Documents & Records

Lists of Persons Readmitted to Canada at Victoria under C.I.9/ 9A Certificates and Other Readmissions and Cancellations

Basics

This set of records was compiled by local controllers of Chinese immigration at Victoria. It comprises monthly lists of individuals in two categories:

Those who had left Canada temporarily and who were later re-admitted under valid C.I.9 or C.I.9A certificates.
Those who were native-born (and therefore not travelling with a C.I.9 or C.I.9A) but who had left Canada temporarily and were later re-admitted.

The records cover the period from October 1911 to December 1953.

The format of the lists varied during the 42 years that they were maintained. Typically, the names on each typewritten monthly list were organized by ship name, and include the number of each individual's C.I.9, their name, their C.I.5, C.I.28 or C.I.36 number, and their age.

The records also list people who had stayed out of Canada beyond the legal time limit on C.I.9 certificates, and whose C.I.9 certificates were therefore cancelled. They cover the period from about 1918 to 1953. February to May 1924, January 1932 to December 1933 and January 1941 to December 1946 are missing.

The C.I.9 cancellation lists record each individual's name, together with 4 numbers:

C.I.9 No.
Main identifying document number (C.I.5, C.I.28 or C.I.4)
Victoria C.I.4 No.
Sec. 18 No. (this was the individual's registration number under the terms of Section 18 of the Chinese Immigration Act of 1923)

For more details, see the archival inventory description of Lists of Persons Readmitted to Canada at Victoria under C.I.9/ 9A Certificates and Other Readmissions and Cancellations in the General Inventory on the Library and Archives Canada website.

Finding the Records

At Library and Archives Canada

The above records are available on microfilm (reel T-6055), via inter-library loan, from Library and Archives Canada. However, many of the images on the microfilm are of poor quality.

The re-admission lists are separated into 31 sections on the microfilm, but the dividers between sections are difficult to read. The final section, 32, comprises the cancellation lists.

The range of dates covered by each section of the film is as follows:

Section	Date
1	October 1911- December 1912
2	1913
3	1914
4	1915
5	1916
6	1917
7	1918
8	1919
9	1920
10	1921
11	1922
12	1923
13	1924
14	1925
15	1926
16	1927
17	1928
18	1929
19	1930
20	1931
21	1932
22	1933
23	1934
24	1935
25	1936
26	1937
27	1938-1939
28	1940-1944
29	1945-1947
30	1948-1950
31	1951-1953
32	May 1922 - January 1924, June 1924 - December 1931, January 1934 - December 1940, 1947 - December 1953

Photo banner: Detail from VPL Historical Photograph 78362