The Recipe of an Immigrant

By Rehma

We all know opening up a successful business is no easy job, especially if you’re an immigrant. 

British Columbia is known for its ethnic diversity. Immigrants are a vital piece to the ethnic diversity in B.C. About 30% of British Columbians are immigrants from all over the world. Thanks to the new immigrants arriving in the province, the entrepreneurial environment has stable growth. Opening your own business in B.C. is a risky thing to do, but as an immigrant, the process can be particularly daunting. 

My mother Maria is the owner of “Minute Bakery” in Surrey B.C. From being a housewife to having an at-home business to opening up a shop, her baking business has been quite the journey, but as an immigrant, she had some extra obstacles to overcome.

Maria was raised in Lahore, Pakistan; in 2003 she got married and decided to immigrate to Canada. At this point in time, her reason for immigration had nothing to do with her passion for baking, but it was for her soon-to-be family. The relaxing atmosphere and beauty of B.C. were the perfect invitation for her to migrate there. 

It wasn’t until 9 years after Maria immigrated that she realized baking is what she wanted to do with her life, but she couldn’t take her first career step yet. She wanted to make sure her priority was raising her three kids, but even as a stay-at-home mom she found plenty of opportunities to improve her baking skills. She baked for a lot of school fundraisers and took baking classes in her spare time. Even though Maria had minimal time to focus on her baking skills she was grateful to be in B.C.; the opportunities she had to improve her passion were endless.

Opening a bakery was one of the most challenging things Maria has ever had to do. Being an immigrant made the already challenging process even more difficult. Since she had left her whole family behind in Pakistan, she had no one for support. She was experiencing the stress of balancing her home life and work-life to the maximum. The biggest difficulty Maria faced while opening her bakery was the cultural difference. When she first opened her bakery and holidays like Christmas rolled around, she didn’t treat it as anything special. As an immigrant, she based her thinking process on what it was like back in her home country. She thought that since back in Pakistan Christmas wasn’t a big deal, then it also wouldn’t be a big deal in B.C. Maria realized that she needed to create a broader mindset on the multicultural aspect of B.C. to understand what the community and customers want. 

With all these difficulties also came doubts; Maria’s biggest doubt while opening her bakery was that she was going to experience failure. This doubt is normal for anyone who’s going to open their own business, but as an immigrant, the lack of knowledge of a new market can be a very significant reason for your downfall.

After all the learning and growing Maria had to do to understand how the business in B.C. works, she is thriving more than she ever imagined. She took some of many entrepreneurship opportunities in B.C. to help her achieve her goals. Even though Maria’s reason for immigration was not for her business, there are many immigration programs in Canada that are made for entrepreneurs. If you seize the right opportunities and have the courage to take your first step, you can make B.C. the home for you and your business.

Source:

https://pwp.vpl.ca/siic/small-business/starting-a-bc-business-for-newcomers/

Chinese Immigration & Chinatown

By Tracy & Abhiyan

For the past 18 months, COVID-19 has shaped the way we live our everyday lives, from the precautions we take at school, to how we visit each other during the holidays. Despite this, we as a community have come a long way in terms of accepting this new lifestyle. 

However, for some, the pandemic has been a rockier rollercoaster of emotions, fuelling a stark rise in anti-Asian racism all over the country, especially toward the Chinese community. 

Looking back, we can see that this, unfortunately, is not a recent development. But perhaps, by learning from our past, we can prevent such things from happening again in the future.

Our story starts in Chinatown in the late 1800’s, the core of immigration for many Asian-Canadians. Many laborers and entrepreneurs looking for a better life in Vancouver started their journeys here. By 1890, there were more than a thousand people living in Chinatown! 

https://searcharchives.vancouver.ca/nst-4439

Most of these immigrant laborers made their livings working for the Canadian Pacific Railway, where they were often made to do the most dangerous and “unsavoury” jobs. These workers only made a dollar a day, and had to pay for their own food and gear. White workers, on the other hand, made at least $1.50 a day, and didn’t have to pay for their provisions.

Due to the harsh conditions and unsafe work environment, upwards of 600 Chinese-Canadians died on the CPR – that’s more than 4 people for every mile of the railway. Over 300 of those bodies were unidentified.

https://www.sfu.ca/chinese-canadian-history/vancouver_chinatown_en.html

Many were unemployed after the work on the CPR concluded, setting up storefronts and properties in Chinatown and Japantown. They were looted and smashed in 1907 by mobs organized by the Vancouver Asiatic Exclusion League and the Vancouver District Trades Council; Japanese and Indian immigration was also cut off in the aftermath. 

In 1923, Chinese immigration also almost ground to a halt with the passing of the Chinese Immigration Act, with under 100 new immigrants arriving in the next 25 years.

https://pier21.ca/research/immigration-history/chinese-immigration-act-1923

Chinese-Canadians lost the right to vote only a year after BC became part of Canada (1872), and in the span of only 38 years paid almost $23 million in Head Tax, which was a legalized fee that only Chinese immigrants had to pay in order to arrive in Canada. This sum of money is worth at least $1.5 billion today.

Many federal and provincial anti-Asian laws, although federal acts of legislation, wouldn’t have been passed without the lobbying and political support from the city of Vancouver.

It is important to note that we are making amends. It’s a long and tough fight, but Vancouver’s Chinatown remains a focal point for Chinese heritage, through cultural foods, celebrations and traditions!

https://bit.ly/3nBQDYS

In 2011, Chinatown became a national historic site. Many of its older buildings are now under provincial and municipal heritage legislation, and an official apology has been made to the Chinese-Canadian population by the Government of Canada, British Columbia, and the city of Vancouver.

