Although Chinese migrants had lived in Canada
since as early as 1858, it was not really until the
1880s that their numbers began to rise
appreciably. Thus, while 4,383 were identified in the 1881 Canadian census, the population is then thought to
have grown to around 10,550 by September 1884 as the
construction of the Canadian Pacific Railway picked up
steam. More generally, some 16,000 to 17,000 Chinese
migrants probably came to Canada during the early
1880s to work on the rail line.1 For economic and
geographic reasons, Chinese migrants generally arrived
and lived in British Columbia, and it is from there that the
most persistent and vocal cries were heard for greater
control from the late nineteenth century onward.
At first, the reception of the Chinese was relatively cor-
dial: “Colonial British Columbians were initially remark-
ably tolerant of the thousands of Chinese who came.
British officials refused to countenance any discrimina-
tion, and whites, rather than pressing for hostile action,
boasted of the British justice enjoyed by the Chinese.”2
Although there were certainly incidents of racism, in-
cluding violence, against the Chinese, British liberalism
formed the basis of the government’s response to their
presence in the colony.