The Sikh community in Vancouver is the oldest, largest and most influential across Canada, having begun in the late 19th century.

[1] On 3 June 1902, a small contingent of Sikh soldiers from Punjab arrived in Vancouver aboard the Empress of Japan to take part in the Commonwealth-wide celebration of King Edward VII's coronation.

[8] The Sikh men were impressed by the natural beauty of British Columbia, with word spreading back home in the Punjab after their about the prospects of emigrating to British Columbia, leading to the first Sikh pioneers to arrive in Vancouver from then onwards.

[8] Between 1904 and 1908, around 5,000 South Asian migrants (almost all men) arrived in British Columbia, with most working in farming or the lumber mills.

[8] The first Sikh temple, a gurdwara, was erected at Second Avenue in Vancouver, which opened its doors to worshippers on 19 January 1908.

[8] Beginning in the 1930s, within the Vancouver area, many clean-shaven, or sahajdhari, Sikhs began hanging up their hats and entering the gurdwaras with uncovered heads (an akin to men leaving their hats on while attending Christian churches).

[13] Until the 1960s Sikh religious organizations were the primary political interest groups of the Indo-Canadian community in the Vancouver region.

[2] Several turbanned Sikhs began criticizing the practice of entering gurdwaras with uncovered heads in the 1970s.

[18] Organizations that favored the establishment of Khalistan began assuming control of Greater Vancouver gurdwaras after Operation Bluestar occurred in 1984.

A December 1996 attack on the Guru Nanak temple in Surrey led by extremists and a January 1997 fight occurred.

[21] The Ross Street Sikh temple still is in operation and the headquarters of the Khalsa Diwan Society is located next door to it.

"[22] She also stated that journalists of mainstream publications in Canada often conflate "fundamentalist" Sikhism with the pro-Khalistan movement and "moderate" Sikhism with those opposed to the Khalistan movement; she explained that this occurred when the publications discussed religious conflicts in the Sikh community Vancouver as well as conflicts involving Sikhs throughout Canada.

[14] This meant that the gurdwaras at the time also gave social outlets to Punjabi Hindus and other South Asians.

It was founded by the Khalsa Diwan Society (KDS), which was established in 1906,[57] This gurdwara was originally on West 2nd Avenue.

[59] In 1969 it moved to the intersection of Southwest Marine Drive and Ross Street,[58] in South Vancouver.

The gurdwara prevented an internal takeover by restricting election participation to persons who were not members of other Sikh societies.

[56] Around 1975, a Marxist–Leninist Sikh group purchased the Desh Baghat Mandir centre on Main Street after a failed attempt to seize control of other gurdwaras.

Due to opposition to the gurdwara from non-Sikhs in Delta, the Delta city government asked the Guru Nanakh Sikh Society to build the new gurdwara in the Surrey side of a property that had been purchased by the society in 1973.

[56] Around 1984 the International Sikh Youth Federation (ISYF) took control of the Guru Nanakh Gurdwara.