Chinatown embodies the journeys of our Chinese-Canadian ancestors, the earliest immigrants, and is an intercultural space that allows us to share our cultures and stories with each other! Its unique cultural heritage is one that is vitally important to its community and to our province.

References:

Ingram, Adam J. CVA 800-4779 – East Pender Street – Chinatown. Vancouver, 12 July 1980. 

Kruyt, Rob. Business in Vancouver. Vancouver, 28 Aug. 2018.

Unknown. Chinese Workers Living in One Room. Vancouver, 1890. 

Unknown. Statutes of Canada. An Act Respecting Chinese Immigration, 1923. Ottawa: SC 13-14 George V, Chapter 38. Ottawa, 1923. 

Sponsor Interview: Know History

Written by Daniel, Alumni Council

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We Canadians are generally proud of our shared history. Some among our number can trace their bloodline back to settlers who moved North following the American War of Independence and helped start our country. If you look in the right communities you might meet people whose ancestors built the Canadian Pacific Railway. And a few families, especially in the eastern provinces, may have progenitors who had fled from the slave-owning United States to Canada via the Underground Railroad nearly 200 years ago. We have come to regard our heritage in a very pleasant light.

But not all is as ideal as one would like when it comes to our nation’s history. On the news, in our schools, and in our workplaces we have begun to have conversations. Difficult conversations. Conversations about things like reconciliation, systemic racism, and government responsibility. With so much to be done, where should we start?

I had the pleasure of speaking to Ashley Henrickson, MA, a little while ago. She is the Manager of Marketing and Business Development at an organization called Know History. Their website describes the work they do as centering around “the research, presentation and documentation of Canada’s history.” Over the years they have created databases of information and maps that document regional cultures, and they also collaborate with leaders in governments and Indigenous communities. It’s all-around fascinating work, and the BCHFS is grateful to be sponsored by them.

During our conversation, Ms. Henrickson offered her opinion on many things. The interview took place on September 30th, the first National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. As a result, many of the topics we discussed dealt with understanding our past mistakes, education, and other similar subjects. She put forward the idea of empowering minority groups by creating local media companies that focus on the issues that the underrepresented face, especially to dispel misunderstandings and the danger of the single story. “I think what’s really important [is] that you are hearing from various groups of people […] not just a couple of big outlets controlling the industry,” Ms. Henrickson said. “Having space for lots of different voices I think is key to having a more thorough understanding of what’s going on in the world.”

Ms. Henrickson also had some advice for students who are thinking about a career in history. For instance, during the interview she praised the Six Historical Thinking Concepts, which she continues to use in Know History. Her suggestions also touched upon the presentation of our learning through Heritage Fairs. While she voiced her love of traditional methods of showing work, particularly the tri-fold/presentation board, she recommended branching out from the norm if it prevents you from communicating your findings. “Don’t let that limit you,” she advised. “Maybe there’s other ways you want to share the research you’ve done!”

She also jokingly observed how she and many other historians were probably introduced to their subject through historical fiction! It is, in her words, their dirty secret. So perhaps that copy of ‘I am Canada’ on your bedside bookshelf is what helped spark your passion for history!

To summarize my interview with Ms. Henrickson, I would say that it was quite enlightening. Her outlook on current events was certainly a keen and fresh perspective on the situation!

Discrimination in Canada, an ongoing cycle

By Shreyanshi

This year, the alumni council is focusing on themes of inclusion, reconciliation, and stories of immigrants. Through this article, I’d like to share a perspective of the historical and ongoing discrimination against immigrants and minorities in Canada and how as a country, we still have a long way to go before we achieve equity and equality. Canada holds one of the highest immigrant rates in the world of 300 000 people per year. Meanwhile, immigrants with permanent residency in Canada make up approximately 21.5% of Canada’s population.

Nonetheless, as large of a community this may be, it doesn’t lower the amount of racism directed towards people of ethnic minorities in Canada. Let’s take a look at our history of mistreatment against immigrants. Discrimination towards Asian-Canadians started not during the pandemic but way back in the 1800s; whether it be the mistreatment of Chinese workers, the Japanese community, or Indian immigrants. Voting laws, policies, and relocation have all been a part of this vicious and racist cycle that still affects Canadians to this day. What’s worse is that in the media it’s often perpetuated that Canada is a perfectly welcoming country to all, and though many of us are inclusive and open-hearted, this doesn’t invalidate the numerous negative experiences of immigrants in our country. Discrimination can look like a lack of cultural acceptance in schools, passed promotions and opportunities solely based on ethnicity, and missing equity in our systems. Recent examples of this issue are the numerous Asian-hate crimes during the Covid-19 pandemic. I can write multiple articles that cover various discriminatory actions that have become acceptable in our society; however, I’d like to focus on actions we can take towards creating a more inclusive and caring community. The first thing would be to change the cultures of stereotyping and day-to-day usage of slurs and derogatory terms. Stopping these insults can itself be a big step towards acceptance. The next thing would be to introduce cultural learning in schools, in the hopes of creating and fostering a safe environment for people to learn, share, and appreciate their classmates’ backgrounds and stories. Lastly, I’d hope to see more public attention and communal action directed to these outstanding issues. Canada is a country full of amazing people and stories; if we unite, we can write an even better one for future generations.

Sources:

Immigration in Canada: Statistics & Facts | Statista 

Racist labour exploitation continues in multicultural Canada 

Anti-Asian Racism in Canada | The Canadian Encyclopedia 

South Asian Canadians