Chinese Canadian
Encyclopedia
Chinese Canadians are Canadians of Chinese
descent. They constitute the second-largest visible minority
group in Canada, after South Asian Canadians. Canada contains one of the largest populations of overseas Chinese
, and has the second largest population of Chinese people outside of Asia
, after the United States
.
People of Chinese descent, including mixed Chinese and other ethnic origin, make up about four percent of the Canadian population, or about 1.3 million people. Most of them are concentrated within the provinces of British Columbia
and Ontario
. The five metropolitan areas with the largest Chinese Canadian populations are the Greater Toronto Area
(537,060), Metro Vancouver (402,000), Greater Montreal (83,000), Calgary Region
(75,410), and the Edmonton Capital Region
(53,670).
The first record of Chinese in what is known as Canada today can be dated back to 1788. The renegade British Captain James Meares hired a group of roughly 70 Chinese carpenters from Macau
and employed them to build a ship the North West America, at Nootka Sound
, Vancouver Island
, British Columbia
, then an increasingly important European outpost on the Pacific coast. When the shipbuilding was done, Meares relocated the Chinese to San Blas
, Mexico,
The first substantial wave of Chinese immigrants into the British colonies of Vancouver Island
and British Columbia
began in 1858 with the onset of the Fraser Canyon Gold Rush
and a mass migration from the California gold fields
. Most of these Chinese were "sojourner
s" in a sense, in that most of them planned on returning to their homeland after working in British North America for a period of time. Many came to British Columbia as common labourers and most were paid only in vouchers and mats of rice so they were captives of the Chinese-owned firms that imported them. Gold rushes elsewhere in the British Columbia Interior
also attracted a significant number of miners, many of them defectors from the railway camps, many of whom engaged in ranching and farming as well as mercantile pursuits. Chinese ranchers and farmers controlled large amounts of land in the BC Interior, and were the dominant ownership of the region's gold mines after the initial gold rushes waned. Chinese freight companies were also notable in all the gold rushes, as well as merchants of all kinds.
Many workers from Fujian
and Guangdong
Provinces arrived to help build the Canadian Pacific Railway
in the 19th century as did Chinese veterans of the gold rushes. These workers accepted the terms offered by the Chinese labour contractors who were engaged by the railway construction company to hire them - low pay, long hours, lower wages than non-Chinese workers and dangerous working conditions, in order to support their families that stayed in China. Their willingness to endure hardship for low wages enraged fellow non-Chinese workers who thought they were unnecessarily complicating the labour market situations. From the passage of the Chinese Immigration Act
in 1885, the Canadian government began to charge a substantial Head Tax for each Chinese person trying to immigrate to Canada. The Chinese were the only ethnic group that had to pay such a tax.
In 1923, the federal Liberal
government of William Lyon Mackenzie King
banned Chinese immigration with the passage of the Chinese Immigration Act of 1923, although numerous exemptions for businessmen, clergy, students and others did not end immigration entirely. With this act, the Chinese received similar legal treatment to blacks before them who Canada also had specifically excluded from immigration on the basis of race. (This was formalised in 1911 by Prime Minister Sir Wilfrid Laurier who in Sub-section (c) of Section 38 of the Immigration Act called blacks "unsuitable" for Canada.) During the next 25 years, more and more laws against the Chinese were passed. Most jobs were closed to Chinese men and women,. Many Chinese opened their own restaurant and laundry businesses. In British Columbia
, Saskatchewan
and Ontario
, Chinese employers were not allowed to hire white females, so most Chinese businesses became Chinese-only.
Some of those Chinese Canadian workers settled in Canada after the railway was constructed. Most could not bring the rest of their families, including immediate relatives, due to government restrictions and enormous processing fees. They established Chinatown
s and societies in undesirable sections of the cities, such as Dupont Street (now East Pender) in Vancouver, which had been the focus of the early city's red-light district until Chinese merchants took over the area from the 1890s onwards.
During the Great Depression, life was even tougher for the Chinese than it was for other Canadians. In Alberta
, for example, Chinese-Canadians received relief payments of less than half the amount paid to other Canadians. And because The Chinese Exclusion Act prohibited any additional immigration from China, the Chinese men who had arrived earlier had to face these hardships alone, without the companionship of their wives and children.
Census data from 1931 shows that there were 1,240 men to every 100 women in Chinese-Canadian communities. To protest The Chinese Exclusion Act, Chinese-Canadians closed their businesses and boycotted Dominion Day
celebrations every July 1, which became known as “Humiliation Day” by the Chinese-Canadians.
Canada was slow to lift the restrictions against the Chinese-Canadians and grant them full rights as Canadian citizens. Because Canada signed the United Nations
' Charter of Human Rights at the conclusion of the Second World War, the Canadian government had to repeal the Chinese Exclusion Act, which contravened the UN Charter. The same year, 1947, Chinese-Canadians were finally granted the right to vote in federal elections. But it took another 20 years, until the points system was adopted for selecting immigrants, that the Chinese began to be admitted under the same criteria as any other applicants.
After many years of organized calls for an official Canadian government public apology and redress to the historic Head tax
, the minority Conservative government of Stephen Harper announced as part of their pre-election campaign, an official apology. On June 22, 2006, Prime Minister Stephen Harper
delivered a message of redress in the House of Commons, calling it a "grave injustice".
Some educated Chinese arrived in Canada during the war as refugees. Since the mid-20th century, most new Chinese Canadians come from university-educated families, one of whose most essential values is still quality education. These newcomers are a major part of the "Brain gain" the inverse of the infamous "Brain drain
", i.e., Canadians leaving to the United States
of America, of which Chinese have also been a part.
