Celebrating Asian Heritage in Canada

Many Canadians today see our diverse population as a source of pride and strength — for good reason. More than one in five Canadians were born elsewhere. That is the highest percentage of immigrants in the G7 group of large industrialized nations. Asia (including people born in the Middle East) has provided the greatest number of newcomers in recent years. Since the 1990s, Canadians — who once thought primarily of Europe when they considered events abroad — now define themselves, and the world, differently. As former prime minister Jean Chrétien said: “The Pacific is getting smaller and the Atlantic is becoming wider.”

Still, the history of Asian people arriving in Canada has seen highs and lows. China is one such example. The first Chinese arrived in Canada in 1788, when about 50 settlers, who were artisans by training, accompanied Captain John Meares. These settlers helped to build a trading post and encouraged trade in sea otter pelts between Nootka Sound (in what would become British Columbia) and Guangzhou, China. On Vancouver Island, and across BC, the Chinese population was estimated at 7,000 people by 1860. Their numbers grew with the addition of about 15,000 Chinese labourers brought in between 1880 and 1885 to complete the BC section of the coast-to-coast Canadian Pacific Railway. [MORE]