The 1885 Chinese Immigration Act introduced the first Chinese head tax; with it, an elaborate new system of documentation and surveillance was born.
Over the next six decades, a dizzying array of Chinese Immigration (or C.I.) records was created by the government to thwart Chinese in Canada at every turn. Each type of record was assigned a number; those that were designed as identification certificates were colour coded for easy reference. Altogether, some 60 different types of C.I. records were created and in use between 1885 and 1953.
Some C.I.s were innocent enough—simply forms that needed to be completed. For example, the C.I.9 permitted Chinese living in Canada to temporarily leave the country, allowing Chinese men to travel home to China to see their wives and have children.
Conversely, the…
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British Columbia History (Digital) - 1 Issue, 55.4 Winter 2022