History & Pioneers

Migration and Settlement

A majority of early Chinese immigrants to Canada came from Guangdong (Kwangtung) Province in South China's Pearl River Delta. For more information, see Back to China.

Knowledge concerning patterns of Chinese immigration and settlement in Canada may provide some insights into where your ancestors lived, worked and settled.

Detailed information on Chinese migration and settlement in Canada is provided in David Chuen-yan Lai's definitive study, Chinatowns: Towns within Cities in Canada (971.004 L18c), published in 1988 and in other titles listed in the Vancouver Public Library's Chinese-Canadian History Study Guide.

Demographic information on the Chinese population is also found in historical census records, available in Literature and Social Science (Level 3) at the Vancouver Public Library's Central Branch and at other major libraries across Canada.

See the following pages for further information about Chinese migration and settlement in each province:

British Columbia		New Brunswick
Alberta		Nova Scotia
Saskatchewan		Prince Edward Island
Manitoba		Newfoundland
Ontario		Territories
Quebec

Photo banner: Detail from VPL Historical Photograph 1746