South Asian Canadians in Metro Vancouver are the third-largest pan-ethnic group in the region, comprising 369,295 persons or 14.2 percent of the total population as of 2021. Sizable communities exist within the city of Vancouver along with the adjoining city of Surrey, which is home to one of the world's largest South Asian enclaves.Todd, Douglas. "Mapping our ethnicity Part 1: South Asia in Surrey" (Archive). Vancouver Sun. May 2, 2012. Retrieved on October 23, 2014.
South Asians have lived in the Vancouver region since the late 19th century; at first, mainly working in the forestry industry. After an initial first wave of immigration during the early 20th century, government policies aimed at curtailing immigration from the Indian subcontinent resulted in a populated stagnation through the 1950s. At that time, the relaxing of racial and national immigration restrictions by the federal government initiated a new wave of immigration into Vancouver and has continued into the present day.
The vast majority of South Asians in Greater Vancouver and in adjacent cities are Punjabi Sikhs, differing greatly from the diverse ethnic and religious composition of South Asians in Canada. The large proportion of Punjabi Sikhs in the region has resulted in the interchangeable and synonymous usage of one and the other.Nayar, The Punjabis in British Columbia, p. 9. "It is interesting to note that, in the BC Lower Mainland (Vancouver and surrounding municipalities, including Burnaby, New Westminster, Richmond, Delta and Surrey), Sikhs raised outside the Punjab refer to themselves as Punjabi and use the term interchangeably with "Sikh," understanding the two as synonymous."Johnston, Hugh, p. 16.
Over half (60.3 percent) of South Asian Canadians live in the Toronto and Vancouver areas as of 2021.
History
Late 19th century South Asians first settled in Vancouver in the late 19th century. The pioneers were men, mostly Sikhs from the Punjab region of British India. These individuals first arrived in 1897 when a contingent of Sikh soldiers participated in the parade to celebrate Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee by traveling across the British Empire. On their journey home, they passed through Vancouver where some remained as Canada's first South Asian settlers.Walton-Roberts and Hiebert, Immigration, Entrepreneurship, and the Family , p. 124.
Early 20th century By 1900, the South Asian population in the Lower Mainland (contemporary regional districts of Metro Vancouver and the Fraser Valley), was estimated to be at least 100, of which almost all were of Punjabi Sikh origin, according to a research article by Margaret Walton-Roberts.
Soon thereafter in 1904 the Empress of India arrived in Vancouver. On board was the first large contingent of South Asians to settle in Vancouver.Pang, Guek-cheng. Culture Shock! Vancouver. Marshall Cavendish International Asia Pte Ltd, August 15, 2010. , 9789814484800. p. 30.
Most of the early South Asian pioneers worked in the sawmill industry and thus settled in areas along False Creek and the Fraser River including Kitsilano, Fraser Mills and Queensborough. A Gurdwara (Sikh temple) was constructed in Kitsilano in 1908; this was the first Sikh temple to be constructed in Canada. Later in the same year, another temple was constructed in Fraser Mills.
At the turn of the century the Mayor of Vancouver did not permit cremation, so when the first Sikh died in 1907 he could not be cremated in the Vancouver city limits. Christian missionaries did not permit him to be buried with whites. Even though the missionaries promoted burial, the Sikhs instead cremated the man in a distant wilderness. This prompted Sikhs to establish their own religious institutions.Hans, p. 221-222. In 1908 the Canadian Dominion government had a plan to obtain labour for sugar plantations in British Honduras, now Belize, by recruiting Punjabis in Vancouver. The plan was not tested because the Punjabis had already found employment.Henderson, Martha L. Geographical Identities of Ethnic America: Race, Space, and Place. University of Nevada Press, 2002. , 9780874174878. p. 71.
Anti-South Asian sentiment was present in early years of settlement. During the most infamous anti-Asian riot in BC history (Anti-Oriental Riots of 1907), South Asians were spared as they remained indoors.Century of Struggle and Success The Sikh Canadian Experience 13 November 2006 However, in 1914 Canadian authorities turned away the Komagata Maru and most of its passengers; this vessel carried Punjabi Sikhs, Muslims and Hindus who were intending to move to Canada. This incident later provoked persons of Indian origin residing on the North American West Coast to oppose discrimination against their ethnic groups.Lee, Shelley Sang-Hee. A New History of Asian America. Routledge, October 1, 2013. , 9781135071066. p. 156.
The system of sponsoring Vancouver-based South Asians sponsoring relatives in India to immigrate to Vancouver began in 1919, when the Canadian government began permitting children and women based in India entry into Canada.Johnston, Hugh, p. 3. "The 1981 census showed a Canadian population of 67,710 Sikhs and 69,500 Hindus, with 22,392 Sikhs and only 6,865 Hindus in Vancouver. Approximately one-third of Vancouver's Hindus are Punjabis, making Vancouver's total Punjabi population in 1981 about 25,000." - NOTE: Based on the figures: one third of the Vancouver Hindu population would be about 2288.33, which means there would be 22,712 Sikhs. Since the number of Sikhs was actually 22,392, this means virtually all Sikhs are Punjabi. Also: "In Toronto and other major centres in central and eastern Canada, other linguistic groups are more numerous, and Punjabis are part of a more balanced South Asian population."
