ABSTRACT
Canada has changed significantly since the first Chinese communities were established on its Pacific frontier, only shortly after Hong Kong itself was established as a British colony. Individuals of Chinese origin undeniably played a critical role in building the infrastructure for Canada’s development as a modem nation. For much of the first one hundred years of their history in Canada, however, they often suffered humiliation and rejection. 1 The past quarter century has seen Canadians of Chinese origin assume new positions within Canadian society. Their incorporation into the multicultural identity which has been a major characteristic of contemporary Canada contrasts with the exclusion and rejection of earlier periods of Chinese-Canadian history. The skills and confidence which Chinese immigrants have brought with them fit neatly with the needs of Canadian society in the last quarter of the twentieth century.
