Asian Canadians | The Canadian Encyclopedia

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  • Article

    Irene Uchida

    Irene Ayako Uchida, OC, geneticist (born 8 April 1917 in Vancouver, BC; died 30 July 2013 in Toronto, ON). Dr. Uchida pioneered the field of cytogenetics in Canada, enabling early screening for chromosomal abnormalities (i.e., changes in chromosomes caused by genetic mutations). She discovered that women who receive X-rays during pregnancy have a higher chance of giving birth to a baby with Down syndrome and other chromosomal abnormalities. She also discovered that the extra chromosome that causes Down syndrome may come from either parent, not only the mother. Click here for definitions of key terms used in this article.

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    https://d3d0lqu00lnqvz.cloudfront.net/media/new_article_images/IreneUchida/uchida01.jpg Irene Uchida
  • Article

    Japanese Canadians

    Japanese Canadians, or Nikkei (meaning Japanese immigrants and their descendants), are Canadians of Japanese heritage. Japanese people arrived in Canada in two major waves. The first generation of immigrants, called Issei, arrived between 1877 and 1928, and the second after 1967. The 2016 census reported 121,485 people of Japanese origin in Canada, or 0.35 per cent of the Canadian population. The first generations of Japanese Canadians were denied the full rights of citizens, such as the right to vote in provincial and federal elections and to work in certain industries. During the Second World War, the federal government interned and dispossessed over 20,000 Japanese Canadians. Japanese Canadians have settled primarily in British Columbia, Alberta and Ontario, and have contributed to every aspect of Canadian society. Well-known Japanese Canadians include novelists Kerri Sakamoto, Aki Shimazaki, Michelle Sagara, Hiromi Goto, Kim Moritsugu and Joy Kogawa, poet Roy Miki, writer Ken Adachi, filmmakers Midi Onodera and Linda Ohama, scientist David Suzuki, public servant Thomas Shoyama, architects Raymond Moriyama and Bruce Kuwabara, community leader Art Miki, judoka Mas Takahashi, and agriculturalist Zenichi Shimbashi. Artists include Takao Tanabe, Miyuki Tanobe, Roy Kiyooka and Kazuo Nakamura. Politicians include Bev Oda, the first Japanese Canadian Member of Parliament and cabinet minister; BC Liberal cabinet minister Naomi Yamamoto; and former Ontario Progressive Conservative cabinet minister David Tsubouchi. Vicky Sunohara was part of the national women’s hockey team that won silver (1998) and gold (2002, 2006) at the Olympic Winter Games. Devin Setoguchi of the Minnesota Wild and AHL players Jon Matsumoto and Raymond Sawada are Japanese Canadian hockey players.

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  • Article

    Jean Lumb

    Jean Bessie Lumb (née Toy Jin Wong), CM, community leader, restaurateur (born 30 July 1919 in Nanaimo, BC; died 17 July 2002 in Toronto, ON). Jean Lumb was the first Chinese Canadian woman and first restaurateur inducted into the Order of Canada. She is also best known for her role in successfully lobbying the federal government to change its discriminatory immigration policies that separated Chinese families. Lumb also led the Save Chinatown Committee to prevent further demolition of Toronto’s Chinatown in the 1960s.

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    https://d3d0lqu00lnqvz.cloudfront.net/media/new_article_images/JeanLumb/Save Chinatown 1960s.jpg Jean Lumb
  • Article

    Ken Sim

    Ken Sim, entrepreneur, politician, mayor of Vancouver 2022– (born 18 October 1970 in Vancouver, BC). Ken Sim worked as an accountant and investment banker before co-founding two successful businesses: Nurse Next Door and Rosemary Rocksalt bagels. Sim made an unsuccessful bid to become mayor of Vancouver in 2018, losing to Kennedy Stewart by 957 votes. In 2022, he and his A Better City (ABC) Party won a majority government with a platform that stressed law and order and public safety. Sim is the first Chinese Canadian to be elected mayor of Vancouver.

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    https://d3d0lqu00lnqvz.cloudfront.net/vancouver-mayor-ken-sim-290x227.jpg Ken Sim
  • Article

    Kim Thúy

    Kim Thúy, CQ, writer (born 18 September 1968 in Saigon, Vietnam). The winner of several prestigious literary awards for her first novel, Ru, this Quebec writer of Vietnamese origin is known for her short and elegant stories. Her novels deal with the migrant experience and the challenges of adapting to a new culture. Written in French, which Thúy calls her “second mother tongue,” they have been translated into 15 languages.

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    https://d3d0lqu00lnqvz.cloudfront.net/media/media/c21c847d-d32a-4aea-9d70-2160aa06f1f2.jpg Kim Thúy
  • Article

    Korean Music in Canada

    In the 1986 Census of Canada, 29,705 listed Korean as their single or multiple ethnic origin. Half of these lived in the Metropolitan Toronto area.

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    https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/images/tce_placeholder.jpg?v=e9dca980c9bdb3aa11e832e7ea94f5d9 Korean Music in Canada
  • Article

    Korean Music and Dance

    The first significant wave of immigration to Canada from Korea began in the late 1960s and the early 1970s.

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    https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/images/tce_placeholder.jpg?v=e9dca980c9bdb3aa11e832e7ea94f5d9 Korean Music and Dance
  • Article

    Korean Canadians

    Korea was a single, independent country for 1,300 years before splitting in two after the Second World War. North Korea is today an isolated military dictatorship while South Korea is a liberal democracy. Almost all Korean immigration to Canada has been from South Korea. In 2016, the census recorded 198, 210 Canadians of Korean origin (177, 925 single and 20, 290 multiple responses.)

