Access the collections

• Chinese Times Newspaper
• SFU Digitized Newspapers (other than the Chinese Times)
• SFU Digitized Collections

Multicultural Canada: Our diverse heritage

The Multicultural Canada digitization project grew from the conviction that the cultural groups that make up our country have little-known stories that need to be researched and told. Through newspapers, interviews, photographs, print and material culture, people tell us who they are. Yet research into Canada’s multi-ethnic communities has been hampered by the relative lack of availability of non-English language materials and other artifacts originating from minority groups. Archives and libraries have long worked with individuals and cultural communities in Canada to collect and preserve the historical record of their experience; but these documents are seldom available beyond the walls of the institution. The intent of Multicultural Canada was to provide free and greater access to these existing collections. The project was led by Lynn Copeland, Simon Fraser University. The libraries and cultural organizations that participated in this project unearthed tremendous resources that will shed light on the shared and differing experiences of our Canadian lives for generations to come.

Letters of support

• Chuck Chang, Chinese Freemason's Association
• Hari Sharma, Professor Emeritus, SFU
• June Beynon, Department of Education, SFU
• Edgar Wickberg, Professor Emeritus, UBC
• Elizabeth Johnson, Museum of Anthropology, UBC
• Wing Chung Ng, Department of History, UTSA
• Nick Noorani, Publisher, Canadian Immigrant Magazine

Partners / Partenaires

Multicultural Canada was made possible through the cooperation of eight participating institutions, with funding, materials, and support provided by several additional agencies. Individuals supplied learning modules and assisted with locating and securing permission to digitize materials.

Un Canada multiculturel a été rendu possible grâce à la coopération de huit établissements participants et au financement, aux documents et au soutien dedifférents organismes. Divers individus ont fourni les modules pédagogiques et nous ont aidé à obtenir l’autorisation de numériser les documents.

• Simon Fraser University Library
• Simon Fraser University Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology
• Jewish Museum and Archives of British Columbia
• Multicultural History Society of Ontario
• University of British Columbia Library
• University of Calgary
• University of Toronto
• University of Victoria Library
• Vancouver Public Library

Supporting Agencies / Organismes associés

• ​Department of Canadian Heritage
• Sien Lok Society of Calgary
• Asian Library, University of British Columbia
• Irving K. Barber Learning Centre, University of British Columbia
• Chinese Freemason’s Association, Vancouver
• Rakoczi Foundation
• Vietnamese Professional and Business Association
• Lois Hole Campus Alberta Digital Library
• West Canadian Graphics
• Alberta Historical Resources Foundation
• Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association
• Japanese Canadian Centennial Project
• Japanese Community Volunteers Association
• Hong Kong University Press

Individuals / Individus

​Dr. Hari Sharma, Simon Fraser University; Dr. Gurcharn S. Basran, University of Saskatchewan; Dr. B. Singh Bolaria, University of Saskatchewan; Dr. Edgar Wickberg, University of British Columbia; Dr. Lloyd Sciban, University of Calgary; Dr. Manfred Prokop, University of Alberta; Moninder Bubber, Simon Fraser University; Dr. David Lai; Mrs. Kileasa Wong; Linda Joe, University of British Columbia; Frits Pannekoek, Athabasca University; Kelli Martin, University of Calgary; Chris Arnet, Simon Fraser University; Jan Walls, Simon Fraser University; Warren Gill, Simon Fraser University; Eric Swanick, Simon Fraser University; Andre Geramolymatos, Simon Fraser University; Yuko Shibata; Sandra Wilkins, University of British Columbia; Wing Chung Ng, University of Texas at San Antonio; Eleanor Yuen, University of British Columbia

Project Staff / Personnel du projet

Simon Fraser University Library

Lynn Copeland, Brian Owen, Mark Jordan, Ian Song, Faith Jones, Melanie Hardbattle, Steve Wade, Dave Kisly, Marc Behiels, Narinder Kaur Jaggi, Alisa Kuan, Aileen Yoon, Andrea Lalic, Kelvin Lam, Evangel Biason, Vanessa Tso, Lilian Wong, Nancy Chen, Lorraine Kwan, Jonathan Bantandos, Jennifer Cooper, Clare Tan, Johnny Young, Wilfred Sim, Helen Lau, Chantal Fournier, Gerry Robertson McConkey, Ishwereena Sharma, Jeanne Kong, Sergey Kovynev, Olga Shipulina

