Learn Japanese Canadian History
Self-directed Teacher Course
Finding home. Building community. Fighting for justice.
Each day, we decide how to treat our friends and neighbours. As members of a political community, we exercise our right to vote and express our vision of what Canada should be.
History does not repeat itself, but it does rhyme. The history of Japanese Canadians holds tough questions that persist in our society: Who belongs? How should we balance safety and freedom in times of emergency? How do we hold the government accountable for wrongdoing?
The history of Japanese Canadians is a story of finding home, belonging, and identity. It offers lessons about inequality and justice. It warns of the harms of bad law and government-backed discrimination. At the same time, Japanese Canadian history holds remarkable stories of perseverance and the ongoing fight required to make Canada a just place to call home.
From stories of early immigration to the injustices of the uprooting during the 1940s and later efforts to rebuild community, this history allows students to connect emotionally with the stories of people and build critical understanding of historical wrongs. Our Teaching Tips page provides guidance to teaching this history.
Take our free, self-directed course, Introduction to Japanese Canadian History, to build your understanding of Japanese Canadian history and your confidence in what you know. The course covers the history of Japanese Canadians from the arrival of the first immigrants to the injustices of the 1940s, the fight for redress, and contemporary issues. Each module contains a short quiz, so challenge yourself and enjoy learning more about this Canadian story.
Each of the three modules in the course contains a series of sections, each with Go Further links to deepen your understanding of the history. Each module ends with a quiz to test your knowledge.
IMPORTANT: After completing each section, click the blue Mark as Complete button. After completing each quiz, click the green Complete Quiz button.