Chinese Indonesian
s and Chinese Malaysians first arrived in Canada in 1960s during anti-Chinese riots in their respective home countries. From 1970s – 1999, many more Indonesians and Malaysians of Chinese origin settled in Canada. Many Chinese from Vietnam
, Laos
and Kampuchea
came to Canada as refugees in the aftermath of the Vietnam War
.
Many Chinese from Latin America
also came in large numbers, especially those from Nicaragua
who fled from the dictatorial Somoza
rule and following the 1972 earthquake
. Chinese-Peru
vians fled Peru
for political reasons. They mostly settled in Canada's large cities.
From the late 1980s, an influx of Taiwanese people
immigrated to Canada forming a group of Taiwanese Canadians. The settled in areas such as Vancouver
, British Columbia
and to the adjacent cities of Burnaby, Richmond
and Coquitlam.
There was a significant influx of wealthy Chinese from Hong Kong
in the early and mid-1990s before the handover of Hong Kong to the People's Republic of China
(PRC). Canada was a preferred location, in part because investment visas were significantly easier to obtain than visas to the United States. Vancouver
, Richmond
and Toronto were the major destinations of these Chinese. During those years, immigrants from Hong Kong alone made up to 46% of all Chinese immigrants to Canada. After 1997, a significant portion of Chinese immigrants chose to move back to Hong Kong, some of a more permanent nature, after the dust of the handover was settled and fears of a "Communist takeover" turned out to be unnecessary.
In the 21st century, Chinese immigration from Hong Kong has dropped sharply and the largest source of Chinese immigration is from the mainland China
.
A smaller number have arrived from Taiwan
and very small numbers from Fiji
, French Polynesia
, and New Zealand
.
Canadian cities with large Chinese Populations:
In 2001, collectively, Chinese languages are the third-most common reported mother tongue, after English and French. 3% of the Canadian population, or 872,000 people, reported the Chinese language as their mother tongue — the language that they learned as a child and still understand. The most common Chinese mother tongue is Cantonese. Of these people, 44% were born in Hong Kong, 27% were born in Guangdong Province in China, and 18% were Canadian-born. The second-most common reported Chinese mother tongue was Mandarin. Of these people, 85% were born in either Mainland China or Taiwan, 7% were Canadian-born, and 2% were born in Malaysia. There is some evidence that fewer young Chinese-Canadians are speaking their parents' and grandparents' first language.
However, only about 790,500 people reported speaking a Chinese language at home on a regular basis, 81,900 fewer than those who reported having a Chinese mother tongue. This suggests some language loss has occurred, mainly among the Canadian-born who learned Chinese as a child, but who may not speak it regularly or do not use it as their main language at home.
or Vancouver
. The Chinese population was 17% in Vancouver and 9% in Toronto. More than 50% of the Chinese immigrants who just arrived in 2000/2001 reported that their reason for settling in a given region was because their family and friends already lived there.
StatCan reported in 2001 In 2001, 27.1% of Canadians of Chinese origin aged 15 and over had either a bachelor's or post-graduate degree, compared with 15% of the overall adult population.
Canadians of Chinese origin are particularly likely to have a post-graduate degree. In 2001,
adults of Chinese origin made up 3% of the overall Canadian population, but represented 9% of
all those with a Doctorate and 7% of those with a Master’s degree. Canadians of Chinese origin also represent a high proportion of those with degrees in highly technical fields. In 2001, people of Chinese origin made up 6% of all university graduates in Canada, while they represented 12% of those with degrees in mathematics, physics or computer science, and 11% of those in engineering or applied science.As in the overall population, men of Chinese origin have somewhat more education than women of Chinese origin. For example, 31% of men of Chinese origin had a university degree in 2001, compared to 24% of their female counterparts. However, women of Chinese origin are
considerably more likely than other women to have a university degree. In 2001, 24% of women
of Chinese origin were university graduates, compared to 15% of all Canadian women.
Young people of Chinese origin are more likely than other young Canadians to be attending
school.
According to Multicultural Canada, Chinese-Canadians were more than twice as likely as other Canadians (7.9 percent) to have completed university. Data from the 1986 census confirm that over 17 per cent of Chinese Canadians had done so and that the foreign- and native-born Chinese with university education were equally likely to have reached that educational level.
In 1986, the Canadian census shows that as many as 45 percent of foreign-born Chinese Canadians and 57 percent of the Canadian-born have had some post-secondary instruction. Undoubtedly, the emphasis of Canadian immigration policy since the 1960s on educational and occupational qualifications favoured those with professional and technical training. The large percentage of native-born Chinese Canadians with university education probably reflects the assistance provided to them by their immigrant parents and the aspirations of Chinese-Canadian families.
In 2001, 40% of second-generation and 31% (overall for first and second generation) Chinese Canadians received a bachelor's degree compared with just 18% of the Canadian national average. Among second-generation Canadians between the ages of 20 and 29, 34% of Canadians of Chinese descent worked in high-skilled occupations (white collar professions those requiring a university degree).
In 2002, the Ethnic Diversity Survey conducted by the University of Alberta
, cited that 59.4% of Chinese Canadians completed a bachelor's degree.
