Chinese in Canada

The Chinese experience in Canada was remarkably similar to the one in the United States. Many came for the Gold Rush, which began in Canada in 1858, and many came to labor on the railroad for the Canadian Pacific Railway from 1881 to 1885. Once they were no longer needed, the government passed discriminatory legislation aimed at keeping the Chinese out of Canada. Anti-Chinese sentiment on the West Coast forced many Chinese eastward into Alberta.

Different from the American experience, though, was the application of a head tax. From 1885 to 1923 there was a head tax solely on Chinese immigrants. It began with $50 in 1885, but rose dramatically to $100 in 1900 and $500 in 1903. Merchants and their families, diplomats, tourists, students, clergy and men of science were exempt from the head tax.

Genealogical information found on a head tax certificate includes name, origin, age, date of arrival, port of arrival, and ship, as well as a photograph.

Like the United States, Canada passed a Chinese Exclusion Act which barred Chinese from entering Canada. Many families were kept apart by this act, which lasted from 1923 until its repeal in 1947. With the resulting happy family reunions after the repeal, a Chinese Canadian baby boom began.

You can search a database of Chinese immigrants to Canada on Library and Archives Canada.

Helpful websites for understanding the history are Chronology of Chinese Canadian History and Edmonton Chinatowns.

Thanks to Melissa for sharing with me the article "The Forgotten History of the Chinese in Canada" by Gin Wei Wong in the November 2015 issue of Families - Ontario Genealogical Society.

Joy