Grade 8 · Social Studies · Unit 8 of 15
Newcomers, Rights & Restrictions
Who could come, who could vote and who spoke up
What your child practises
Why Canada wanted settlers for the Prairies, how some groups were kept out or taxed (the Chinese head tax, the Komagata Maru), who could and could not vote, the women's suffrage movement, and how communities responded and later received apologies.
Ontario Curriculum expectation: History A1.3, A3.5, B1.3, B1.4, B3.3, B3.4, B3.5 · immigration and exclusion, the Chinese head tax, who had political rights, women's suffrage, and actions people took to improve their lives, 1850–1914
Sample questions
A taste of this unit. In the app, questions change every time and get easier or harder to match your child.
Question 1
How did Chinese Canadians respond to the head tax and exclusion?
- They left Canada all at once.
- They ignored the law.
- They paid it, supported each other through associations, and later led campaigns for redress.
- They accepted it without complaint.
Show answer
They paid it, supported each other through associations, and later led campaigns for redress.
Hint: Community groups helped people and kept the story alive until the 2006 apology.
Question 2
What did the Chinese Immigration Act of 1923 do?
- It made the head tax cheaper.
- It almost completely stopped Chinese immigration until 1947.
- It ended the head tax and gave everyone the vote.
- It welcomed Chinese immigrants.
Show answer
It almost completely stopped Chinese immigration until 1947.
Hint: Chinese Canadians called July 1 “Humiliation Day.”
Question 3
Put these events in order, earliest first.
- 💰The Chinese head tax begins (1885)
- 📄The Immigration Act of 1910
- 🚢“Continuous journey” rule (1908)
- ⚓The Komagata Maru arrives in Vancouver (1914)
Show answer
The Chinese head tax begins (1885) → “Continuous journey” rule (1908) → The Immigration Act of 1910 → The Komagata Maru arrives in Vancouver (1914)
Hint: The head tax began in 1885, the Vancouver riot was in 1907, the continuous journey rule in 1908, the Immigration Act in 1910 and the Komagata Maru in 1914.
Question 4
“The Last Best West” was…
- an advertising slogan to attract settlers to the Prairies
- a railway
- a gold mine
- a treaty
Show answer
an advertising slogan to attract settlers to the Prairies
Hint: Posters and pamphlets spread the message in many languages.
Question 5
Nellie McClung is remembered for…
- campaigning for women's right to vote, including a 1914 “mock parliament” in Winnipeg
- winning the Boston Marathon
- building the CPR
- founding the NWMP
Show answer
campaigning for women's right to vote, including a 1914 “mock parliament” in Winnipeg
Hint: The mock parliament used humour to show how unfair it was that women could not vote.
Question 6
What happened to the Komagata Maru in Vancouver in 1914?
- All passengers were welcomed.
- Most of its mainly Sikh passengers from India were refused entry and the ship was forced to leave.
- It was a CPR passenger ship to Winnipeg.
- It carried gold from the Klondike.
Show answer
Most of its mainly Sikh passengers from India were refused entry and the ship was forced to leave.
Hint: A rule requiring a “continuous journey” blocked them. Canada apologized in 2016.