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    https://d3d0lqu00lnqvz.cloudfront.net/media/new_article_images/KoreanCanadians/Koreatown_Toronto.jpg Korean Canadians
  • Article

    Laotian Canadians

    The immigration of Laotian nationals to Canada is relatively recent, having begun in earnest in the late 1970s. After the withdrawal of American troops from Vietnam in March 1973, mainland Southeast Asia (former Indochina) was left at the mercy of revolutionary forces in the region. In 1975, at the end of a 20-year-long civil war, communist revolutionaries of the Pathet Lao (Lao State) movement took power, abolished the monarchy and proclaimed the Lao People’s Democratic Republic. Living conditions deteriorated in Laos, as they did in Vietnam and Cambodia. Former civil and military officials were sent to labour camps and their families were denied access to employment and education. These difficult economic conditions, combined with an increasingly forceful communist regime and violations of human rights, sparked a mass migration in the region. Like Vietnamese, Laotians left their country in makeshift vessels, facing perilous conditions on the Mekong River and then the China Sea. This is the origin of the name often used to refer to these migrants: “boat people.” From 1979 to 1982, Canada welcomed nearly 8,000 Laotians. Approximately 20 per cent were of Chinese origin. Supported by the federal government and private sponsor groups, they resettled in various parts of Canada. Today, however, the Laotian population is concentrated in Québec and Ontario. In the 2016 Census of Canada, 24,590 people reported being of Laotian origin.

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    https://d3d0lqu00lnqvz.cloudfront.net/media/media/4866c1e9-0222-4e6f-91c6-0b8cdf3182dd.jpg Laotian Canadians
  • Article

    Malaysian Canadians

    Malaysian immigration to Canada is a relatively recent phenomenon. In the 2016 census, 16,920 people declared they were of Malaysian origin. Among these Canadians were actor Osric Chau and writer Madeleine Thien.

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  • Article

    Marina Nemat

    Marina Nemat, writer, human rights activist (born 22 April 1965 in Tehran, Iran). Nemat emigrated to Canada in 1991, following her imprisonment and torture in Iran. In her published memoirs, Nemat describes her experiences under the Iranian regime, which she denounces. She is also a sought-after public speaker and has won numerous international awards for her commitment to the defence of human rights.

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    https://d3d0lqu00lnqvz.cloudfront.net/media/media/49512e3c-b27b-491b-bc3b-37eecdf24a33.jpg Marina Nemat
  • Article

    Masumi Mitsui

    Masumi Mitsui, MM, farmer, soldier, Canadian Legion official (born 7 October 1887 in Tokyo, Japan; died 22 April 1987 in Hamilton, ON). Masumi Mitsui immigrated to Canada in 1908 and served with distinction in the First World War. In 1931, he and his comrades persuaded the BC government to grant Japanese Canadian veterans the right to vote, a breakthrough for Japanese and other disenfranchised Canadians. Nevertheless, Matsui and more than 22,000 Japanese Canadians were displaced, detained and dispossessed by the federal government during the Second World War (see Internment of Japanese Canadians).

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    https://d3d0lqu00lnqvz.cloudfront.net/media/new_article_images/MasumiMitsui/2010-23-2-4-551.jpg Masumi Mitsui
  • Article

    Mayo Singh

    Mayan Singh Manhas (Mayo Singh), lumber baron, founder of the Mayo Lumber Company, founder of the town of Paldi, franchise advocate, philanthropist (born 1888 in Paldi, District Hoshiarpur, East Punjab, India; died 23 February 1955 in Paldi, BC). As a founder of the Mayo Lumber Company, Singh became a wealthy lumber baron (see Lumber and Wood Industries). He challenged race-based immigration policies and disenfranchisement. Singh supported hospitals, schools and community projects in his adopted country and his birthplace in India. Paldi, the town he established on Vancouver Island and its gurdwara (temple), remains a cultural and spiritual touchstone for the South Asian community.

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    https://d3d0lqu00lnqvz.cloudfront.net/MayoSingh/MayoSinghPortrait.jpg Mayo Singh
  • Memory Project Archive

    Andrew Kurn “Andy” Wong (Primary Source)

    "So he said, “Geez, I noticed you’re a Canadian.” I said, “Yes.” He said, “How do you like the American ships?” I said, “Gee, they’re like castles compared to the Canadian.”" Andrew Kurn “Andy” Wong served with the Merchant Navy during the Second World War. See below for Mr. Wong's entire testimony. Please be advised that Memory Project primary sources may deal with personal testimony that reflect the speaker’s recollections and interpretations of events. Individual testimony does not necessarily reflect the views of the Memory Project and Historica Canada.

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    https://d3d0lqu00lnqvz.cloudfront.net/MemoryProject/AndrewKurnAndyWong/2893_original.jpg Andrew Kurn “Andy” Wong (Primary Source)
  • Memory Project Archive

    Bing Chew Wong (Primary Source)

    Bing Chew Wong served during the Second World War.Please be advised that Memory Project primary sources may deal with personal testimony that reflect the speaker’s recollections and interpretations of events. Individual testimony does not necessarily reflect the views of the Memory Project and Historica Canada.

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    https://d3d0lqu00lnqvz.cloudfront.net/The-Memory-Project/image/2550_original.jpg Bing Chew Wong (Primary Source)