nent Chinese settlement in Canada. By the end of the 1860s, there was approximately 7000 Chinese living in British Columbia. While the gold rush was going on in British Columbia, thousands of Chinese were also working on a transcontinental railway in the U.S. Eventually, the U.S. started closing its doors to the Chinese. As this was happening, Canada encouraged thousands of Chinese to make their way north and work on the Canadian Pacific Railway.In 1871, British Columbia agreed to join Canada on the completion of the Canadian Pacific Railway, which would link British Columbia to the rest of Canada. Even before construction of the Railway started, the citizens of British Columbia were afraid that jobs would all be taken over by the Chinese. Because of this, a motion was passed by the BC Legislative Assembly to prevent the Chinese from working on Government projects. As anti-Chinese feelings grew, Andrew Onderdonk, the contractor of the CPR, promised that he would give whites preference over the Chinese. In the end, white workers were unreliable and he was forced to hire Chinese laborers. The building company quickly realized that a lot of money could be saved if they employed Chinese immigrants at less than half the wages normally paid to whites. Many Chinese where lured by promises of nice wages and return passages to China. In the end, well over half the railway workers where Chinese. In total, around 15,700 Chinese were recruited. Unfortunately, when the railway was finished, the promises were not kept and about 5000 Chinese who had hoped to return to China were unable to.This time in Chinese-Canadian history was a tragic one. Hundreds of Chinese died while working on the CPR. It is estimated that at least four Chinese died for every mile of track laid. Many Chinese workers died from exhaustion that came from hard work and long walks between sites. Some perished in rock explosions or were buried in collapsed tunnels...
