Dis-Immigration Timeline
- 1897 Sikh infantry regiment travelled through Canada after attending Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee
- 1902 Sikh infantry regiment attended the coronation of King Edward VII
- 1904 significant migration of Indians to British Columbia begins, census lists 258
- 1907 large numbers of immigrants arrive from India, anti-oriental riots in Vancouver
- 1907 Sikhs denied right to vote when B.C. disenfranchise all natives of India
- 1908 Canada passed “Continuous Journey” and “possession of $200” regulation for Indian immigrants (not required for European immigrants)
- 1908 Sikhs encouraged to move from Canada to British Honduras (they refuse)
- 1912 Gurdwaras were built in Victoria, Fraser Mills, and Abbotsford
- 1914 Komagata Maru sails from Hong Kong to Vancouver to challenge the “Continuous Journey” legislation, arrives in May
- 1914 Komagata Maru escorted from Vancouver Harbour in July, returns to India
- 1915-1918 ten Sikhs enlist in the Canadian Army during WWI
- 1918 British Columbia Sikh population dropped to 700
- 1918 Mayo Lumber Company built a Sikh temple at Paldi, B.C.
- 1920 immigration restriction lifted, allowing Indian women and children to immigrate
- 1925 Khalsa Diwan Society has branches at Vancouver, Abbotsford, New Westminster, Golden, Duncan, Coombs, and Ocean Falls
- 1944 1, 756 Sikhs in Canada, 98% of them lived in B.C.
- 1947 south Asian males granted to right to vote in provincial and federal elections
- 1957 immigration quotas of Sikhs increased to 300 per year
- 1962 quota system dropped in favour of non-discriminatory immigration law
- 1986 first Sikh elected to any provincial legislature, Moe Sihota from Esquimalt, B.C.
- 1989 75th anniversary of the Komagata Maru incident
- 1990 a plaque commemorating the Komagata Maru incident placed in Portal Park, Vancouver by municipal, provincial and federal governments
- 1991 three Sikhs elected to British Columbia legislature
- 1993 first Sikhs elected to Canadian parliament
- 1996 opening of Sikh Resource Centre in Vancouver to celebrate the centennial of Sikhs in Canada
- 2000 Ujjal Dosanjh became BC’s 33rd premier, the first Indo-Canadian premier in Canadian history
- 2004 Ali Kazimi’s documentary film Continuous Journey, is screened
- 2008 Legislative Assembly of BC unanimously passed resolution as an apology for the Komagata Maru incident
- 2008 Prime Minister Harper apologized for Komagata Maru incident
- 2011 Community Historical Recognition Program (CHRP) approves funding for documentary film: Dis-Immigration
- 2011 Ali Kazimi’s new book Undesirables: White Canada and the Komagata Maru is published (funded by CHRP)
- 2012 Documentary film Dis-Immigration: Stemming the Flow from India 1904-1914 is completed