In 2006, StatCan reported that second-generation Chinese Canadians in the age 25-34 cohort had an university educational attainment rate of 62.4%.
and technical occupations. In 2001, people who reported Chinese origins made up 3% of all
workers, while they represented 7% of people employed in the natural and applied sciences despite comprising a mere 4% of the Canadian population. People of Chinese origin also represent a relatively moderately higher proportion of those employed in business, financial and administrative positions, as well as in manufacturing. At the same time, their representation in other occupational groups such as health and education was proportionately lower.
Canadians of Chinese origin are also about as likely as those in the overall workforce to be self-employed with an incorporated business. In 2001, people of Chinese, who represented 3% of the total Canadian workforce, made up 4% of self-employed people who owned an incorporated business. In contrast, the representation of Canadians of Chinese origin among unincorporated self-employed workers was relatively low.
media outlets in Canada:
Chinese people
The term Chinese people may refer to any of the following:*People with Han Chinese ethnicity ....
descent. They constitute the second-largest visible minority
Visible minority
A visible minority is a person who is visibly not one of the majority race in a given population.The term is used as a demographic category by Statistics Canada in connection with that country's Employment Equity policies. The qualifier "visible" is important in the Canadian context where...
group in Canada, after South Asian Canadians. Canada contains one of the largest populations of overseas Chinese
Overseas Chinese
Overseas Chinese are people of Chinese birth or descent who live outside the Greater China Area . People of partial Chinese ancestry living outside the Greater China Area may also consider themselves Overseas Chinese....
, and has the second largest population of Chinese people outside of Asia
Asia
Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
, after the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
People of Chinese descent, including mixed Chinese and other ethnic origin, make up about four percent of the Canadian population, or about 1.3 million people. Most of them are concentrated within the provinces of British Columbia
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
and Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
. The five metropolitan areas with the largest Chinese Canadian populations are the Greater Toronto Area
Greater Toronto Area
The Greater Toronto Area is the largest metropolitan area in Canada, with a 2006 census population of 5.5 million. The Greater Toronto Area is usually defined as the central city of Toronto, along with four regional municipalities surrounding it: Durham, Halton, Peel, and York...
(537,060), Metro Vancouver (402,000), Greater Montreal (83,000), Calgary Region
Calgary Region
The Calgary Region is an area centred around Calgary, Alberta, Canada. It consists of the City of Calgary, Rocky View County and the municipalities it encloses, and the Municipal District of Foothills No. 31 and the municipalities it encloses. The Calgary Census Metropolitan Area and Calgary...
(75,410), and the Edmonton Capital Region
Edmonton Capital Region
The Edmonton Capital Region , also commonly referred to as the Alberta Capital Region, Greater Edmonton or Metro Edmonton, is a conglomeration of municipalities centred around Edmonton – Alberta's provincial capital....
(53,670).
History
Macau
Macau , also spelled Macao , is, along with Hong Kong, one of the two special administrative regions of the People's Republic of China...
and employed them to build a ship the North West America, at Nootka Sound
Nootka Sound
Nootka Sound is a complex inlet or sound of the Pacific Ocean on the rugged west coast of Vancouver Island, in the Canadian province of British Columbia. Historically also known as King George's Sound, as a strait it separates Vancouver Island and Nootka Island.-History:The inlet is part of the...
, Vancouver Island
Vancouver Island
Vancouver Island is a large island in British Columbia, Canada. It is one of several North American locations named after George Vancouver, the British Royal Navy officer who explored the Pacific Northwest coast of North America between 1791 and 1794...
, British Columbia
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
, then an increasingly important European outpost on the Pacific coast. When the shipbuilding was done, Meares relocated the Chinese to San Blas
San Blas
San Blas, the Spanish name for Saint Blaise, can refer to:*San Blas, La Rioja*San Blas Department*San Blas, Costa Rica*San Blas, Quito*San Blas, El Salvador* San Blas, Nadur* San Blas, Nayarit* San Blas, Sinaloa* San Blas Atempa, Oaxaca...
, Mexico,
The first substantial wave of Chinese immigrants into the British colonies of Vancouver Island
Colony of Vancouver Island
The Colony of Vancouver Island , was a crown colony of British North America from 1849 to 1866, after which it was united with British Columbia. The united colony joined the Dominion of Canada through Confederation in 1871...
and British Columbia
Colony of British Columbia
The Colony of British Columbia was a crown colony in British North America from 1858 until 1866. At its creation, it physically constituted approximately half the present day Canadian province of British Columbia, since it did not include the Colony of Vancouver Island, the vast and still largely...
began in 1858 with the onset of the Fraser Canyon Gold Rush
Fraser Canyon Gold Rush
The Fraser Canyon Gold Rush, began in 1858 after gold was discovered on the Thompson River in British Columbia at its confluence with the Nicoamen River. This was a few miles upstream from the Thompson's confluence with the Fraser River at present-day Lytton...
and a mass migration from the California gold fields
California Gold Rush
The California Gold Rush began on January 24, 1848, when gold was found by James W. Marshall at Sutter's Mill in Coloma, California. The first to hear confirmed information of the gold rush were the people in Oregon, the Sandwich Islands , and Latin America, who were the first to start flocking to...
