18 Is the Train on Time? 1884

In 1884, more than 17,000 Chinese immigrants went looking for work in Canada. They had come to build the Canadian Pacific railroad. They had helped to unite the country of Canada from sea to sea with a safe way to travel. The railroad was finished and they did not have enough money to get back to China.

The Chinese who worked on the railway were paid 2/3 less than the Canadian workers. Sometimes they were paid in rice mats, not money. They had to buy all their own tools, food, and tickets to travel to Canada and back to China. The Chinese had to do the most dangerous jobs like breaking rocks to make tunnels or blowing up these rocks with TNT. They knew this before they came to Canada to work.

So what dreams made so many Chinese immigrants leave their families and travel to the other side of the world to do this dangerous job? What made them stay in Canada when they were not as valued as the Canadians? Maybe the dream of being successful in such a rich country? Maybe the adventure of a new place? Maybe the dream of a better life?

The population in China was growing so quickly that there was less land for peasants to work. There had been much trouble in Guangdong province and up to 90% of peasants lost their land. China had not become industrialised so there were no jobs for all the peasants who did not have a place to live. The Chinese who worked on the railway thought their bad conditions in Canada were better than their bad conditions in China.

When the Canadian Pacific needed lots of men to help build their railway across Canada, they found many Chinese in Guangdong province, Taiwan and the USA who wanted to work. The Chinese were brought to Canada to help build the 320-kilometre section of the railroad that was the most difficult. This was the path through the Fraser Canyon in the Coast Mountains of British Columbia.

The men lived in tents, along the rail line. The tents were very cold in winter and were not safe when big rocks fell off of the mountains. Soon, they began to build mini-Chinatowns and lived together in one area. They dug into the ground and put wood houses inside. The ground kept them warm and safe while they were sleeping.

Even though they were safer at night, many Chinese workers got sick and there were no doctors. Many died in terrible accidents. Their job was to make holes in the rocks with TNT filled with gun powder. When they did this, sometimes the explosion burned them or killed them when rocks fell. Two Chinese workers died for every 1 ½ kilometres of rail lines they built. When this work was finished at Fraser Canyon in 1884, they were all left without jobs. About 1,000 Chinese workers returned to China, but most did not have the money to get back home. Chinese fathers could not return to their families.

Some Chinese workers moved east, but most stayed in British Columbia. In 1886, about 90 of them started a Chinatown in Vancouver. By the 1890s, Vancouver's Chinatown had grown to more than one thousand people.

The Chinese who moved east started to work at jobs that Canadian people did not want to do. They worked in salmon factories and laundries. They opened grocery stores and became businessmen. They started restaurants and served Chinese food to all Canadians, not just other Chinese people. Their food was popular and soon many got jobs as cooks in Canadian restaurants and hotels. The Chinese were very good at gardening and they started selling their food at markets.

After the railroad was built, Chinese families could join their men living in Canada. Chinese men tried to work hard to save enough money to bring their family members to Canada to become Canadian citizens.

During the First World War, Chinese workers were again asked to help Canada. Canadian men were off fighting so there were not enough workers. Up to 4,000 Chinese immigrated to Canada each year during this time. Their working situation was better and they began to grow rich. Chinese started to own land and farms. They did not yet have the right to vote, however. Those who needed government help during the depression (see 1929) got ½ the amount of money that Canadians got.

CHINESE WORKERS CAMPED BESIDE THE RAILWAY THEY WERE BUILDING

Even so, the Chinese were very kind to the Canadians. Many Canadian farmers owed their lives to the Chinese store owners at that time. During the depression, most farmers did not have enough money to live. Chinese store owners gave the farmers food and the things they needed on credit. The farmers could pay the Chinese store owners back at a later time.

Sir Matthew Begbie, Chief Justice of British Columbia, had this to say about the Chinese who came to build the railroad and all the others who immigrated to British Columbia: “I do not see how people would get on here at all without Chinamen. They do, and do well, what white women cannot do, and do what white men will not do… they have been found to be absolutely indispensable in the construction of the railway…”

Most early Chinese migrants began their lives in Canada as labourers who worked in mines, in forests, in factories, and on farms. They built the railroads that grew the Canadian economy. They cut down trees so non-Chinese people could move onto the land in British Columbia. They married and started families and businesses. The Chinese helped build and grow all parts of Canada.