Canadians of Chinese Descent Educational Package

Oppressed, poor and starving, thousands of Chinese people left their country in the mid-1800s. Many came to Canada hoping to solve their misfortunes. Few did. Instead, Chinese immigrants faced hardship and racism. 

The reward they got for helping build Canada’s transcontinental railway was a series of discriminatory laws and head taxes, and eventually the Chinese Exclusion Act in 1923. One hundred years later, these once unwanted non-citizens have struggled to survive and eventually thrive, from those who established restaurants all over Canada to hockey heroes. 

Meet the Victoria residents who refused to be segregated into Chinese-only schools, a Chinese-Indigenous couple based on real people, and the guest co-editor for this special issue, Debbie Jiang. 

Discover these little-known stories and more in the September Kayak.

This educator’s guide has been developed to help support teachers in using this issue of Kayak in their classrooms and aligns with the themes of existence, struggle, survival, and celebration.

All lessons are based on the use of primary sources and centre on the historical thinking concepts. The lessons are suitable for grades 5/6 through 9/10 and are easily adaptable for different levels. To further support teachers, a background information document and supplemental reading/watching list have been included.

Download the PDF of this guide.

We would like to thank Flora Fung and Debbie Jiang for their contributions to this guide. We are also grateful to the Department of Canadian Heritage for their support.