Chinese immigrants found themselves not entirely welcomed. They had to struggle against government restrictions and racist hostility in order to survive long enough to establish themselves and gain respect within this new country.

Those who left China for North America were almost entirely men. A few were merchants, most were peasants and labourers. Some did not survive the voyage across the Pacific. There were no doctors or medicine aboard the ships during the 60-day journey and only rice.

The Chinese quickly filled other gaps in this new frontier society. They started laundries, restaurants, and vegetable farms to serve the populations of the gold rush. They built roads, drove horse teams through the dangerous canyons, and strung the telegraph wires that connected interior towns to the coast. On Vancouver Island, the Chinese worked as coal miners. The Chinese workers received a dollar a day, 1/2 the regular pay. 15,000 Chinese who came to Canada between 1880 and the completion of the CPR.

During the construction of the Canadian Pacific Railway, Chinese labourers did the most difficult and dangerous work. Others died from exposure to cold winters, poor nutrition and inadequate medical care. At least 600 Chinese workers died completing the rail-line across Canada.