History of Chinese immigration to Canada

Chinese immigrants were initially sought after by Canadian employers as a source of cheap labour due to Canada's relative wealth at the time and the difficult economic conditions in China.

[1] At Nootka Sound, the Chinese workers built a dockyard, a fort, and a sailing ship, named the North West America.

Regarding this journey and the future prospects of Chinese settlement in colonial North America, Meares wrote: The Chinese were, on this occasion, shipped as an experiment: they have generally been esteemed as hardy, and industrious, as well as the ingenious race of people; they live on fish and rice, and requiring low wages, it was actually not a matter also of economical consideration to employing them; and during the whole of the voyage there was every reason to be satisfied with their services.

If trading posts should be established on the American coast, a colony of these men would be a very valuable acquisition.The next year, Meares had another 70 Chinese brought in from Canton.

Several other BC towns also had significant Chinatowns, including Richfield, Stanley, Van Winkle, Quesnellemouthe (modern-day Quesnel), Antler, and Quesnelle Forks.

In the Fraser Canyon, Chinese miners stayed on long after all others had left for the Cariboo Gold Rush or other goldfields elsewhere in BC or the United States.

They continued hydraulic mining and farming, and owned the majority of land in the Fraser and Thompson canyons for many years afterward.

In opposition, however, the Workingmen's Protective Association was established in 1878 in Victoria with the following purpose:The objects of this society shall be the mutual protection of the working classes of British Columbia against the great influx of Chinese; to use all legitimate means for the suppression of their immigration; to assist each other in the obtaining of employment, and to devise means for the amelioration of the condition of the working classes of the Province in general.

"[9] In 1880, Andrew Onderdonk — an American who was one of the main construction contractors in British Columbia for the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) — originally recruited Chinese laborers from California.

[citation needed] Chinese-Canadian labor was characterized by low wages (usually receiving less than 50% of what Caucasian workers were paid for the same work) and high levels of volatility.

These two groups of workers, who were willing to accept CA$1 a day for their labor, were the main force for the building of Onderdonk's 7% of the railway's mileage.

[citation needed] Between 1880 and 1885, 17,000 Chinese laborers completed the British Columbia section of the CPR, with more than 700 perishing due to appalling working conditions.

[citation needed] These tents were often unsafe and did not provide adequate protection against falling rocks or severe weather in areas of steep terrain.

[1] For much of the 19th and 20th century most Chinese people in Canada were a part of clan associations (based on the tsung-tsu system), which provided a strong community support network.

A large number have gone to the Straits' Settlements, Manila, Cochin China, and the West India Islands, and are permanently settled there with their families.

Many of those living in the Sandwich Islands have done the same... You must recollect that the Chinese immigrant coming to this country is denied all the rights and privileges extended to others in the way of citizenship; the laws compel them to remain aliens.

[1]By 1886, the population of Victoria Chinatown had increased tenfold from the completion of the CPR to over 17,000;[8] and at the turn of the 20th century, there were 17,312 Chinese settlers in Canada.

He also instructed that we raise funds, firstly, to hire lawyers for the case, and secondly, to be prepared for the establishment of The Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association.

Skilled or semi-skilled, Chinese Canadians labored in British Columbia sawmills and canneries; others became market gardeners or grocers, pedlars, shopkeepers, and restaurateurs.

[17] Chinese success at market gardening led to a continuing prominent role in the produce industry in British Columbia.

[1] Vancouver's Chinatown during the exclusion era became a thriving economic and social destination that was home to many Chinese Canadians on the West Coast.

Primarily due to the head tax, the cost of bringing a dependent, such as a wife or aged parents, to Canada became prohibitive.

Moreover, those from mainland China who were eligible in the family reunification program had to visit the Canadian High Commission in Hong Kong, as Canada and the PRC did not have diplomatic relations until 1970.

Evidently, some Chinese had been entering Canada by purchasing real or fake birth certificates of Chinese-Canadian children bought and sold in Hong Kong.

In response, Minister of Citizenship and Immigration Ellen Fairclough announced the "Chinese Adjustment Statement Program" on 9 June 1960, which granted amnesty for paper sons or daughters if they confessed to the government.

In the years to come, the unemployment and underemployment of many Hong Kong immigrants in Canada prompted a stream of returning migrants.

In 1993, Raymond Chan became the first ethnic Chinese to be appointed into the cabinet, after winning the riding of Richmond in the 1993 federal election.

[1] During the 2004 federal election campaign, NDP leader Jack Layton pledged to issue an apology and compensation for the Exclusion-Era head tax.

It concluded a series of National Consultations across Canada in 2006, from 21 to 30 April, in Halifax, Vancouver, Toronto, Edmonton, Montreal, and Winnipeg.

[citation needed] On 22 June 2006, Prime Minister Stephen Harper delivered a message of redress in the House of Commons, offering an apology in Cantonese and compensation for the head tax once paid by Chinese immigrants.