Sikhs in Canada

In 1867, Canada’s first Prime Minister Sir John A. Macdonald wrote: “War will come someday between England and the United States and India can do us a yeoman’s service by sending an army of Sikhs …”
The first Sikhs arrived in 1897 as part of army regiments traveling through Canada to celebrate Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee. Risaldar Major Kesar Singh of the 5th Punjab Cavalry in the British Army is the first recorded Sikh to arrive that year.
By 1907, there were nearly 5,000 Sikhs in Canada. In 1908, the first Sikh gurdwara, the Khalsa Diwan Society Gurdwara, was established in Vancouver. It became a vital institution for Sikhs, serving as a center for community organization, social support, and political activism against colonial and discriminatory policies.
Established in 1911 in Abbotsford, the Gur Sikh Temple is the oldest surviving gurdwara in North America. It was designated a Canadian National Historic Site in 2002 and celebrated its centenary in 2011
Ten Canadian Sikhs served with the Canadian Forces during World War I, all as volunteers. Among them was Buckam Singh, who in 1916 served with the 20th Canadian Infantry Battalion on the battlefields of Flanders. His grave, located in Kitchener, Ontario, is the only known resting place of a Sikh Canadian soldier from the First World War. He was awarded the Victory Medal.

In 1907, the Sikh community, along with other immigrant communities, was disenfranchised in British Columbia, losing the right to vote. As a result, Sikhs were also barred from professions restricted to qualified electors, including most public sector jobs and labour on public works. These discriminatory restrictions were not lifted until 1947, following decades of activism and the recognition of Sikh military service during the World Wars.
Discriminatory immigration policies led to an exodus of Sikhs from Canada beginning in 1908. This climate of intolerance was epitomized by the tragic Guru Nanak Jahaz incident, in which a ship carrying 376 mostly Sikh passengers was denied entry at Vancouver’s Burrard Inlet. The passengers were forced to remain offshore and were deprived of food and supplies for two months before being sent back to India.

With the liberalization of immigration policies in the 1960s and 1970s, Sikh immigration to Canada increased dramatically and expanded across the country.
In 1991, Baltej Singh Dhillon became the first Royal Canadian Mounted Police officer allowed to wear a dastaar. He was appointed to the Senate in 2025 to represent British Columbia.
In 1993, Harbance Singh (Herb) Dhaliwal became the first Sikh elected to Canada’s House of Commons, while Gurbax Singh Malhi became the first dastaar-wearing Sikh elected to the House.
In 2011, Lt. Col. Harjit Singh Sajjan became the first Sikh to command a Canadian Army reserve regiment when he was appointed commander of The British Columbia Regiment (Duke of Connaught’s Own). In 1914, this same regiment provided armed militia support to enforce the federal exclusion order that prevented the passengers of theGuru Nanak Jahaz from disembarking in Vancouver.
On November 10, 2016, Sarabjit ‘Sabi’ Singh Marwah was appointed as Canada’s first Sikh Senator.
In 2017, Jagmeet Singh became the first visible minority and first practising Sikh to lead a major federal political party in Canada when he was elected leader of the New Democratic Party of Canada.

Sikh communities are found in every Canadian province and even in the territories, with the vibrant Gurdwara Akaljot Sahib established in Whitehorse, Yukon.
Canada’s 2021 Census found Punjabi to be the third most spoken non-official language, with the lowest median age among major non-official languages at 33, and identified Sikhs as the country’s fourth-largest religious group.
Several Canadian Sikhs have served as federal Members of Parliament and Cabinet Ministers, as well as representatives and ministers in provincial legislatures across the country.
There are over 1,000,000 Sikhs in Canada, with the largest populations in Ontario, followed by British Columbia and Alberta.
Canada has the largest Sikh diaspora in the world and the highest proportion of Sikhs relative to its national population, greater even than India.

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