Apology for Historic Discrimination Against People of Chinese Descent

The City of Burnaby is preparing for an official apology for its historic discrimination against people of Chinese descent. For more than 50 years, from 1892 to 1947, the District Municipality of Burnaby’s policies and practices were discriminatory toward people of Chinese descent living, working and operating businesses in Burnaby. The Municipality also advocated for senior levels of government to introduce regulations targeting people of Chinese descent. 

This apology is part of the City’s commitment to ensuring Burnaby is inclusive and welcoming to everyone. In response to engagement with the community, the Mayor and Council will be making a formal apology and committing to reconciliatory actions to address the legacies of historic discrimination. 

Historical review of discriminatory policies

At its February 27, 2023 meeting, City Council approved a process to review, acknowledge and formally apologize for its historic discrimination against people of Chinese descent. 

As part of the apology process, the City released a report detailing the discriminatory laws, regulations and policies enacted by the former District Municipality of Burnaby that impacted people of Chinese descent between 1892 and 1947. These actions significantly restricted the rights and opportunities of Chinese Canadians in several key areas: 

• Voting restrictions: Chinese Canadians were denied the right to vote in municipal elections.
• Advocacy for more discriminatory policies: Burnaby’s Municipal Council endorsed petitions and resolutions urging provincial and federal governments to impose restrictions on Chinese immigration, land ownership, and business licensing. 
• Employment limitations: Restrictive laws were introduced to prevent Chinese Canadians from being employed by the Municipality and its contractors. 
• Discriminatory business regulations: The Municipality’s practices and policies created barriers for Chinese Canadian-owned businesses to operate in Burnaby, including restrictive licensing and regulatory requirements. In some cases, bylaw enforcement disproportionately targeted Chinese Canadian-owned businesses.
• Land ownership restrictions: Chinese Canadians were largely excluded from land ownership in Burnaby. 

Community engagement to understand impacts and potential actions

The City, in partnership with the Burnaby Intercultural Planning Table, engaged with the community to identify potential actions, including acknowledgement, a formal apology, and actions. 

A community advisory group provided advice to staff for engaging with the community and identifying potential actions. 

Activities included: 

• a survey 
• two community dialogue events 
• a meeting with Chinese Canadian families with deep historic connections to Burnaby who were directly impacted by historic discrimination 
• six focus groups 
• five interviews 

The engagement activities were delivered in Cantonese and Mandarin as well as English, and printed materials were available in English and translated into Simplified and Traditional Chinese. 

Following the engagement process, a final report summarizing the results of the engagement was shared with City Council at its February 25, 2025 meeting. The report includes the proposed apology framework, three key themes for actions, and within those themes, 16 proposed actions.