In p>1881, the population of British Columbia in western Canada was about 35,. At that time, about 9, Chinese workers built the last section of the Canadian Pacific Railway here. In order to restrict the entry of Chinese, the Canadian government made a decision to levy a poll tax on Chinese. The Canadian government imposed a poll tax of 5 Canadian dollars on these Chinese, which was equivalent to their two-year salary at that time. Moreover, this tax is only levied on Chinese immigrants from various countries who enter Canada. From 1886 to 1923, the Canadian government made a profit of 23 million Canadian dollars, equivalent to 1.2 billion Canadian dollars in 26. Taxpayers need to work for three to five years to repay.

In 1923, the federal government of Canada decided to abolish the poll tax, and passed the Chinese Exclusion Act through the new Chinese Immigration Act of 1923, which was implemented on July 1 of the same year. This bill stipulates that all Chinese are not allowed to enter Canada except the following examples. In the Chinese Immigration Act of 1923, the Chinese allowed to enter Canada are:

1. Businessmen

2. Diplomatic officials

3. Overseas students

4. "Special case" (the family of former Canadian Governor Wu Bingzhi used this example to immigrate to Canada in wartime)

This act is not limited to China citizens, and even Chinese with British nationality are prohibited from entering Canada. After the entry into force of the bill, almost all Chinese cannot immigrate to Canada, including relatives of Chinese workers who have already lived in Canada. During the 24 years since the implementation of the Act, only more than 2 Chinese immigrated to Canada. In 1931, there were about 46, Chinese in Canada, with a ratio of 13 to 1.

Because the Chinese Exclusion Law came into effect on the same date as Canada's National Day, Chinese in Canada at that time called the National Day a "shame day" and refused to celebrate Canada's National Day.

During World War II, many Chinese joined the army and donated money. In view of the contribution of Chinese in Canada to Canada in the Second World War and the pressure of public opinion in the international community, the Canadian federal government abolished the Chinese Exclusion Act on May 14th, 1947. However, Canada only opened its immigration policy in 1967, allowing Chinese to immigrate to Canada as "independent immigrants".