Inclusion Infusions: History of Xenophobia in Canada

Posted on Friday, April 24th, 2020

According to Merriam-Webster, xenophobia is the fear and hatred of strangers or foreigners. This differs from racism which has a broader meaning set including “a belief that racial differences produce the inherent superiority of a particular race.” Although they are similar, they are different enough that it is possible for one to be both xenophobic and racist. With more than 4,000 international students as part of our College community, and our country welcoming over 310,000 immigrants annually, we must be aware of – and stand against – both issues.

The current reality of Covid-19 with it’d closed borders, tracking cases and infections by where people have traveled or lived lends itself very quickly to the possibility of a significant rise in xenophobia. I believe there is a risk that many Canadians will fall back on our welcoming self-image and due to Canada’s state policy of multiculturalism (1971) is immune to the potential for xenophobia in our daily interactions. To create an opportunity to think about how we might not repeat the past, I have selected a few of the many examples from Canadian history where xenophobia was the policy of the day.

  • The ‘Continuous Journey Regulation’: was as an amendment to the Immigration Actin 1908, prohibiting the landing of any immigrant that did not come to Canada by continuous journey from the country of which they were natives or citizens. In practice, this regulation primarily affected immigrants from India and Japan since the main immigration routes from those countries did not offer direct passage to Canada. Prime Minister Mackenzie King recommended restricting immigration from India, noted that many East Indians in Canada were unemployed and impoverished, attributing their circumstances to an incompatibility with the Canadian climate and way of life. This recommendation was not adopted as Indians were also British subjects. (source Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier 21)
  • The Chinese Immigration or ‘Exclusion’ Act: On July 1, 1923, the Chinese Immigration Act came into force prohibiting all Chinese immigrants except diplomats, students, children of Canadians and the investor class. This Act was adopted in part due to increased hostility against the Chinese in the postwar period as poor economic conditions were regularly blamed on visible minorities. Vessels transporting Chinese immigrants were only authorized to carry one Chinese immigrant for every 250 tons of the ship’s total weight. Chinese individuals already in Canada were required to register and carry photo identification as evidence of their compliance with the regulations of the act; even Canadian born and naturalized Chinese were made to register. (source Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier 21)
  • The Great Depression in the 1930s: Poverty and lack of jobs during the 1930s pushed anti-immigration sentiments. The Canadian government responded to the Great Depression by applying severe restrictions to entry. New rules limited immigration to British and American subjects or agriculturalists with money, certain classes of workers, and immediate family of Canadian residents. The results was a drop in immigrants of over 110,000 annually. Canada also aimed to remove immigrants who were already landed by establishing unemployment, illness, ideology, or perceived immorality as also grounds for deportation, resulting in removal of 25,000 people from 1930 to 1937. (source Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier 21)

I invite you to reflect on these examples, your reaction to them, and consider these state choices through today’s lens. Could this happen again today? What might you do if it does?

#ICYMI Today also marks the start of Ramadan. You can recap the details from last year’s blog here.


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