The Chinese Immigration Act, 1923, known today as the Chinese Exclusion Act, was an act passed by the Parliament of Canada, banning most forms of Chinese immigration to Canada. Immigration from most countries was controlled or restricted in some way, but only the Chinese were so completely prohibited from immigrating.
Before 1923, Chinese immigration was heavily controlled by the Chinese Immigration Act of 1885, which imposed a hefty head tax on all immigrants from China. After various members of the federal and some provincial governments (especially British Columbia) put pressure on the federal government to discourage Chinese immigration, the Chinese Immigration Act was passed. It went into effect on July 1, 1923. The act banned Chinese immigrants from entering Canada except those under the following titles:
The act did not only apply to Chinese from China, but to ethnic Chinese with British nationality as well. Since Dominion Day coincided with the enforcement of the Chinese Immigration Act, Chinese-Canadians at the time referred to the anniversary of Confederation as "Humiliation Day" and refused to take any part in the celebration.
Because Canada became a signatory of the United Nations Charter of Human Rights following World War II and the Chinese Immigration Act was inconsistent with the UN charter, the Canadian Parliament repealed the act on May 14, 1947 (following the proclamation of the Canadian Citizenship Act 1946 on January 1, 1947). However, independent Chinese immigration to Canada came only after the liberalization of Canadian immigration policy in 1967.
On June 22, 2006, Prime Minister Stephen Harper apologized in the House of Commons. The first phrase of the apology was spoken in Cantonese Chinese, the most frequently spoken Chinese language among Chinese immigrants. He announced that the survivors or their spouses will be paid approximately $20,000 CAD in compensation for the head tax.
On May 15, 2014, Premier of British Columbia Christy Clark apologized in the Legislative Assembly. The apology motion was unanimously passed and aims to make amends for historic wrongs. Unlike the federal apology, no individual compensation was provided. However, $1 million was promised to be put into a legacy fund which would help legacy initiatives. The formal apology went through a three-month consultation period with various parties to help ensure that the apology was done properly.
The act and its legacy have been the subject of at least three documentary films: Kenda Gee and Tom Radford's Lost Years: A People's Struggle for Justice (2011-2012), William Dere and Malcolm Guy's Moving the Mountain (1993) and Karen Cho's In the Shadow of Gold Mountain (2004).