The Railroad East to West 1881 -1885

The Railroad: East to West 1881 -1885

Who worked on Building the Railway? Workers from: Eastern Canada The United States China

Working Conditions Low wages Canadian & American Workers Chinese Workers $1. 50 - $1. 75/day $1. 00/day Poor living conditions Difficult/dangerous work

‘Head’ Tax On completion of the railroad: • Any Chinese railroad worker could stay in Canada • He could bring his wife or family to Canada if he paid $50/person • Every new Asian person coming into Canada had to pay $50 • Chinese immigrants could not become citizens

• 1904: the Head Tax was raised to $500 • 1923: Chinese Immigration (Exclusion) Act excluded Chinese immigrants from Canada excluded ethnic Chinese of British nationality

Purpose of the Head Tax ? Important Note: 1947: Canada repealed the Chinese Exclusion Act

Background info • It was not until 1947 that Canada finally repealed the Chinese Exclusion Act. Because Canada signed the United Nations' Charter of Human Rights at the conclusion of the Second World War, the Canadian government had to repeal the Chinese Exclusion Act, which contravened the UN Charter. Chinese-Canadians were finally granted the right to vote in federal elections. However, it took another twenty years until the points system was adopted for selecting immigrants in 1967 that the Chinese could be admitted under the same criteria as any other applicants. http: //www. library. ubc. ca/chineseinbc/excl usion. html