Canada’s Chinese Exclusion Act split up families, some for good. A new museum tells their stories

Little is known of the cruel treatment of Chinese people in Canada in the early 20th century, but a Vancouver museum is bringing their untold stories to light

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A Chinese Immigration certificate for Chin Sir Jan. The Chinese Canadian Museum in Vancouver’s “The Paper Trail to the 1923 Exclusion Act” exhibition tells the harrowing stories of Chinese immigrants to Canada and their children. Photo: Chinese Canadian Museum

Bernice Chanin Vancouver

Published: 7:15am, 15 Jul 2023Updated: 8:11pm, 24 Jul 2023

Richard Wong’s eyes well up when he talks about his paternal grandmother, Soak May Kwan Wong. When she was by herself, she would look forlornly up at the sky and wonder when she would see her husband, Kam Sun Wong, again.

“They only saw each other three times in their lifetimes,” Richard Wong says, choking up. In 1906, at the age of 18, Wong’s paternal grandfather made the long journey by boat to Canada, possibly to mine copper in northern British Columbia.

In 1909, he returned to China to marry Kwan, two years before the Qing dynasty ended.

Five years later, Kam Sun Wong returned to British Columbia, this time to become a cook, his grandson Richard guesses, because in 1918 he opened his own restaurant, West End Chop Suey House, in Prince Rupert.

A letter written from Richard Wong’s grandfather to his wife. Photo: Richard Wong

An image of Wong’s grandmother, Soak May Kwan Wong. Photo: Richard Wong

He returned to China in 1923, before going back to British Columbia the following year. Regrettably for him and countless other Chinese migrants, the Exclusion Act was passed in 1923, prohibiting any Chinese from entering Canada.