Burnaby Mayor Mike Hurley reads the apology letter
By Ivan Pak
On November 15, 2025, the City of Burnaby took a long-awaited step toward confronting its past. In a formal ceremony attended by community members, civic leaders, and families of early Chinese settlers, the mayor delivered an official apology for more than five decades of discrimination that Chinese residents endured between 1892 and 1947. For the first time, Burnaby publicly acknowledged the injustices its own institutions once imposed.
The apology arrives later than those issued by New Westminster in 2010 and Vancouver in 2018, yet its timing only adds weight. Burnaby has long been a “quiet zone” in the historical narrative of anti-Chinese discrimination — a city that benefited from Chinese labour but left little documentation and almost no public discussion of the policies that restricted, exploited, and marginalized Chinese residents for more than half a century. The silence created a gap in the history of the region. With this apology, that gap begins to close.
Although Burnaby did not have the large Chinese enclaves seen in nearby cities, its government actively enforced measures that shaped the lives of Chinese residents in profound ways. These policies, written into bylaws and sustained across generations of city councils, limited where Chinese residents could live, what businesses they could operate, and what forms of work they could pursue. They faced special permit requirements, higher fees, and disproportionate enforcement. Early infrastructure — from ditches and roads to farmland drainage and forest clearing — relied heavily on Chinese workers who received lower wages and far fewer protections. And until 1947, they were denied the right to vote, leaving them excluded from every level of decision-making in the city they helped build.
None of this happened by accident. It was not merely the product of social prejudice, but the result of institutional choices made by a government that wielded the power to include or exclude. For 132 years, this chapter remained largely unspoken.
The ceremony in Burnaby marked a turning point. During a special council meeting held at the event, the City formally adopted an apology resolution. Moments later, Mayor Mike Hurley delivered the statement aloud. His words were direct: what the City had once done was wrong, harmful, unjust — and the City bears responsibility. He acknowledged that Chinese residents were denied fair treatment in almost every aspect of public life, from housing and employment to land use and political rights. He expressed regret and shame for the City’s actions and committed to future steps aimed at repairing the legacy of harm.
For many families in attendance, the moment was both solemn and emotional. Descendants of early Chinese settlers — including veterans who once fought for Canada despite facing discrimination at home — heard the City articulate something their ancestors never lived to witness: that the injustices inflicted on them were real, undeserved, and officially recognized. Several community members described the apology as “late, but necessary,” a gesture that validates experiences that had been erased or overlooked for generations.
The significance of Burnaby’s apology reaches beyond symbolism. By publicly acknowledging the City’s role in systemic discrimination, the apology reframes history itself. It positions Burnaby as a participant — not a bystander — in the wider network of exclusion that shaped the Lower Mainland. It restores visibility to the workers and families whose lives were shaped by barriers they did not choose. And it affirms that the burden of discrimination should never have been placed on the shoulders of those who suffered from it.
Yet an apology, however meaningful, is also a beginning. Burnaby now faces a responsibility that extends beyond its words. The City has pledged to strengthen historical education, support cultural and commemorative projects, and embed greater sensitivity and inclusion into municipal decision-making. The success of this apology will ultimately be measured not by the ceremony itself, but by the long-term actions that follow — actions that ensure the injustices of the past are neither forgotten nor repeated.
For a city whose early history includes both progress and deep shadows, the events of November 15 represent a moment of clarity. Burnaby has chosen to confront the uncomfortable truth that its institutions once played a role in excluding the very people who helped build its foundations. By acknowledging this, the City signals a commitment to becoming a place where all residents — regardless of background — can expect fairness, dignity, and belonging.
History rarely offers opportunities to rewrite what has been done. But it does offer moments when a society can choose to see clearly and move forward with honesty. Burnaby’s apology cannot erase the past. What it can do is mark a shift — a recognition that justice requires not only memory but responsibility. One hundred and thirty-two years after the first discriminatory measures were imposed, the City has finally spoken the words that were missing for so long.
And in doing so, Burnaby has taken its first step toward a more inclusive and mature civic future.
(By Ivan Pak, co-founder and co-chair of Stop Anti-Asian Hate Crimes Advocacy Group 1-2-3.site)