. Most of these Chinese were "sojourner
Sojourner
A sojourner is a person who resides temporarily in a place; Sojourner may also refer to:*Sojourners Magazine*Sojourner Truth , an abolitionist and women's rights activist...
s" in a sense, in that most of them planned on returning to their homeland after working in British North America for a period of time. Many came to British Columbia as common labourers and most were paid only in vouchers and mats of rice so they were captives of the Chinese-owned firms that imported them. Gold rushes elsewhere in the British Columbia Interior
British Columbia Interior
The British Columbia Interior or BC Interior or Interior of British Columbia, usually referred to only as the Interior, is one of the three main regions of the Canadian province of British Columbia, the other two being the Lower Mainland, which comprises the overlapping areas of Greater Vancouver...
also attracted a significant number of miners, many of them defectors from the railway camps, many of whom engaged in ranching and farming as well as mercantile pursuits. Chinese ranchers and farmers controlled large amounts of land in the BC Interior, and were the dominant ownership of the region's gold mines after the initial gold rushes waned. Chinese freight companies were also notable in all the gold rushes, as well as merchants of all kinds.
Many workers from Fujian
Fujian
' , formerly romanised as Fukien or Huguing or Foukien, is a province on the southeast coast of mainland China. Fujian is bordered by Zhejiang to the north, Jiangxi to the west, and Guangdong to the south. Taiwan lies to the east, across the Taiwan Strait...
and Guangdong
Guangdong
Guangdong is a province on the South China Sea coast of the People's Republic of China. The province was previously often written with the alternative English name Kwangtung Province...
Provinces arrived to help build the Canadian Pacific Railway
Canadian Pacific Railway
The Canadian Pacific Railway , formerly also known as CP Rail between 1968 and 1996, is a historic Canadian Class I railway founded in 1881 and now operated by Canadian Pacific Railway Limited, which began operations as legal owner in a corporate restructuring in 2001...
in the 19th century as did Chinese veterans of the gold rushes. These workers accepted the terms offered by the Chinese labour contractors who were engaged by the railway construction company to hire them - low pay, long hours, lower wages than non-Chinese workers and dangerous working conditions, in order to support their families that stayed in China. Their willingness to endure hardship for low wages enraged fellow non-Chinese workers who thought they were unnecessarily complicating the labour market situations. From the passage of the Chinese Immigration Act
Chinese Immigration Act of 1885
The Chinese Immigration Act of 1885 placed a head tax on all Chinese immigrants coming to Canada, forcing them to pay a fifty dollar fee to enter the country. In 1900, the fee was raised to one hundred dollars...
in 1885, the Canadian government began to charge a substantial Head Tax for each Chinese person trying to immigrate to Canada. The Chinese were the only ethnic group that had to pay such a tax.
In 1923, the federal Liberal
Liberal Party of Canada
The Liberal Party of Canada , colloquially known as the Grits, is the oldest federally registered party in Canada. In the conventional political spectrum, the party sits between the centre and the centre-left. Historically the Liberal Party has positioned itself to the left of the Conservative...
government of William Lyon Mackenzie King
William Lyon Mackenzie King
William Lyon Mackenzie King, PC, OM, CMG was the dominant Canadian political leader from the 1920s through the 1940s. He served as the tenth Prime Minister of Canada from December 29, 1921 to June 28, 1926; from September 25, 1926 to August 7, 1930; and from October 23, 1935 to November 15, 1948...
banned Chinese immigration with the passage of the Chinese Immigration Act of 1923, although numerous exemptions for businessmen, clergy, students and others did not end immigration entirely. With this act, the Chinese received similar legal treatment to blacks before them who Canada also had specifically excluded from immigration on the basis of race. (This was formalised in 1911 by Prime Minister Sir Wilfrid Laurier who in Sub-section (c) of Section 38 of the Immigration Act called blacks "unsuitable" for Canada.) During the next 25 years, more and more laws against the Chinese were passed. Most jobs were closed to Chinese men and women,. Many Chinese opened their own restaurant and laundry businesses. In British Columbia
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
, Saskatchewan
Saskatchewan
Saskatchewan is a prairie province in Canada, which has an area of . Saskatchewan is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, and on the south by the U.S. states of Montana and North Dakota....
and Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
, Chinese employers were not allowed to hire white females, so most Chinese businesses became Chinese-only.
Some of those Chinese Canadian workers settled in Canada after the railway was constructed. Most could not bring the rest of their families, including immediate relatives, due to government restrictions and enormous processing fees. They established Chinatown
Chinatown
A Chinatown is an ethnic enclave of overseas Chinese people, although it is often generalized to include various Southeast Asian people. Chinatowns exist throughout the world, including East Asia, Southeast Asia, the Americas, Australasia, and Europe. Binondo's Chinatown located in Manila,...
s and societies in undesirable sections of the cities, such as Dupont Street (now East Pender) in Vancouver, which had been the focus of the early city's red-light district until Chinese merchants took over the area from the 1890s onwards.
During the Great Depression, life was even tougher for the Chinese than it was for other Canadians. In Alberta
Alberta
Alberta is a province of Canada. It had an estimated population of 3.7 million in 2010 making it the most populous of Canada's three prairie provinces...
, for example, Chinese-Canadians received relief payments of less than half the amount paid to other Canadians. And because The Chinese Exclusion Act prohibited any additional immigration from China, the Chinese men who had arrived earlier had to face these hardships alone, without the companionship of their wives and children.
Census data from 1931 shows that there were 1,240 men to every 100 women in Chinese-Canadian communities. To protest The Chinese Exclusion Act, Chinese-Canadians closed their businesses and boycotted Dominion Day
Dominion Day
Dominion Day is a commemoration day of the granting of national status in various Commonwealth countries.-Canada:Dominion Day was the name of the holiday commemorating the formation of Canada as a Dominion on 1 July 1867...
celebrations every July 1, which became known as “Humiliation Day” by the Chinese-Canadians.
