in life primarily identify as a mixture of both Chinese and Canadian. In Canada, strong feelings of ethnic heritage are bolstered by the clustering of immigrant communities in large urban centres, especially because new immigrants tend to associate almost exclusively with people of the same culture due to unfamiliarity to the new mainstream culture. Canadians of Chinese origin, particularly the second generation and beyond, tend to have more liberal and Western style beliefs.
Notable Chinese Canadians
See also
* Anti-Oriental riots (Vancouver)
*Canada–China relations
Canada–China relations, or Sino-Canadian relations, officially date back to 1942, when Canada sent an ambassador to China. Before then, Canada had been represented by the British ambassador. The Communist victory (1949) in the Chinese Civil W ...
*Canadian Chinese cuisine
Canadian Chinese cuisine (french: Cuisine chinoise canadienne) is a popular style of Canadian cooking original to take-out and dine-in eateries found across Canada. It was the first form of commercially available Chinese food in Canada. This co ...
*Chinatowns in Toronto
Toronto Chinatowns are ethnic enclaves in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, with a high concentration of ethnic Chinese residents and businesses. These neighbourhoods are major cultural, social and economic hubs for the Chinese-Canadian communities of th ...
( First Chinatown, West Chinatown & East Chinatown)
*Chinatown, Vancouver
Chinatown is a neighbourhood in Vancouver, British Columbia, and is Canada's largest Chinatown. Centered around Pender Street, it is surrounded by Gastown to the north, the Downtown financial and central business districts to the west, the Geo ...
*Chinese Canadian National Council
The Chinese Canadian National Council (CCNC) (french: Conseil national des Canadiens chinois pour la justice sociale), known in the Chinese-Canadian community as Equal Rights Council (平權會), is an organization whose purpose is to promote eq ...
*Chinese Canadians in British Columbia
The history of Chinese Canadians in British Columbia began with the first recorded visit by Chinese people to North America in 1788. Some 30–40 men were employed as shipwrights at Nootka Sound in what is now British Columbia, to build the fi ...
*Chinese Canadians in the Greater Toronto Area
The Chinese Canadian community in the Greater Toronto Area was first established around 1877, with an initial population of two laundry owners. While the Chinese Canadian population was initially small in size, it dramatically grew beginning in th ...
*Chinese Canadians in Greater Vancouver
Chinese Canadians are a sizable part of the population in Greater Vancouver, especially in the Chinese communities in the city of Vancouver and the adjoining suburban city of Richmond. The legacy of Chinese immigration is prevalent throughout the ...
*Chinese head tax in Canada
The Chinese Head Tax was a fixed fee charged to each Chinese person entering Canada. The head tax was first levied after the Canadian parliament passed the Chinese Immigration Act of 1885 and it was meant to discourage Chinese people from enterin ...
*Chinese Immigration Act of 1885
The ''Chinese Immigration Act, 1885'' was a Canadian Act of Parliament that placed a head tax of $50 () on all Chinese immigrants entering Canada. It was based on the recommendations published in the Royal Commission on Chinese Immigration in 1 ...
*Chinese Immigration Act, 1923
The Chinese Immigration Act, 1923, known today as the Chinese Exclusion Act (the duration of which has been dubbed the Exclusion Era), was an act passed by the government of Liberal Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King, banning most forms o ...
*Fo Guang Shan Temple, Toronto
Fo Guang Shan Temple of Toronto () was built to serve as a cultural, educational, community and spiritual centre for Chinese Buddhism and those interested in Buddhist teachings and practice. Founded by Venerable Master Hsing Yun in 1991 and comp ...
*Historical Chinatowns in Nanaimo Nanaimo, British Columbia had four Chinatown sites beginning in the 1800s.[Introduction]
"
Chinatown, Victoria
The Chinatown in Victoria, British Columbia is the oldest Chinatown in Canada and the second oldest in North America after San Francisco. Victoria's Chinatown had its beginnings in the mid-nineteenth century in the mass influx of miners from ...
*History of Chinese immigration to Canada
There has been a significant history of Chinese immigration to Canada, with the first settlement of Chinese people in Canada being in the 1780s.Chan, Anthony B. 013 July 302019 May 22.Chinese Canadians." ''The Canadian Encyclopedia''. Ottawa: Hi ...
*International Buddhist Temple
The International Buddhist Temple (also 觀音寺 in Chinese; Guān Yīn Sì in pinyin; Guan Yin Temple) is located in Richmond, British Columbia, Canada. It is a Chinese Buddhist temple run by the International Buddhist Society.
While the Societ ...
*Ling Yen Mountain Temple
The Lingyen Mountain Temple () in Richmond, British Columbia, Canada
is a Buddhist monastery, designed by Pacific Rim Architecture in the Chinese palatial style and completed in 1996. The temple has about 10,000 members in Greater Vancouver and s ...
