Documents & Records
Newspapers - Chinese
Basics
The Chinese community in Canada has published newspapers - both Chinese and English - since 1903, when the China Reform Gazette began publication in Vancouver. The China Reform Gazette stopped publishing in 1911, but the Chinese community in Canada has since published many other newspapers.
To a considerable extent, Chinese newspaper publishing historically reflected political factionalism in the Chinese community. This in turn mirrored political turmoil in China. In Canada's Chinese community, the main tension was between the Kuomintang (KMT), also called the Chinese Nationalist League, and the Cheekungtong (CKT), later the Chinese Freemasons. Both had ties to powerful political forces in China, and each published its own newspapers. For more information on the KMT, CKT and politics in the Chinese community, see From China to Canada: A History of the Chinese Communities in Canada (Edgar Wickberg, ed.) and other resources listed in VPL's Chinese-Canadian History subject guide.
For an overview of the history of Chinese journalism in North America and a directory of historic Chinese newspapers (to 1975), including those published in Montreal, Toronto, Vancouver, Victoria and Winnipeg, see Chinese Newspapers Published in North America, 1854-1975, compiled by Karl Lo and Him Mark Lai (available via interlibrary loan).
Chinese newspapers occasionally included references to births, marriages and deaths, especially those associated with prominent members of the community. They also contained detailed information on the activities of various community organizations, such as clan associations, schools, etc., including many references to individuals. For example, annual lists of newly-elected executive members of community organizations were often published in the newspapers. Reports of court cases and information about businesses also frequently appeared. As such, although Chinese newspapers don't necessarily provide a great deal of nuts-and-bolts genealogical information (such as birth, marriage and death dates), they are very local in nature, and provide information about individuals in the community as well as a great deal of background information.
There are no indexes to Chinese newspapers published in Canada, so it is necessary to browse in order to find specific information. It is helpful if you can narrow your search to a specific range of dates.
Finding the Records
Chinese newspapers are held by a number of libraries across Canada. Follow the links below for brief descriptions and holding locations of newspapers published in major Canadian cities. These listings have been derived primarily from Library and Archives Canada's AMICUS database and the bibliography compiled by Karl Lo and Him Mark Lai's bibliography, cited above. In some cases, although the paper existed, no holding locations have been identified in AMICUS. This is indicated in the Location notes as Unknown. Titles in the listings are romanized as they appear in AMICUS.
Photo banner: Detail from VPL Historical Photograph 78362
