B. Canada, 1890–1914: A Changing Society · Canada, 1890–1914: A Changing SocietyWho Was Welcome? The Head Tax, the Komagata Maru and Other Discriminatory Policies
B3 B2 B1About 55 minutes
Learning goals- I can describe the Chinese head tax, the 1907 Vancouver riot, limits on Japanese immigration, and the continuous journey regulation.
- I can explain what happened to the passengers of the Komagata Maru in 1914.
- I can explain the perspectives of Chinese, Japanese and South Asian immigrants, and of those who wanted to keep them out.
- I can describe how Canada has acknowledged these injustices, and compare immigration then and now.
Words to know
head tax
A fee charged to each person of a certain group to enter a country. Canada charged it only to Chinese immigrants, from 1885 to 1923.
discrimination
Treating people unfairly because of who they are, such as their race, religion or where they come from.
continuous journey regulation
A 1908 Canadian rule that immigrants had to arrive by a non-stop journey from their country of birth or citizenship. There were no such ships from India, so it kept South Asians out.
Sikh
A follower of Sikhism, a religion founded in the Punjab region of South Asia.
exclusion
Keeping a group out completely.
apology
A formal statement taking responsibility for a wrong. Canadian governments have apologized for several of the policies in this lesson.
Let's start with a question
Imagine you were told: "Anyone may come in for free, except you. You must pay ten times more than anyone else." Or: "You may enter, but only if you arrive on a ship that does not exist."
These were real rules in Canada between 1885 and 1914. In the last lesson you saw how Black Americans were kept out. In this lesson you will see how Chinese, Japanese and South Asian people faced rules designed to stop them coming at all.
The Chinese head tax
More than 15,000 Chinese workers helped build the CPR in British Columbia from 1881 to 1885, doing some of the most dangerous work. When the railway was done, the government passed the Chinese Immigration Act of 1885. It charged a head tax of $50 on every Chinese person entering Canada. No other group had to pay it.
When Chinese people kept coming, a law passed in 1900 raised the tax to $100 (charged from 1901), and a law passed in 1903 raised it to $500, a huge sum for a working person at the time. Families were split apart because men could not afford to bring wives and children.
From 1885 to 1923, about 82,000 Chinese immigrants paid nearly $23 million in head tax. On 1 July 1923, the head tax was replaced with an even harsher law that banned almost all Chinese immigration until 1947. Many Chinese Canadians called 1 July "Humiliation Day".
On 22 June 2006, Prime Minister Stephen Harper apologized in the House of Commons and offered symbolic payments to living head-tax payers and their spouses.
Japanese immigrants and the 1907 Vancouver riot
Japanese immigrants came to British Columbia to fish, farm, log and work in mines and mills. Some white British Columbians wanted all Asian immigrants kept out, and formed an Asiatic Exclusion League.
In September 1907, after an anti-Asian rally in Vancouver, a mob marched into Chinatown and the Japanese neighbourhood, smashing windows and damaging businesses. Japanese residents defended their neighbourhood.
Afterward, Canada pressed Japan to limit emigration. In the 1908 agreement (often called the Hayashi–Lemieux agreement), Japan agreed to limit the number of male labourers and domestic servants coming to Canada to 400 a year.
South Asians and the continuous journey regulation
In the early 1900s, a few thousand people from India, mostly Sikh men from the Punjab, came to British Columbia to work in lumber mills, logging and farming. Some had served in the British army. India, like Canada, was part of the British Empire, so many believed they had a right to come.
The government could not easily ban other British subjects openly. So in 1908 it created the continuous journey regulation: immigrants had to come by a non-stop journey from their country of birth or citizenship, on a through ticket. Ships from India to Canada always stopped on the way, and no company sold through tickets. The rule did not name India, but it was designed to keep South Asians out.
The Komagata Maru (1914)
Gurdit Singh, a wealthy Sikh businessman, decided to challenge the rule. He chartered a Japanese ship, the Komagata Maru.
