the chinese immigrate to canada

THE CHINESE IMMIGRATION TO CANADA : A HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

THE PATTERN OF MIGRATION FROM CHINA TO NORTH AMERICA -

19TH CENTURY

Chinese immigration to Canada began when gold was discovered in 1858 in the area of the Thompson River . About 20 ,000 to 30 ,000 people rushed to the area to prospect and search for gold . Among the people who entered the boundaries of Canada are Chinese , most of them are already prospectors from California , by way of Portland and San Francisco , who wanted to strike elsewhere when the United

States ' gold mines began to dry (Li , 2000

Because the gold rush also coincided with the Taiping Rebellion in China , the number of immigrants from mainland China came in to escape the strife from their homeland . Most of the mainland immigrants came from provinces that was most affected during the rebellion - the provinces of Guangdong , Fujian and south Canton . The immigrants from these hard-hit provinces were earlier exposed to Western culture and way of life because of the traders and British soldiers who came to China during the Opium War in the early 1850s . To escape the troubles from their country , these Chinese immigrants crossed the ocean to reach Canada using their own savings , while others were recruited as laborers by agencies based in Hong Kong or in Canton . For recruited laborers they were made to agree to pay for fees upon arrival to Canada . The first influx of immigrants from the mainland who arrived at the shores of Canada in 1860 numbered around six to seven thousand and was predominantly male in composition (Li , 2000

THE BUILDING OF THE CANADIAN PACIFIC RAILWAY (CPR

Due to the discovery of gold in the area , the mining industry boomed and in response to the growing need for roads , Governor Douglas pushed for the construction of new road and rail networks to facilitate the faster transfer of gold and other mining products to the cities . During this time , Chinese immigrants were allowed to work for gold mines but were disallowed when more and more whites flocked to prospect for gold Construction jobs were initially open only for whites but there was a deficiency in the workforce and soon , the Chinese immigrants were hired (Li , 2000

At the beginning , around a thousand Chinese laborers were hired to build the first major railroads of British Columbia . The Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR ) soon increased the Chinese workers to seventeen thousand to complete the construction of the railway . Poor working conditions and the hard toil killed around 4 ,000 Chinese laborers during the entire construction of the railway system . In addition , Chinese workforce , were paid at half the wages of their white counterparts . This salary differential continued to be the standard until the 1930s (Li , 2000

THE RISE OF ANTI-CHINESE SENTIMENT

The Chinese were welcomed by the Canadian officials only when there was a need for cheap labor . Undaunted in doing menial work and tasks that was deemed for women - i .e . laundry and cooking , many early...