​Simon Fraser University Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology

Dr. Barbara J. Winter, Brianne Salmon, TsaiYun Chuang, Caitlin Donaldson, Carolyn Marcotte, Wilf Lim, Chris Springer, Jennifer K. Jones, David Murphy, Christopher Jeschelnik, Heiko Decosas, Tanys Norcott, Kial Natale, Kelly Dale, Kamil Karamali, Scott Tolan, Yuomi Kim

University of Toronto

Anne Dondertman, Karen Turko, Marlene van Ballegooie, Sian Meikle, Ksenya Kiebuzinski, Anne Byrne, Paul Armstrong, Bogda Mickiewicz, Wanda Czapran, Oksana Tatayako, Anna Chukur, Nadia Zavorotna, Peter Wilson.  Richard Charles Lee Canada Hong Kong Library: Jack Leong, Stephanie Hung, Annie Fan, Wendy Li, Heng Ge, Buyi Zhu, Helen Haung, Sian Miekle, Marlene Van Ballegooie, Paul Armstrong, Peter Wilson, Tony Kwakkenbos

Multicultural History Society of Ontario

Dora Nipp, Carl Thorpe, Winston Loui, Lisa Dillon, Pasang Thackchhoe, Jennifer Harrington, Gina Valle, Tak Fu, Jennifer Bonnell, Josiane Ip, Edward Lee, Barbara Legault, Andrew Lam, Britt Braaten, Julia Lum

Jewish Museum and Archives of British Columbia

Janine Johnston, Jennifer Yuhasz, Molly Winston, Heather Duff, Jillian Povarchook

University of Victoria Libraries

Marnie Swanson, Tina Bebbington, Jane Buzza, Ken Cooley, Chris Petter, Sam Aquila, Nancy Stuart, Cheryl DeWolfe, Kathy Mercer, Kim Shortreed-Webb, Min He, Lara Wilson, Nada Lora, Daniel Zou

University of Calgary Library

Tim Au Yeung, Cody Burns, Damian Bauder, Mary Cargan, Sheila Dennis, Nathan Dick, Paul Dick, Kelly Farough, Sara Gill, Melissa Goertzen, Deborah Hazell, Jill Ho-You, Jennifer Lewis, Igor Leznik, Liba Levicek, Michelle Lipp, Darren Love, John McAra, Leslie Moore, Grace Niewola-Staszkowska, Wendy Stephens, Chieu Ta, Maria Vud, Mary Westell, Aaron Wood

Vancouver Public Library

Kate Russell, Wendy Godley, Britt Baker, Robbi Mattu, Alison Rintoul

University of British Columbia Library

Sarah Romkey, Matthew Novak, Kim Stathers, Melanie Cassidy, Bronwen Sprout

Learning Modules / Modules d’apprentissage

Craig McLeod, Lyndhurst Elementary School, Burnaby, B.C.; Dr. Özlem Sensoy; Dr. Kevin O'Neill; Monica Anderson; Lianne Nosyk; Nisha Parhar; Geetu Parmar; Fiona Mackellar;  Sheryl Guloy; Raj Sanghera, Faculty of Education, Simon Fraser University,

The learning modules are available from the Internet Archive.

Contact

For questions relating to specific collections please refer to the institutions listed below:

• Chinese Times, Indo-Canadian Oral Histories, Doukhobor Collections, Ethnic Newspapers : Simon Fraser University Library
• Chung Collection, Cheekungtong (Chinese Freemasons), Chinatown News: University of British Columbia Library
• Jewish Western Bulletin: Jewish Museum & Archives of British Columbia
• BC Multicultural Photographs: Vancouver Public Library
• Chinese Benevolent Association: University of Victoria Library
• Vietnamese Boat People, 1956 Hungarian Memorial Oral History Project, Italian Oral History, Italian Canadian Photographs, Encyclopedia of Canada’s Peoples: Multicultural History Society of Ontario
• Ukrainian Canadians, German Canadians, Italian Canadians: University of Calgary Library
• Wayang Kulit Shadow Puppet Collection: Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Simon Fraser University
• Doukhobor Collection of James Mavor, Ukrainian Collection of John Luczkiw, Hong Kong Handover: University of Toronto Library