- It left Hong Kong in April 1914. By the time it left Japan it carried 376 passengers from the Punjab: at least 337 Sikhs, about 27 Muslims and about 12 Hindus.
- It arrived in Vancouver harbour on 23 May 1914. Officials refused to let most passengers land. Only about 20 returning residents and a very few others were allowed ashore.
- The passengers were kept on board for about two months. Food and water ran short and were provided only when conditions became desperate. Members of Vancouver's South Asian community raised money and supported them. The British Columbia Court of Appeal ruled against the passengers.
- On 23 July 1914, the ship was forced to leave, escorted out by a Canadian navy cruiser.
- When the ship reached Budge Budge, near Kolkata in India, on 29 September 1914, British Indian police and soldiers confronted the passengers, and 20 were killed.
Canada has acknowledged this injustice: Prime Minister Stephen Harper apologized at a park in Surrey in 2008, and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau apologized in the House of Commons on 18 May 2016.
| Group | Policy or event | Year(s) | Later acknowledgement |
|---|
| Chinese | Head tax ($50, then $100, then $500) | 1885–1923 | Federal apology, 2006 |
| Chinese | Chinese Immigration Act banned most Chinese immigration | 1923–1947 | Federal apology, 2006 |
| Japanese and Chinese | Anti-Asian riot in Vancouver | 1907 | Damages were later investigated and paid |
| Japanese | Agreement limiting male labourers and servants to 400 a year | 1908 | |
| South Asian | Continuous journey regulation | 1908 | |
| South Asian | Komagata Maru turned away | 1914 | Apologies in 2008 and 2016 |
Worked exampleModelled example: Explaining two perspectives on the Komagata Maru
Explain how the passengers and the government saw the Komagata Maru differently in 1914.
- Passengers' perspective: They were British subjects, like Canadians. Some had served the Empire. They had paid for their voyage and wanted work and a better life. They saw the rule as unjust and designed to target them.
- Government and many white British Columbians' perspective: They wanted Canada to remain mostly white and British and feared competition for jobs. They saw the ship as a challenge to Canadian law that had to be stopped.
- Evidence to check: court decisions, newspaper reports, letters from passengers and Vancouver's Sikh community, and government records.
- Judgement today: Canada's own apology in 2016 called the government's actions wrong. Understanding the officials' perspective explains what happened but does not excuse it.
The passengers saw a fair claim to enter as British subjects; the government saw a threat to a "white Canada". Comparing perspectives helps us understand why it happened and why Canada later apologized.
The words people used
Sources from this period sometimes use insulting words for Asian people and call for a "white Canada". Historians quote such words only when needed as evidence of attitudes, and use respectful terms in their own writing.
Hands-on activityDesign a memorial plaque
You need: paper, a pencil and coloured pencils.
- Choose one: the Chinese head tax or the Komagata Maru.
- Design a plaque for a park. Include: a title, three or four sentences explaining what happened (with dates), who was affected, and why it matters today.
- Add a simple drawing (a ship, a railway, a certificate).
- With a grown-up, search for real memorials: there is a Komagata Maru memorial at Vancouver's Coal Harbour, and Chinese railway workers are remembered in several places, including a monument in Toronto near the Rogers Centre.
- Compare your plaque with a real one. What did you include that they did not, or the other way around?
Look for: accurate dates, respectful language, and a clear sentence on why it matters today.
Your turn
1What was the Chinese head tax, and who had to pay it?
A fee charged to each Chinese person entering Canada, from 1885 to 1923. Only Chinese immigrants had to pay it.
2How much was the head tax in 1885, and how much in 1903?
$50 in 1885 and $500 in 1903.
3What happened in Vancouver in September 1907?
An anti-Asian riot: a mob attacked Chinatown and the Japanese neighbourhood, damaging buildings.
4What did the 1908 agreement with Japan do?
Japan agreed to limit male labourers and domestic servants coming to Canada to 400 a year.
5What was the continuous journey regulation?
A 1908 rule requiring immigrants to come by a non-stop journey from their home country. No such ships ran from India, so it kept South Asians out.
