Education

The first Chinese community school in Canada was established by the Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Society in Victoria at the end of the nineteenth century to provide free instruction to all Chinese children. Similar schools were opened in Vancouver in 1909 and in Toronto five years later. Various groups, including freemasons, churches, and even clan associations, sponsored schools in cities across Canada where the Chinese settled. The institutions were intended to teach Canadian-born children to speak, read, and write Chinese fluently. By 1984 there were fifty Chinese language schools in Canada, with the largest number in Vancouver (twelve) and Toronto (ten). With the introduction of heritage-language programs in the major cities, and the growing public awareness of global trade and relations, some public schools have started offering Chinese language instruction. By the mid-1990s in the city of Toronto, for example, approximately three thousand children were attending such language classes.

Several Canada universities have programs in Chinese language and culture. The most comprehensive is at the University of Toronto, where the Department of East Asian Studies offers a specialist B.A. in Chinese studies and graduate degrees in East Asian studies. The honours program in East Asian studies at the University of Alberta includes the possibility of specialization in Chinese studies. A certificate in Chinese studies is offered at Simon Fraser University in Burnaby, British Columbia, and the university’s alumni relations also sponsors a field school in Manchuria during the summer term. At St Mary’s University in Halifax, students may take courses in introductory and intermediate modern Chinese, and a number of universities provide Chinese language instruction as part of their continuing studies programs.

In terms of education, the Chinese fare quite well in comparison with other Canadians. The 1981 census shows a higher percentage with a university education; about 29 percent had spent at least some time at university, as compared with about 16 percent in the rest of the population. The Chinese (17.5 percent) were more than twice as likely as other Canadians (7.9 percent) to have completed university. Data from the 1986 census confirm that over 17 per cent of Chinese Canadians had done so and that the foreign- and native-born Chinese with university education were equally likely to have reached that educational level. When those with some university education or trade school training are taken into account, the 1986 census shows that as many as 45 percent of foreign-born Chinese Canadians and 57 percent of the Canadian-born have had some post-secondary instruction. Undoubtedly, the emphasis of Canadian immigration policy since the 1960s on educational and occupational qualifications favoured those with professional and technical training. But the large percentage of native-born Chinese Canadians with university education probably reflects the assistance provided to them by their immigrant parents and the aspirations of Chinese-Canadian families.