Early History
Japanese immigrants began arriving in Canada in the mid-1800s. The early arrivals were young men seeking adventure, wealth and, in some cases, independence from family obligations. By 1901 nearly 5,000 Japanese were living in Canada.Most immigrants were farmers and fishermen; some were business people. Only a few were well educated and from the aristocratic class. Denial of the franchise prevented Japanese Canadians from the right to vote, from participating in professions, and holding public office.
Through the exchange of photographs and letters, single men arranged for brides from Japan. These “picture brides” began arriving in 1908 and at their peak in 1913 some 300 to 400 came to Canada. As early as 1885 the Canadian government attempted to discourage Chinese immigration by applying a Head Tax, but such restrictions did not apply to the Japanese. Between 1905 and 1907, Canada saw the largest influx of immigrants. By 1907 the Japanese population rose to over 18,000.
The mob then moved towards Powell Street, the home of the Japanese community. Pre-warned, the Japanese were ready for the onslaught and fought back, forcing the crowd to retreat. However, the stores and businesses were heavily damaged. This hostility towards Asians was an indication of the racism that the Japanese would face throughout the early period of history in Canada.To discourage Asians from settling and remaining in BC, the government passed laws discriminating against non-whites. In 1908, with agreement from Japan, the government of Canada limited the number of male immigrants to 400 per year. No limits applied to women and children.
In 1931 Japanese Canadian veterans who fought for Canada in World War I received the right to vote. They were the only Japanese Canadians allowed to vote.
On January 8, 1942 the Asia-Pacific war was seen as an opportunity to get rid of the “Japanese Problem”. The Canadian Government invoked the War Measures Act, stripping Japanese Canadians of their civil rights and giving the government unlimited powers that could not be challenged in court. They were labelled as “enemy aliens” and dealt with as “persons of Japanese racial origin”.
Successions of Orders-in-Council were passed to further strip them of their rights. Six months before Japan attacked Pearl Harbor, Japanese Canadians over the age of 18 years were fingerprinted and registered with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. All Japanese Canadians were forced to carry an identification card until 1949.
WWII Experience – Forced Uprooting, Internment, Dispossession & Displacement
On February 7, 1942, the government passed Order-in-Council 365 that created an area 100 miles (160 km.) inland from the coast as a “protected area”. The BC Security Commission, a federal government agency, was empowered to systematically carry out the expulsion of “all persons of Japanese racial origin” from this restricted area. Some from along the coastline were sent to Hastings Park livestock building in Vancouver.
Families were separated, men were sent to road camps or prisoner-of-war camps in Ontario. Some remained as a family and were sent to Manitoba (and Alberta) to work on the sugar beet farms where they faced meagre income for back breaking labour, inadequate housing, and cold winter months.
Internment centres were created in the interior of BC where they lived in multiple family units in hastily built shacks, tents, abandoned mining towns, and unused buildings. Living under these conditions, the internees suffered unimaginable hardships.
Properties left behind were to be held in trust but Order-in-Council 469 passed on January 19, 1943 authorized the government to sell the properties without the owners’ consent. A loyalty survey carried out by the RCMP on March 12, 1945 guaranteed the expulsion of all Japanese Canadians from the province of BC. The ultimatum: move east of the Rocky Mountains or be exiled to Japan. Restrictions were kept in place for four years more years and Japanese Canadians were not allowed to return to the west coast until April 1, 1949. They received the right to vote in June 1948 federally and on March 31, 1949 in BC.
Renewal – The Centennial and Redress
In 1977, the Japanese Canadian community commemorated the 100-year anniversary of the first Japanese immigrant to settle in Canada. Celebration events were held across the country as the community came to terms with its history, including the wartime experience.
The National Japanese Canadian Citizens’ Association was formed in 1947 to represent the welfare of the Japanese community. In 1980, with the name changed to National Association of Japanese Canadians, a movement for redress became a community project. With courage and determination our leaders persevered, overcoming innumerable obstacles.
On September 22, 1988 the Redress Agreement was signed by Art Miki, President of the National Association of Japanese Canadians and Prime Minister Brian Mulroney. The Prime Minister acknowledged the injustices suffered by Japanese Canadians. He characterized the treatment of Japanese Canadians as morally and legally unjustified, and called upon Canadians as a nation to face up to the historical facts of the incarceration , property seizure, and disenfranchisement, and pledged that such injustices would never again be countenanced or repeated in Canada. (House of Commons, Debates, September 1988, page 19499)
BC's Role in the Internment of Japanese Canadians
Over 60 years of racist legislation and discrimination in British Columbia (BC) culminated in the province’s critical role in the forced removal, internment, confiscation of property, and forced exile of 22,000 Japanese Canadians during 1942 to 1949. Recent research shows the BC government and its officials were complicit directly and indirectly in the unjust actions leading to the devastation of the Japanese Canadian community.
The Government of British Columbia issued an official Apology Motion to Japanese Canadians in 2012. The BC Government did not formally quantify or assume responsibility for past injustices, and the apology was not followed by redress or legacy initiatives at the time, which many saw as a missed opportunity for meaningful follow-up and healing. Yet the 2012 apology was nonetheless historic, and set the stage for the current BC Redress process.