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The new Act banned most Chinese immigrants from entering Canada. Soon afterwards, Chinese immigration increased, and on 1 July 1923 (known to many Chinese Canadians as "Humiliation Day"), the Chinese Immigration Act was replaced by legislation of the same name that virtually suspended Chinese immigration.
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obnoxious to a free community and dangerous to the state." After the 1903 session of Parliament passed legislation raising the head tax to $500, the number of Chinese who paid the fee in the first fiscal year dropped from 4,719
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It concluded that the Asians were "unfitįor full citizenship. The federal government appointed a Royal Commission on Chinese and Japanese Immigration (1902). Politicians greeted this decision with anger in British Columbia and demanded it be increased to $500. By 1900, in response to agitation in British Columbia, the Liberal government further restricted Asian immigration by raising the head tax to $100. The Chinese were the only ethnic group to pay a tax to enter Canada. From 1885, Chinese migrants had to pay a $50 "entry" or "head" taxīefore being admitted into Canada. The major periods of Chinese immigration (from 1858 to 1923 and since 1947) reflected changes in the Canadian government’s Immigration Policy. In these areas,Ī tradition existed of seeking opportunities overseas, sending money back to support relatives in China, and eventually returning, if possible.
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Historically, the majority of migrants came from the four districts or counties (Tai Shan, Xin Hui, Kai Ping, En Ping) in the Pearl River delta of Guangdong province, between Guangzhou and Hong Kong. Rural poverty and political upheavals stemming from the First Opium War (1839–42) and the Hakka led T'ai P'ing Rebellion (1850–64)Ĭaused widespread Chinese emigration. Origins and Emigrationĭuring the 19th century, war and rebellion in China forced many peasants and workers to seek their livelihoods elsewhere. According to the 2011 census, there were 1,324,700 people of Chinese ancestry living in Canada. From 1988 to 1993, 166,487 Hong Kong immigrants settled in Canada, with Ontario (50.57 per cent) and British Columbia (26.7 per cent) receiving the bulk of these new citizens.īy 2001, 82 per cent of people of Chinese origin lived in one of these two provinces. Largely because of the Trans-Canada railway, Chinese communities developed across the nation.Īt the turn of the 20th century, there were 17,312 Chinese settlers in Canada. Between 18, 15,000 Chinese labourers completed the British Columbia section of the CPR, with more than 600 perishing under adverse They laboured underĪppalling conditions to build the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR). Many of the first Chinese immigrants arrived from rural areas in southern China. Of Vancouver Island and British Columbia was estimated to be 7,000. Barkerville, British Columbia, became the first Chinese community in Canada. In 1858, Chinese immigrants began arriving in the Fraser River valley from San Francisco, as gold prospectors. Meares, leaving many of the Chinese crew members to settle in the area. The Spanish, who were seeking a trade monopoly on the West Coast, drove out Captain
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Guangzhou, China, and Nootka Sound, British Columbia. The first Chinese people to settle in Canada were 50 artisans who accompanied Captain John Meares in 1788 to help build a trading post and encourage trade in sea otter pelts between
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