*Royal Commission on Chinese Immigration (1885)
The Royal Commission on Chinese Immigration was a commission of inquiry appointed to establish whether or not imposing restrictions to Chinese immigration to Canada was in the country's best interest. Ordered on 4 July 1884 by Prime Minister John ...
* Taoist Tai Chi Society (Fung Loy Kok Institute of Taoism)
*Vancouver anti-Chinese riots, 1886 The Vancouver anti-Chinese riots of 1886, sometimes called the Winter Riots because of the time of year they took place, were prompted by the engagement of cheap Chinese labour by the Canadian Pacific Railway to clear Vancouver's West End of large D ...
*Hong Kong Canadians
Hong Kong Canadians ( zh, t=加拿大港人 or ) are Canadians who were born or raised in Hong Kong, hold permanent residency in Hong Kong, or those who may trace their ancestry back to the territory. In Canada, the majority of Hong Kong Canadia ...
*Taiwanese Canadians
Taiwanese Canadians are Canadian citizens who carry full or partial ancestry from the East Asian island country of Taiwan or from preceding Taiwanese regimes (Qing Taiwan, Japanese Taiwan, etc.). This includes Canadian-born Taiwanese (CBT).
The ...
*'' Lost Years: A People's Struggle for Justice''
Notes
References
Sources
*Pon, Gordon. "Antiracism in the Cosmopolis: Race, Class, and Gender in the Lives of Elite Chinese Canadian Women", ''Social Justice'', vol. 32 (4): pp. 161–179 (2005)
*Lindsay, Colin. ''The Chinese Community in Canada, Profiles of Ethnic Communities in Canada, 2001, Social and Aboriginal Statistics Division, Statistics Canada'', Catalog #89-621-XIE ()
*Li, Peter S
"Chinese"
''Encyclopedia of Canada's Peoples'' (Toronto: Multicultural History Society of Ontario, 1999).
Library resources
Chinese Canadian Genealogy
at the Vancouver Public Library
Vancouver Public Library (VPL) is the public library system for the city of Vancouver, British Columbia. In 2013, VPL had more than 6.9 million visits with patrons borrowing nearly 9.5 million items including: books, ebooks, CDs, DVDs, video game ...
Chinese-Canadians: Profiles from a Community
- Vancouver Public Library wiki
Historic Chinese Language Materials in British Columbia
(加華文獻聚珍)
Multicultural Canada website
* ttps://hongkong.library.utoronto.ca/ Richard Charles Lee Canada-Hong Kong Library 利銘澤典宬at the University of Toronto
The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution ...
Chinese Canadian Archive
at Toronto Public Library
Toronto Public Library (TPL) (french: Bibliothèque publique de Toronto) is a public library system in Toronto, Ontario. It is the largest public library system in Canada, and in 2008 had averaged a higher circulation per capita than any other pu ...
Further reading
*
* Chao, Lien. (1997) ''Beyond Silence: Chinese Canadian Literature in English'' (Tsar Publications, 1997)
* Chen, William Y. (University of Saskatchewan
A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...
Library Cataloger of Far Eastern Materials).
The Chinese in Canada: A Select Bibliography
(). The Chinese in Canada''. p. 165-173.
* Guo, Shibao, and Don J. DeVoretz. (2006) "The changing face of Chinese immigrants in Canada." ''Journal of International Migration and Integration/Revue de l'integration et de la migration internationale'' (2006) 7#3: 275-300.
*
*
* Lai, David Chuenyan. (2007) ''Chinatowns: Towns within cities in Canada'' (UBC Press, 2007).
*
* Li, Xiaoping. (2011) ''Voices rising: Asian Canadian cultural activism'' (UBC Press, 2011)
*
*
*
* Wickberg, Edgar, ed. (1982) ''From China to Canada: A history of the Chinese communities in Canada'' (McClelland and Stewart, 1982).
*
* Yee, Paul. (2006) ''Saltwater City: An illustrated history of the Chinese in Vancouver'' (Douglas & McIntyre, 2006)
External links
Lost Years: A People's Struggle for Justice - International Award-Winning epic documentary on the Chinese Canadian Community
Asian Canadian Community-Chinese
Chinese Canadian Stories at the University of British Columbia
Chinese Canadian National Council
Chinese Canadian Historical Society of British Columbia
Chinese Canadian Women, 1923-1967 - MHSO
Chinese Canadian Women
History of the Chinese Head Tax & Exclusion Act
National Film Board
- Documentary "In The Shadow of Gold Mountain", detailing the history of abuse against Chinese Canadians
CBC Digital Archives - A Tale of Perseverance: Chinese Immigration to Canada
Timeline of Important Events in the History of the Chinese in Canada
(October 2006)
* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20160322222706/http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/story.html?id=ffd98428-9fa0-42e8-84b4-4a8417fb9f65 Alphabetical List of Persons: A to Lbr>Alphabetical List of Persons: L to S
{{Chinese Canadian
Asian Canadian
*
Canadian
Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...
Ethnic groups in Canada
East Asian Canadian