The Chinese Canadian immigration has impacted society and history greatly, being the largest ethnic group in the country. Driven out of China for unfortunate circumstances, the Chinese came to Canada in search for a temporary home and work to help their family back at home. Due to the rumors of wealth and riches, Canada was called “gold mountain”. Because of the California Gold Rush, the first recorded Chinese immigrants to arrive was in the early 1850s. Many came to Canada in the 19th century because of war, rebellion, and famine in China. During that time in China, famine was widespread and many were starving. Many natural disasters destroyed crops. The Guangdong Province in South China's Pearl River Delta where much of the immigrants came from had experienced fourteen floods, seven typhoons, four earthquakes, two droughts, four plagues, and five famines. War had also broke out; the First Opium War between 1839 to 1842 and the Hakka led T’ai P’ing Rebellion. Many of the new industrializing companies were looking for cheap labour and many of the Chinese immigrants were looking for work. Chinese communities were established, and re-migration occurred frequently, families settling down and then migrating to another country.
Barkerville, British Columbia became the first Chinese community in Canada. A few years after the California Gold Rush, thousands arrived in BC during the Cariboo Gold Rush. By 1860, the estimated Chinese population of Vancouver Island and BC was 7,000. However, the Chinese faced discrimination because of their differences in language, dress, religion, and customs. Chinese miners in California were robbed, murdered, and driven from goldfields by the White miners. In 1883, out of the 2,000 gold miners that were left in BC, 1,500 were Chinese. Because of their large numbers, Chinese communities developed across the nation. Shops, general stores, and restaurants in the mining towns were opened as well as farms in the interior and near the coastal cities. Wealthy White families also hired the Chinese. Some Chinese reworked in abandoned claims. Many were hired for a variety of purposes such as labourers, cooks, laundrymen, teamsters, domestic servants, and merchants.
In 1881, facing a lack of labour, the CPR hired many Chinese workers for the construction of the railway section in BC. Between 1881 to 1885, 17,000 Chinese immigrants arrived in BC. The work was very hard and dangerous. Because of the discrimination laid against them, the Chinese workers were paid a dollar a day, which was less than half of what the White workers were paid. The Chinese lived in separate camps and was expected to provide their own food and lodging. The unsafe work caused more than 600 to 2,200 workers to die as a result of accidents or illness. Accidents such as dynamite accidents, landslides, rockslides, cave-ins, and drowning killed many workers. Poor food and cases of scurvy contributed to the death toll. Because the work was extremely difficult and long walks were made between the job site and the work camp, many died due to exhaustion.
Much injustice and discrimination was aimed towards the Chinese. The Chinese who were working for the CPR were misled about the costs of food and equipment. These were not provided, but were deducted from their wages. As a result, many Chinese workers could not to go back to their homeland. They then moved to Vancouver and Victoria. However, discrimination occurred everywhere. An organization in Vancouver called the Knights of Labour wanted to have all the Chinese removed from Vancouver. Through intimidation and violence, they forced Chinese residents out the town, and boycotted against any businesses selling goods to the Chinese.
For the following forty years, the Chinese often worked hard, heavy, manual labour. Some worked in sawmills, canneries and others worked as market gardeners or grocers, pedlars, shopkeepers, and restaurateurs. The system in which Chinese workers were recruited for specific jobs, usually cheated the Chinese and because they were desperate, they accepted the extremely low pay. One labourer in a Vancouver brickyard, Sam Lum said, “I get two dollars a day, a dollar fifty in winter. I only have about six months’ work in the year; sometimes we get two days in the week sometimes none at all. My wife and children are in China; I have never been back. I send thirty or forty dollars home every year. I board myself; there is a house in the brickyard. It costs me fifteen or sixteen dollars a month to live, two dollars for rice, eight dollars for meat, nine dollars for beer and whiskey”. The British, who desired a province that was purely British culture, considered the Chinese inferior, dangerous to the British culture, and incapable of assimilation. In 1885, the government agreed to the restriction of Chinese immigration. Thus, head tax was required; fifty dollars per person upon landing in Canada. Because ships were only allowed to carry no more than one Chinese person per fifty tonnes, the possibility of entire families to enter BC together was incredibly slim. This meant that only forty Chinese immigrants were able to enter the country at one time. In 1900, the tax rising to $100, Asian immigration was restricted further. Angered by the low amount, politicians argued and ordered for it to be raised to $500. According to the federal government, the Chinese were “unfit for full citizenship ... obnoxious to a free community and dangerous to the state.” As a result, those who paid the fee decreased from 4,719 to eight.
For the following forty years, the Chinese often worked hard, heavy, manual labour. Some worked in sawmills, canneries and others worked as market gardeners or grocers, pedlars, shopkeepers, and restaurateurs. The system in which Chinese workers were recruited for specific jobs, usually cheated the Chinese and because they were desperate, they accepted the extremely low pay. One labourer in a Vancouver brickyard, Sam Lum said, “I get two dollars a day, a dollar fifty in winter. I only have about six months’ work in the year; sometimes we get two days in the week sometimes none at all. My wife and children are in China; I have never been back. I send thirty or forty dollars home every year. I board myself; there is a house in the brickyard. It costs me fifteen or sixteen dollars a month to live, two dollars for rice, eight dollars for meat, nine dollars for beer and whiskey”. The British, who desired a province that was purely British culture, considered the Chinese inferior, dangerous to the British culture, and incapable of assimilation. In 1885, the government agreed to the restriction of Chinese immigration. Thus, head tax was required; fifty dollars per person upon landing in Canada. Because ships were only allowed to carry no more than one Chinese person per fifty tonnes, the possibility of entire families to enter BC together was incredibly slim. This meant that only forty Chinese immigrants were able to enter the country at one time. In 1900, the tax rising to $100, Asian immigration was restricted further. Angered by the low amount, politicians argued and ordered for it to be raised to $500. According to the federal government, the Chinese were “unfit for full citizenship ... obnoxious to a free community and dangerous to the state.” As a result, those who paid the fee decreased from 4,719 to eight.
Social and political life, and community:
Chinese Canada, in the 19th and 20th century, still retained some of their traditions; the kinship system, the joss house (temple), and the Chinese theatres. In the Chinese communities, political structures were established for personal and community welfare. In the 20th century, fraternal-political associations, such as the Guomindang and the Freemasons, involved themselves in Chinatown politics and community issues. An association called the Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association, CCBA, took care of the poor, ill, and homeless workers. The most notable association was the Chinese Professionals Association of Canada, consisting of over 10,000 members.
Chinese people came from all over the world; Cuba, India, Jamaica, Mauritius, Peru, etc. The original Chinese communities, viewed as a threat to Caucasian society, were isolated from White culture. The Chinese lived in poverty-stricken conditions. Many diseased killed the people living in the communities. However, despite the poor conditions, education still remained an important feature of Chinese life with schools in Canada dating from the 1890s. The 19th century was the fight against discrimination and exclusion, and many associations were determined to achieve civil rights for the Chinese Canadians.