From Huaquio to Residents: The Chinese Experience in Kingston, 1875 to 1980

Origins of Kingston’s Chinese Community

The first Chinese immigrants arrived in Canada in the mid-1800s, drawn by the Fraser River gold rush in British Columbia and the construction of the Canadian Pacific Railroad across Canada. At the time, the Chinese immigrants who came to Canada, were almost exclusively male, both married and single, and sent their salaries back home to their families in China. These immigrants were known in Canada as “sojourners”, a term coined in 1882 by Prime Minister Sir John A. MacDonald. However, Chinese immigrants did not use this term and referred to themselves as “huaquio”, meaning “overseas Chinese”.

The Fraser River gold rush ended in 1880 and the Canadian Pacific Railroad was completed soon after in 1885, resulting in a sharp decrease in demand for Chinese labour. As Chinese continued to arrive on the West Coast, many white Canadians believed that their jobs were being threatened by the growing immigrant population and the British Columbia provincial government passed several laws restricting the locations in which Chinese people could work, as well as their ability to be hired by employers. The federal government also enacted a Head Tax of $50 each on all Chinese entering the country in 1885. Chinese immigrants began to head east across Canada looking for work, and slowly began to reach central Ontario and the Maritimes. For Chinese coming to Central Ontario, Kingston was attractive and offered opportunities for advancement.

At the time, most Chinese came to Kingston from Western Canada or Toronto. These Chinese immigrants came almost exclusively from a rural background, and many were originally from Guangdong Province in Southern China, specifically the four counties of Sun-wui, Hoi-ping, Toi-san, and Yin-ping. Immigrants also came from the province of Fujian, the coastal neighbor of Guangdong.

These first Chinese immigrants found work in Kingston’s service sector or started their own businesses, usually laundries and restaurants. There is also some evidence that they sold items such as tea from their laundries as a source of extra income. Later generations began to enter other jobs, trades, and professions and, by 1941, the Kingston City Directory listed Chinese people employed in such varied fields as carpentry and stenography. Most Chinese lived and worked centrally in the downtown core of Kingston, where their business could cater to the surrounding residents, as well as targeting tourists and students. In Kingston, there was no “Chinatown”, an area of the city exclusively for Chinese businesses and residences, but most settled in the downtown core, along Princess Street between Division Street and Sydenham Street. By remaining close to one another, the Chinese community was able to support its members. It was also very common for Chinese residences to be attached to their businesses, adding to this sense of community. Accordingly, other Chinese clubs and organizations were often situated nearby.

Before the arrival of any migrating residents to Kingston, the first Chinese person to come to the city was a traveling lecturer named Wong Chin Loo, who delivered a lecture at Sydenham Street Church about life in China on November 18, 1875. He returned again in November of 1879 and gave a second lecture. A lengthy article in the British Whig accompanied this lecture, detailing aspects of life in China, from diet to religion, for all of Kingston to read. Wong Chin Loo was for the most part received with curiosity and courtesy but there was one incident where he was insulted for his style of dress and the way he spoke. He was the first recorded Chinese person in Kingston.

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