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
' Charter of Human Rights at the conclusion of the Second World War, the Canadian government had to repeal the Chinese Exclusion Act, which contravened the UN Charter. The same year, 1947, Chinese-Canadians were finally granted the right to vote in federal elections. But it took another 20 years, until the points system was adopted for selecting immigrants, that the Chinese began to be admitted under the same criteria as any other applicants.
After many years of organized calls for an official Canadian government public apology and redress to the historic Head tax
Head tax (Canada)
The Chinese head tax was a fixed fee charged to each Chinese person entering Canada. The head tax was first levied after the Canadian parliament passed the Chinese Immigration Act of 1885 and was meant to discourage Chinese people from entering Canada after the completion of the Canadian Pacific...
, the minority Conservative government of Stephen Harper announced as part of their pre-election campaign, an official apology. On June 22, 2006, Prime Minister Stephen Harper
Stephen Harper
Stephen Joseph Harper is the 22nd and current Prime Minister of Canada and leader of the Conservative Party. Harper became prime minister when his party formed a minority government after the 2006 federal election...
delivered a message of redress in the House of Commons, calling it a "grave injustice".
Some educated Chinese arrived in Canada during the war as refugees. Since the mid-20th century, most new Chinese Canadians come from university-educated families, one of whose most essential values is still quality education. These newcomers are a major part of the "Brain gain" the inverse of the infamous "Brain drain
Brain drain
Human capital flight, more commonly referred to as "brain drain", is the large-scale emigration of a large group of individuals with technical skills or knowledge. The reasons usually include two aspects which respectively come from countries and individuals...
", i.e., Canadians leaving to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
of America, of which Chinese have also been a part.
Chinese Indonesian
Chinese Indonesian
Chinese Indonesians, also called the Indonesian Chinese, are an overseas Chinese group whose ancestors emigrated from China to Indonesia, formerly a colony of the Netherlands known as the Dutch East Indies...
s and Chinese Malaysians first arrived in Canada in 1960s during anti-Chinese riots in their respective home countries. From 1970s – 1999, many more Indonesians and Malaysians of Chinese origin settled in Canada. Many Chinese from Vietnam
Vietnam
Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...
, Laos
Laos
Laos Lao: ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ Sathalanalat Paxathipatai Paxaxon Lao, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic, is a landlocked country in Southeast Asia, bordered by Burma and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the south and Thailand to the west...
and Kampuchea
Cambodia
Cambodia , officially known as the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia...
came to Canada as refugees in the aftermath of the Vietnam War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
.
Many Chinese from Latin America
Latin America
Latin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages – particularly Spanish and Portuguese, and variably French – are primarily spoken. Latin America has an area of approximately 21,069,500 km² , almost 3.9% of the Earth's surface or 14.1% of its land surface area...
also came in large numbers, especially those from Nicaragua
Nicaragua
Nicaragua is the largest country in the Central American American isthmus, bordered by Honduras to the north and Costa Rica to the south. The country is situated between 11 and 14 degrees north of the Equator in the Northern Hemisphere, which places it entirely within the tropics. The Pacific Ocean...
who fled from the dictatorial Somoza
Somoza
The Somoza family was an influential political dynasty who ruled Nicaragua as an hereditary dictatorship. Their influence exceeded their combined 43 years in the de facto presidency, as they were the power behind the other presidents of the time through their control of the National Guard...
rule and following the 1972 earthquake
1972 Nicaragua earthquake
The 1972 Nicaragua earthquake was an earthquake that occurred at 12:29 a.m. local time on Saturday, December 23, 1972 near Managua, the capital of Nicaragua. It had a magnitude of 6.2 and occurred at a depth of about 5 kilometers beneath the centre of the city. Within an hour after the main...
. Chinese-Peru
Peru
Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....
vians fled Peru
Peru
Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....
for political reasons. They mostly settled in Canada's large cities.
From the late 1980s, an influx of Taiwanese people
Taiwanese people
Taiwanese people may refer to individuals who either claim or are imputed cultural identity focused on the island of Taiwan and/or Taiwan Area which have been governed by the Republic of China since 1945...
immigrated to Canada forming a group of Taiwanese Canadians. The settled in areas such as Vancouver
Vancouver
Vancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...
, British Columbia
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
and to the adjacent cities of Burnaby, Richmond
Richmond, British Columbia
Richmond is a coastal city, incorporated in the Canadian province of British Columbia. Part of Metro Vancouver, its neighbouring communities are Vancouver and Burnaby to the north, New Westminster to the east, and Delta to the south, while the Strait of Georgia forms its western border...
and Coquitlam.
There was a significant influx of wealthy Chinese from Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
in the early and mid-1990s before the handover of Hong Kong to the People's Republic of China
People's Republic of China
China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...
(PRC). Canada was a preferred location, in part because investment visas were significantly easier to obtain than visas to the United States. Vancouver
Vancouver
Vancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...
, Richmond
Richmond, British Columbia
Richmond is a coastal city, incorporated in the Canadian province of British Columbia. Part of Metro Vancouver, its neighbouring communities are Vancouver and Burnaby to the north, New Westminster to the east, and Delta to the south, while the Strait of Georgia forms its western border...
and Toronto were the major destinations of these Chinese. During those years, immigrants from Hong Kong alone made up to 46% of all Chinese immigrants to Canada. After 1997, a significant portion of Chinese immigrants chose to move back to Hong Kong, some of a more permanent nature, after the dust of the handover was settled and fears of a "Communist takeover" turned out to be unnecessary.
