January

The earliest Sikhs to settle in Canada came mainly from the Far East (Shanghai, Honk Kong and Singapore), on the Canadian Pacific Liners, during the early 1900’s. Regardless of their academic and professional background, they took unskilled jobs as manual workers providing cheap labor for Canadian farmers and Industrialists within the lumber trade, saw mills and railways - helping build the infrastructure of Canada. Many settled in places linked to the railway construction and logging operations such as Golden in the Canadian Rockies area and forestry townships like Mayo in the Cowichan Valley of Vancouver Island, which was later renamed Paldi, after the Punjabi Indian village of its Sikh founder. Other early places of settlement included Vancouver, Duncan, Victoria and Abbotsford. During the 1920’s and 30’s many Sikhs came to Canada from the North India province of Punjab, home to the Golden Temple at Amritsar, the spiritual centre of the Sikhs. At this time, Canadians referred to all immigrants from India as Hindoos. Sikhs travelling to Canada from India had to stop at Hong Kong to receive their onward journey clearance. The Sikh shrine (Gurdwara) there provided essential support, accommodation and food.