6How many passengers were on the Komagata Maru, and how many were allowed to land?
376 passengers; only about 20 returning residents and a very few others were allowed to land.
7When did Canada's Prime Minister apologize in the House of Commons for the Komagata Maru?
18 May 2016 (Prime Minister Justin Trudeau).
More practice: warm-up
1Who chartered the Komagata Maru?
2In what year was the head tax replaced by a near-total ban on Chinese immigration?
3From which region of India did most Komagata Maru passengers come?
4Which Prime Minister apologized for the head tax in 2006?
5About how many Chinese workers helped build the CPR?
More practice: on your own
1Why did the government charge a head tax only after the CPR was finished?
While the railway was being built, the government and companies needed Chinese workers. Once it was done, they no longer wanted Chinese people to come, so they used the tax to discourage them.
2Why did the continuous journey regulation not mention India by name?
India was part of the British Empire, and its people were British subjects. Openly banning them could embarrass Britain and anger people in India, so the rule was written to look neutral while still keeping South Asians out.
3How did the head tax affect Chinese Canadian families?
Many men could not afford to bring wives and children, so families were separated for years, and Chinese communities in Canada were mostly men.
4Why did Gurdit Singh charter the Komagata Maru?
To challenge the continuous journey regulation and Canada's exclusion of South Asians, who were British subjects, by bringing passengers directly to Canada.
5Compare these policies with Canada's immigration rules today in one way.
Then: laws and rules targeted people by race or origin (head tax, continuous journey). Now: Canada's immigration rules do not choose by race, and governments have apologized for these policies. Debates about fairness in immigration continue today.
Challenge
1Compare the Chinese head tax, the continuous journey regulation and the 1911 order-in-council against Black immigrants. What do they have in common, and how were they different?
In common: all aimed to keep out people the government saw as not white, to keep Canada mostly white and British. Different: the head tax was an open, named charge on Chinese people; the continuous journey rule disguised its target; the 1911 order was openly racist but cancelled, with quiet barriers used instead.
2Is an apology enough? Give one argument that apologies matter and one argument that more is needed.
Apologies matter: they officially acknowledge the wrong, honour those harmed and teach the public. More may be needed: some argue for compensation to more families, education (like this lesson), memorials, and making sure today's rules are fair. Any thoughtful, balanced answer.
3Explain how the Komagata Maru shows the limits of being a "British subject" in 1914.
The passengers were British subjects, just like Canadians, yet Canada refused them. It shows that within the Empire, rights depended on race: white British subjects could move freely, while South Asian British subjects were excluded. Being a member of the Empire did not mean equal treatment.
Quiz
1. Who had to pay the head tax to enter Canada?
2. How much was the head tax raised to in 1903?
3. What did the continuous journey regulation (1908) require?
4. Where did the Komagata Maru arrive in May 1914?
5. What happened to most Komagata Maru passengers?
6. What happened in Vancouver in September 1907?
7. Which statement about these policies is correct?
Big idea: This lesson covers discriminatory immigration policies and events of the period (B3), the perspectives of excluded groups and of those who wanted exclusion (B2), and how Canada's approach has changed (B1).
Facts: Numbers and dates come from The Canadian Encyclopedia's articles on the Chinese head tax and the Komagata Maru. The lesson gives the years the increases were passed by Parliament: $100 in 1900 (charged from 1 January 1901) and $500 in 1903 (charged from 1 January 1904), so you may see 1901 or 1904 in some sources.
Sensitive points: The 1914 deaths at Budge Budge are mentioned without detail. Some children may have family connections to these histories; invite them to share if they want to, but never put a child on the spot as a spokesperson for a group.
How to help: If you live in or visit Vancouver, Victoria or Toronto, look for Chinatown histories and memorials. Ask: "What rules today might future students question?"
Common difficulties: Mixing up the head tax (Chinese, 1885) and continuous journey (South Asian, 1908); thinking the Komagata Maru passengers were not British subjects (they were).