In the 21st century, Chinese immigration from Hong Kong has dropped sharply and the largest source of Chinese immigration is from the mainland China
Mainland China
Mainland China, the Chinese mainland or simply the mainland, is a geopolitical term that refers to the area under the jurisdiction of the People's Republic of China . According to the Taipei-based Mainland Affairs Council, the term excludes the PRC Special Administrative Regions of Hong Kong and...
.
A smaller number have arrived from Taiwan
Republic of China
The Republic of China , commonly known as Taiwan , is a unitary sovereign state located in East Asia. Originally based in mainland China, the Republic of China currently governs the island of Taiwan , which forms over 99% of its current territory, as well as Penghu, Kinmen, Matsu and other minor...
and very small numbers from Fiji
Fiji
Fiji , officially the Republic of Fiji , is an island nation in Melanesia in the South Pacific Ocean about northeast of New Zealand's North Island...
, French Polynesia
French Polynesia
French Polynesia is an overseas country of the French Republic . It is made up of several groups of Polynesian islands, the most famous island being Tahiti in the Society Islands group, which is also the most populous island and the seat of the capital of the territory...
, and New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
.
Demography
In 2001, 25% of Chinese in Canada were Canadian-born.Chinese population by province/territory
The Chinese Canadian Population according to Statistics Canada in the 2006 census in the 10 Canadian Provinces and 3 territories:| Province Provinces and territories of Canada The provinces and territories of Canada combine to make up the world's second-largest country by area. There are ten provinces and three territories... |
Chinese |
|---|---|
 Ontario |
644,465 |
 British Columbia |
432,435 |
 Alberta |
137,600 |
 Quebec |
91,900 |
 Manitoba |
17,930 |
 Saskatchewan |
11,100 |
 Nova Scotia |
5,140 |
 New Brunswick |
2,895 |
 Newfoundland and Labrador |
1,650 |
 Yukon |
545 |
 Northwest Territories |
470 |
 Prince Edward Island |
300 |
 Nunavut |
80 |
 Canada |
1,346,510 |
Canadian cities with large Chinese Populations:
| City | Province Provinces and territories of Canada The provinces and territories of Canada combine to make up the world's second-largest country by area. There are ten provinces and three territories... |
Chinese Overseas Chinese Overseas Chinese are people of Chinese birth or descent who live outside the Greater China Area . People of partial Chinese ancestry living outside the Greater China Area may also consider themselves Overseas Chinese.... |
|---|---|---|
| Toronto Toronto Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from... |
Ontario | 537,060 |
| Vancouver Vancouver Vancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,... |
British Columbia British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858... |
402,000 |
| Montréal Montreal Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America... |
Quebec Quebec Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level.... |
82,665 |
| Calgary Calgary Calgary is a city in the Province of Alberta, Canada. It is located in the south of the province, in an area of foothills and prairie, approximately east of the front ranges of the Canadian Rockies... |
Alberta Alberta Alberta is a province of Canada. It had an estimated population of 3.7 million in 2010 making it the most populous of Canada's three prairie provinces... |
75,410 |
| Edmonton Edmonton Edmonton is the capital of the Canadian province of Alberta and is the province's second-largest city. Edmonton is located on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Capital Region, which is surrounded by the central region of the province.The city and its census... |
Alberta | 53,670 |
| Ottawa Ottawa Ottawa is the capital of Canada, the second largest city in the Province of Ontario, and the fourth largest city in the country. The city is located on the south bank of the Ottawa River in the eastern portion of Southern Ontario... |
Ontario | 36,305 |
| Winnipeg Winnipeg Winnipeg is the capital and largest city of Manitoba, Canada, and is the primary municipality of the Winnipeg Capital Region, with more than half of Manitoba's population. It is located near the longitudinal centre of North America, at the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine Rivers .The name... |
Manitoba Manitoba Manitoba is a Canadian prairie province with an area of . The province has over 110,000 lakes and has a largely continental climate because of its flat topography. Agriculture, mostly concentrated in the fertile southern and western parts of the province, is vital to the province's economy; other... |
16,995 |
| Hamilton Hamilton, Ontario Hamilton is a port city in the Canadian province of Ontario. Conceived by George Hamilton when he purchased the Durand farm shortly after the War of 1812, Hamilton has become the centre of a densely populated and industrialized region at the west end of Lake Ontario known as the Golden Horseshoe... |
Ontario | 13,600 |
| Victoria Victoria, British Columbia Victoria is the capital city of British Columbia, Canada and is located on the southern tip of Vancouver Island off Canada's Pacific coast. The city has a population of about 78,000 within the metropolitan area of Greater Victoria, which has a population of 360,063, the 15th most populous Canadian... |
British Columbia | 13,550 |
| Kitchener Kitchener, Ontario The City of Kitchener is a city in Southern Ontario, Canada. It was the Town of Berlin from 1854 until 1912 and the City of Berlin from 1912 until 1916. The city had a population of 204,668 in the Canada 2006 Census... |
Ontario | 10,970 |
Language
In 2001, 87% of Chinese reported having a conversational knowledge of at least one official language, while 15% reported that they could speak neither English nor French. Of those who could not speak an official language, 50% immigrated to Canada in the 1990s, while 22% immigrated in the 1980s. These immigrants tended to be in the older age groups. Of prime working-age Chinese immigrants, 89% reported knowing at least one official language.In 2001, collectively, Chinese languages are the third-most common reported mother tongue, after English and French. 3% of the Canadian population, or 872,000 people, reported the Chinese language as their mother tongue — the language that they learned as a child and still understand. The most common Chinese mother tongue is Cantonese. Of these people, 44% were born in Hong Kong, 27% were born in Guangdong Province in China, and 18% were Canadian-born. The second-most common reported Chinese mother tongue was Mandarin. Of these people, 85% were born in either Mainland China or Taiwan, 7% were Canadian-born, and 2% were born in Malaysia. There is some evidence that fewer young Chinese-Canadians are speaking their parents' and grandparents' first language.
