Chinese Construction Workers on the Pacific Railway
Government of Canada plaque to Chinese construction workers, placed in 1977. The text (in English, French and Chinese) reads: "In the early 1880's contractor Andrew Onderdonk brought thousands of labourers from China to help build the Pacific Railway through the mountains of British Columbia. About three-quarters of the men who worked on the section between the Pacific and Craigellachie were Chinese. Although considered excellent workers, they received only a dollar a day, half the pay of a white worker. Hundreds of Chinese died from accidents or illness, for the work was dangerous and living conditions poor. Those who remained in Canada when the railway was completed securely established the basis of British Columbia's Chinese community."
Plaque courtesy of the BC Labour Heritage Centre's project Plaques Around the Province. project