By 1923 Vancouver became the primary cultural, social, and religious centre of British Columbia Indo-Canadians and it had the largest East Indian-origin population of any city in North America.Das, Rajani Kant. Hindustani Workers on the Pacific Coast. W.de Gruyter & Co. (Berlin), 1923. -- CITED: p. 20-21 ( ). However, major immigration restrictions until the 1950s meant the South Asian community in Vancouver was relatively small.
Mid-20th century After the partition of India in 1947, unity among Punjabi Sikhs and Muslims in Vancouver wavered; few Pakistani Punjabis began to have any sense of affinity with Punjabis from India.Johnston, Hugh, p. 13.
The immigration patterns of South Asians arriving to Canada changed by the 1960s, with Ontario becoming a secondary centre of immigration. By contrast, in earlier decades British Columbia was the sole major point of immigration from the Indian subcontinent to Canada.Campbell, The Sikhs of Vancouver: A Case Study in Minority-Host Relations , p. 3-4. In addition, the first major non-Sikh immigration wave to Vancouver occurred during the 1960s.Indra, p. 177.
While still representing less than 10% of the South Asian population in the region, additional immigration to Vancouver of those of non Punjabi backgrounds residing in India, Fiji, and England occurred in the late 1960s. Immigration from Fiji continued to occur in the through the 1970s. Other groups immigrating to Vancouver in the same decade included Sri Lankans, Ismaili Muslims, Gujarati Hindus from East Africa and non-Punjabi Pakistanis. Soon, additional South Asian groups from Fiji, England, East Africa, East Asia, the Caribbean, and Southeast Asia arrived in Vancouver. However non Punjabi immigration to Vancouver remained small and by 1981 nearly 90% of the entire South Asian population in Vancouver remained Punjabi.Dusenbery, p. 101.
Punjabi Canadians were geographically dispersed throughout Vancouver during the post-war years into the early 1950s. Consequently, with increased immigration, concentrations soon developed; first in South Vancouver during the latter half of the 1950s and throughout the 1960s, followed by South Burnaby later in the 1960s. In the late 1960s, the Punjabi Market (Little India) was founded in the Sunset neighbourhood of South Vancouver. In the following decade, other Punjabi population concentrations began appearing in North Delta, Richmond, and Surrey. Vandalism against houses owned by Indo-Canadians and a Sikh gurdwara occurred in the 1970s, especially in 1974-1975 in Surrey.Johnston, Hugh, p. 7. By 1981, the Punjabi population in Metro Vancouver increased to nearly 30,000, including about 2,288 Hindus with the remainder being Sikhs.
Late 20th century Immigration rapidly increased in the late 20th century; around 70,000 South Asians moved to Vancouver during the last two decades of the century, from 1981 to 2001.Bauder, Harald. Labor Movement: How Migration Regulates Labor Markets. Oxford University Press, January 28, 2006. , 9780195346220. p. 56. In the same timeframe, India supplied just over three quarters of the total South Asian immigration to Vancouver. During this period the second largest source country of South Asians was Fiji, which supplied nearly 15% of South Asian immigration to Vancouver. Others originated from Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.
Some passengers on board Air India Flight 182, which crashed in 1985, were from Greater Vancouver.Kelleher, Olivia. "Special tributes to remember tragic victims of rail and air disasters." Irish Independent. 6 July 2005. Retrieved on October 22, 2014. "On June 23, 1985, Air India Flight 182 from Montreal to London, carrying passengers from Vancouver, exploded and crashed off the Cork coast." The bomb that went on AI182 was first placed on a connecting flight that departed Vancouver.Staff. "John Major's Air India Flight 182 inquiry's key findings before the bomb exploded in 1985, killing 329 people" (). The Georgia Straight. July 17, 2010. Retrieved on January 5, 2015. Since then, there have been memorial services held at Stanley Park. The Ceperley Playground at Stanley Park has a memorial listing the names of the passengers.Bolan, Kim. "Air India anniversary memorial service planned for Stanley Park tonight" ( ). Vancouver Sun. June 23, 2014. Retrieved on October 22, 2014.
By the mid-1980s wealthier South Asians were moving to Surrey from South Vancouver because land in Surrey was less expensive.Johnston, Hugh, p. 10. The population continued to swell throughout the region thereafter; by 1991, the South Asian population grew to 86,200 in Metro Vancouver.Nodwell, ""Integrating Indian Culture into our Life" ," p. 1.
In 1996 a controversy occurred when Dr. Stephens, a doctor in San Jose, California, put advertisements for sex-selection services which would allow parents to reject female children. The Coalition of Women's Organizations Against Sex Selection, organized by Mahila, a women's group headquartered in Vancouver, criticized Stephens.Fair, p. 1. In 2006 the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) stated that there had been attempts to extort and kidnap people in Surrey; the RCMP did not disclose when the attempts occurred and who the targets were. The RCMP stated that businesspersons of Indo-Canadian origins in Surrey need to take precautions. In response, the president of Sikh Alliance Against Violence, Kandola, stated that the warning was too vague and could cause unnecessary panic and confusion."RCMP warning to Indo-Canadian community draws fire" (). CBC News. August 23, 2006. Retrieved on October 22, 2014.
21st century In August 2008, during a community meeting,Bloemraad, p. 48. the Prime Minister of Canada gave an apology for the Komagata Maru incident in a park,Lundy, Kathleen Gould. Teaching Fairly in an Unfair World. Pembroke Publishers Limited. , 9781551388076. p. 93. in Surrey. Some members of Canada's Indo-Canadian community argued that he should have apologized in Parliament.