However, only about 790,500 people reported speaking a Chinese language at home on a regular basis, 81,900 fewer than those who reported having a Chinese mother tongue. This suggests some language loss has occurred, mainly among the Canadian-born who learned Chinese as a child, but who may not speak it regularly or do not use it as their main language at home.
Immigration
As of 2001, almost 75% of the Chinese population in Canada lived in either TorontoToronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
or Vancouver
Vancouver
Vancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...
. The Chinese population was 17% in Vancouver and 9% in Toronto. More than 50% of the Chinese immigrants who just arrived in 2000/2001 reported that their reason for settling in a given region was because their family and friends already lived there.
Education
Compared with the general Canadian population, Chinese-Canadians tend to be better educated and earn more than Canadians as a whole.StatCan reported in 2001 In 2001, 27.1% of Canadians of Chinese origin aged 15 and over had either a bachelor's or post-graduate degree, compared with 15% of the overall adult population.
Canadians of Chinese origin are particularly likely to have a post-graduate degree. In 2001,
adults of Chinese origin made up 3% of the overall Canadian population, but represented 9% of
all those with a Doctorate and 7% of those with a Master’s degree. Canadians of Chinese origin also represent a high proportion of those with degrees in highly technical fields. In 2001, people of Chinese origin made up 6% of all university graduates in Canada, while they represented 12% of those with degrees in mathematics, physics or computer science, and 11% of those in engineering or applied science.As in the overall population, men of Chinese origin have somewhat more education than women of Chinese origin. For example, 31% of men of Chinese origin had a university degree in 2001, compared to 24% of their female counterparts. However, women of Chinese origin are
considerably more likely than other women to have a university degree. In 2001, 24% of women
of Chinese origin were university graduates, compared to 15% of all Canadian women.
Young people of Chinese origin are more likely than other young Canadians to be attending
school.
According to Multicultural Canada, Chinese-Canadians were more than twice as likely as other Canadians (7.9 percent) to have completed university. Data from the 1986 census confirm that over 17 per cent of Chinese Canadians had done so and that the foreign- and native-born Chinese with university education were equally likely to have reached that educational level.
In 1986, the Canadian census shows that as many as 45 percent of foreign-born Chinese Canadians and 57 percent of the Canadian-born have had some post-secondary instruction. Undoubtedly, the emphasis of Canadian immigration policy since the 1960s on educational and occupational qualifications favoured those with professional and technical training. The large percentage of native-born Chinese Canadians with university education probably reflects the assistance provided to them by their immigrant parents and the aspirations of Chinese-Canadian families.
In 2001, 40% of second-generation and 31% (overall for first and second generation) Chinese Canadians received a bachelor's degree compared with just 18% of the Canadian national average. Among second-generation Canadians between the ages of 20 and 29, 34% of Canadians of Chinese descent worked in high-skilled occupations (white collar professions those requiring a university degree).
In 2002, the Ethnic Diversity Survey conducted by the University of Alberta
University of Alberta
The University of Alberta is a public research university located in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Founded in 1908 by Alexander Cameron Rutherford, the first premier of Alberta and Henry Marshall Tory, its first president, it is widely recognized as one of the best universities in Canada...
, cited that 59.4% of Chinese Canadians completed a bachelor's degree.
In 2006, StatCan reported that second-generation Chinese Canadians in the age 25-34 cohort had an university educational attainment rate of 62.4%.
Employment
Canadians of Chinese origin make up a high proportion of all Canadians employed in scientificand technical occupations. In 2001, people who reported Chinese origins made up 3% of all
workers, while they represented 7% of people employed in the natural and applied sciences despite comprising a mere 4% of the Canadian population. People of Chinese origin also represent a relatively moderately higher proportion of those employed in business, financial and administrative positions, as well as in manufacturing. At the same time, their representation in other occupational groups such as health and education was proportionately lower.
Canadians of Chinese origin are also about as likely as those in the overall workforce to be self-employed with an incorporated business. In 2001, people of Chinese, who represented 3% of the total Canadian workforce, made up 4% of self-employed people who owned an incorporated business. In contrast, the representation of Canadians of Chinese origin among unincorporated self-employed workers was relatively low.
Canadian-born
The majority of Canadian-born Chinese during the 1970s and 1980s were descended from immigrants of Hong Kong and Southern China, and more recently from mainland Chinese immigrants.Media
List of Chinese languageChinese language
The Chinese language is a language or language family consisting of varieties which are mutually intelligible to varying degrees. Originally the indigenous languages spoken by the Han Chinese in China, it forms one of the branches of Sino-Tibetan family of languages...
media outlets in Canada:
- CHKG-FMCHKG-FMCHKG-FM is a radio station in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. It broadcasts on the frequency 96.1 FM. It airs mostly Mandarin programming and is owned by the Fairchild Group.-Programming:...
- CHMB (AM)CHMB (AM)CHMB is a Canadian radio station, broadcasting at 1320 AM in Vancouver, British Columbia. The station airs a Chinese language programming format....
