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Chinese Head Tax
From 1885 to 1923, Canada discouraged Asian immigration, especially from China by placing a fixed fee or head tax on them of $50. In 1903, the head tax continued to grow to $500 a person. In 2006, the Government of Canada formally apologized for these actions. -
The Komagata Incident
In 1914 a Japanese ship entitled the Komagata Maru entered a port in Vancouver, British Columbia after sailing from Hong Kong. Of the 376 people on board from Punjab, India only 20 remained in Canada. Because of the Canadian policies that said Indians could only enter Canada if they came straight from India with no stops, they were denied entry into Canada and forced to turn back after 2 months of protesting. In May of 2008, the BC government apologized for this act. -
Internment of Ukrainian Canadians
From 1914 to 1920 the confinement of Ukrainian Canadians was put in place under the War Measures Act. Over 8 600 people were put in camps during this time and were known as Enemy Aliens. Above is a photo symbolising a Ukrainian Canadian. -
Internment of Italian Canadians
About 500 Canadian Italians deemed enemy aliens were interned across the country in Kananaskis AB, Petawawa ON, and Fredericton NB. This was because Italy had just declared war on Canada and other nations in the Second World War. -
Internment of Japanese Canadians
After the Japanese army bombed Pearl Harbour, the Government of Canada sent the Japanese peoples resisiding in Canada to internment and prisoner of war camps after taking away their posessions and buisnesses. People have described the conditions at the camps as horrible with little privacy and a lack of food. This lasted until 1949 when legaslation was made allowing the Japanese Canadians to vote. -
New Immigration Category: Refugees
25 years after signing the Convention relating to the Status of Refugees, Canada added legaslation to reconize refugees as a special class of immigrants. Since then, Canada has been recieving refugees all the time and not crisis to crisis like in the old days. Above is a photo of refugees fleeing from the war torn country of Syria. -
Creation of Immigration Categories
In 1976 this act established the different categories of immigrants. As of 2006, the categories made up 13% refugees, 28% family class, 55% economic, and 4% other (accepted for humanitarian or compassionate reasons). -
Singh Decision
Satnam Singh came to Canada from India seeking refugee status. However, Canada rejected him under the 1976 Immigration Act as it disallowed him to state his case in person or to appeal the Government's decision. Because this violated section 7 of The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, the Supreme Court overturned the case. This day, April 4th, is now known as Refugee Rights Day. -
The Immigration and Refugee Protection Act
In 2001 the IRPA was passed and was implemented in 2002. It created objectives for immigration to help pursue social, economic, and cultural benefits for Canadians. It also had objectives to reunite families and respect the bilingual and multicultural character of Canada while supporting the development of minority official language communities. Another objective was to promote the successful integration of immigrants into society. The Immigration Act covers the same topics as this.
