Search for "Chinese Canadians"

Chinese Canadians make up one of the largest ethnic groups in Canada today. Close to 1.8 million people in Canada are of Chinese descent. Chinese food is one of the most popular cuisines in the country. Over time, different immigration cohorts from China shaped the type of Chinese cuisine found in Canada. Cantonese cooking, which is typified by savoury dishes that are full of aromatics, is historically the most popular type of Chinese cuisine in Canada. It inspired early Chinese Canadian dishes like chop suey. Today, cooking techniques from other parts of China and the larger Chinese diaspora are becoming increasingly popular as the demographics of Chinese immigrants to Canada shift.

Yucho Chow, photographer (born 3 June 1876 in Kaiping, Guangdong province, China; died 10 November 1949 in Vancouver, BC). Yucho Chow was Vancouver’s first and most prolific photographer of Chinese descent in the early 20th century. Over his 42-year career spanning periods of great upheaval, Chow’s Chinatown photography studio was a momentary refuge for countless families and individuals from marginalized communities. His work provides a diverse tapestry of Vancouver’s past. He photographed people from Black, Chinese, Sikh, Hindu, Indigenous and Eastern European communities. The famous and wealthy turned up in his collection, and so did the poor. If they couldn’t have their photos taken at other studios because of the colour of their skin, they knew Chow would welcome them. (See also Racism.)

Toronto’s Chinatown, one of the largest in North America, is an ever-evolving neighbourhood defined by numerous cohorts of Chinese immigrants with a diversity of culture, traditions and languages. (See Chinese Canadians.) Also known as Chinatown West, it is one of three Chinatowns in Toronto, more of the large Chinese settlements are included from the inner suburbs, like Scarborough and North York, and outer suburbs, like Markham, Mississauga and Richmond Hill.

Kew Dock Yip (葉求鐸), community leader, lawyer, school trustee and film actor (born on 23 August 1906 in Vancouver, BC; died 2 July 2001 in Toronto, ON). Yip was the first lawyer of Chinese descent in Canada. (See Chinese Canadians.) He and fellow lawyer Irving Himel played a pivotal role in repealing the Chinese Immigration Act, 1923.

Margaret Jean Gee, lawyer (born 10 December 1927 in Vancouver, BC; died there 17 July 1995). Gee was the first Canadian woman of Chinese descent to be admitted to the bar in British Columbia.

Jean Bessie Lumb (née Toy Jin Wong), CM, community leader, restaurateur (born 30 July 1919 in Nanaimo, BC; died 17 July 2002 in Toronto, ON). Jean Lumb was the first Chinese Canadian woman and first restaurateur inducted into the Order of Canada. She is also best known for her role in successfully lobbying the federal government to change its discriminatory immigration policies that separated Chinese families. Lumb also led the Save Chinatown Committee to prevent further demolition of Toronto’s Chinatown in the 1960s.

Ginger beef is a dish featuring deep-fried strips of battered beef in a sticky and slightly spicy sauce. The beef is stir-fried with vegetables like bell peppers and onions and served over a bed of rice. It’s said to have been invented by a chef named George Wong at Calgary’s Silver Inn in the 1970s. It quickly spread around the country. Today, ginger beef can be found in restaurants from coast to coast. Ginger beef is well-loved and is a prime example of Chinese cuisine in Canada that blends Chinese influences with Western ingredients and cooking techniques.

Ken Sim, entrepreneur, politician, mayor of Vancouver 2022– (born 18 October 1970 in Vancouver, BC). Ken Sim worked as an accountant and investment banker before co-founding two successful businesses: Nurse Next Door and Rosemary Rocksalt bagels. Sim made an unsuccessful bid to become mayor of Vancouver in 2018, losing to Kennedy Stewart by 957 votes. In 2022, he and his A Better City (ABC) Party won a majority government with a platform that stressed law and order and public safety. Sim is the first Chinese Canadian to be elected mayor of Vancouver.

Metchosin, British Columbia, incorporated as a district municipality in 1984, population 4,708 (2016 census), 4,803 (2011 census). The District of Metchosin is located on Vancouver Island. It overlooks the Juan de Fuca Strait. Metchosin is part of the Greater Victoria area. From the late 1800s to 1958, a quarantine station operated at William Head in Metchosin. Many immigrants arriving to Canada by ship were quarantined at William Head before being allowed to enter the country. This was done in an effort to prevent the spread of infectious diseases common on overcrowded ships. In addition, from 1924 to 1956, there was a leper colony on nearby Bentinck Island.

Ruth Lor Malloy (née Lor), journalist, writer, activist (born 4 August 1932, in Brockville, ON). Malloy was a key figure in fighting against discrimination in Ontario in the 1950s (see Prejudice and Discrimination in Canada). She participated in the high profile Dresden restaurant sit-in of 1954. In 1973, she published the first English-language guidebook to China in North America. Throughout her decades-long career, Malloy worked tirelessly to foster intercultural dialogue and justice for marginalized groups.

Force 136 was a branch of the British Special Operations Executive (SOE) during the Second World War. Its covert missions were based in Japanese-occupied Southeast Asia, where orders were to support and train local resistance movements to sabotage Japanese supply lines and equipment. While Force 136 recruited mostly Southeast Asians, it also recruited about 150 Chinese Canadians. It was thought that Chinese Canadians would blend in with local populations and speak local languages. Earlier in the war, many of these men had volunteered their services to Canada but were either turned away or recruited and sidelined. Force 136 became an opportunity for Chinese Canadian men to demonstrate their courage and skills and especially their loyalty to Canada.

Chinese Canadians are one of the largest ethnic groups in the country. In the 2016 census, 1.8 million people reported being of Chinese origin. Despite their importance to the Canadian economy, including the construction of the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR), many European Canadians were historically hostile to Chinese immigration. A prohibitive head tax restricted Chinese immigration to Canada from 1885 to 1923. From 1923 to 1947, the Chinese were excluded altogether from immigrating to Canada. (See Chinese Immigration Act.)

Since 1900, Chinese Canadians have settled primarily in urban areas, particularly in Vancouver and Toronto. They have contributed to every aspect of Canadian society, from literature to sports, politics to civil rights, film to music, business to philanthropy, and education to religion.

William Bell’s historical novel Forbidden City (1990) tells the story of Alex, a teenager who accompanies his father on a trip to Beijing, China. Alex’s initial excitement at exploring the history of the city turns to horror when he becomes trapped near the Forbidden City during the Tiananmen Square Massacre. The most popular novel of Bell’s career, Forbidden City was published in 11 countries and eight languages. Reviewers praised its depiction of the on-the-ground reality of the Tiananmen Square Massacre. The novel received Ontario’s Ruth and Sylvia Schwartz Children’s Book Award, the Ontario School Librarians Association Award and the Belgium Award for Excellence.  

Douglas Jung, CM, OBC, politician, lawyer, soldier (born 25 February 1924 in Victoria, BC; died 4 January 2002 in Vancouver, BC). Douglas Jung was a member of Force 136, a group of Chinese Canadian soldiers who fought behind enemy lines in the Pacific theatre during the Second World War. After the war, Jung became a lawyer in British Columbia and was the first Chinese Canadian lawyer to appear before the BC Court of Appeal in 1955. On 10 June 1957, Douglas Jung was elected as the first Chinese Canadian member of Parliament.