- CJVB (AM)CJVB (AM)CJVB is a radio station in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada which broadcasts multilingual programming at AM 1470. Owned by the Fairchild Group, the station broadcasts on 1470 kHz at a power of 50,000 watts, using two different directional patterns for daytime and nighttime operation. ...
- Cathay International TelevisionCathay International TelevisionCathay International Television was a Canadian television broadcasting company.It was launched as a specialty Chinese language broadcaster in Vancouver, British Columbia in the 1980s. The company grew to become a regional broadcaster, and was purchased in 1987 by Chinavision Canada to become a...
- Chinavision CanadaChinavision CanadaChinavision was a Canadian television broadcasting company.It was launched in 1984 by Francis Cheng of Toronto to provide a pay-TV station for Chinese language viewers in Toronto and Vancouver. The station's content was roughly 90% Cantonese and 10% Mandarin....
- The Epoch TimesThe Epoch TimesThe Epoch Times is a multi-language, international media organisation. As a newspaper, the Times has been publishing in Chinese since May 2000. It was founded in 1999 by supporters of the Falun Gong spiritual discipline....
- Fairchild GroupFairchild GroupThe Fairchild Group is a business conglomerate in Canada, with headquarters in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Fairchild Group operates various media properties under the Fairchild Media Group name. Fairchild operates Fairchild TV , Fairchild Radio , and Mandarin broadcaster TalentVision...
- Fairchild TVFairchild TVFairchild TV or FTV is a Canadian Cantonese language Category A specialty channel. It is co-owned by majority owner Fairchild Media Group and Television Broadcasts Limited which owns 20% of the business...
- CHKT (AM)CHKT (AM)CHKT is a Canadian radio station, airing at 1430 AM in Toronto, Ontario. The station, owned by the Fairchild Radio service, airs Chinese language programming.-History:The station first aired in 1925 as AM 840 CKCL, owned by the Dominion Battery company...
- Ming Pao Daily News (Canada)
- Sing Tao Daily (Canada)
- TalentvisionTalentvisionTalentvision is a Canadian Mandarin Chinese Category A specialty channel. It is owned by the Vancouver based Fairchild Media Group and Television Broadcast Limited. Talentvision's studios are located in Richmond, British Columbia.Talentvision features programming from Mainland China as well as...
- Today Daily News (Canada)Today Daily News (Toronto)Today Daily News is a Chinese language newspaper in Canada, launched on November 1, 2005. It is published by Today Daily News International in Scarborough....
- World Journal (Canada)World Journal (Toronto)The World Journal is a Chinese language newspaper published in Vancouver, BC and Toronto, Ontario. The paper originally catered to Taiwanese Canadian readers, using transliterations used in Taiwan for foreign names...
See also
- Asian CanadianAsian CanadianThis is a list of Canadians of Asian ancestry. Asian Canadians comprise the largest visible minority in Canada, at 11% of the Canadian population.- Ethnicity :List of Asian Canadian Demographies according to the 2006 Census- Notable Asian Canadians :...
- Chinese AmericanChinese AmericanChinese Americans represent Americans of Chinese descent. Chinese Americans constitute one group of overseas Chinese and also a subgroup of East Asian Americans, which is further a subgroup of Asian Americans...
- Chinese emigration
- Jook-singJook-singJook-sing is a Cantonese term used to describe an Overseas Chinese person who has grown up in a Western environment, such that he or she cannot speak, read or write a Chinese dialect.- Etymology :...
- Overseas ChineseOverseas ChineseOverseas Chinese are people of Chinese birth or descent who live outside the Greater China Area . People of partial Chinese ancestry living outside the Greater China Area may also consider themselves Overseas Chinese....
- Embassy of the People's Republic of China in Ottawa
Sources
- Pon, Gordon. "Antiracism in the Cosmopolis: Race, Class, and Gender in the Lives of Elite Chinese Canadian Women", Social Justice, vol. 32 (4): pp. 161–179 (2005)
- Lindsay, Colin. The Chinese Community in Canada, Profiles of Ethnic Communities in Canada, 2001, Social and Aboriginal Statistics Division, Statistics Canada, Catalog #89-621-XIE (ISBN 0-662-43444-7)
- Li, Peter S. "Chinese". Encyclopedia of Canada's Peoples (Toronto: Multicultural History Society of Ontario, 1999).
Library resources
- Chinese Canadian Genealogy at the Vancouver Public LibraryVancouver Public LibraryThe Vancouver Public Library is the third largest public library system in Canada, with more than 2.5 million items in its collections, 22 branches, approximately 375,000 cardholders, and nearly nine million item borrowings annually...
- Chinese-Canadians: Profiles from a Community - Vancouver Public Library wiki
- Historic Chinese Language Materials in British Columbia (加華文獻聚珍)
- Multicultural Canada website
External links
- Asian Canadian Community-Chinese
- Chinese Canadian National Council
- Chinese Canadian Historical Society of British Columbia
- History of Chinese in Canada
- History of the Chinese Head Tax & Exclusion Act
- National Film Board - Documentary "In The Shadow of Gold Mountain", detailing the history of abuse against Chinese Canadians
- CBC Digital Archives - A Tale of Perseverance: Chinese Immigration to Canada
- Timeline of Important Events in the History of the Chinese in Canada
- 100 influential Chinese Canadians in British Columbia (October 2006)
- Alphabetical List of Persons: A to L, Alphabetical List of Persons: L to S Alphabetical List of Persons, S to Z