Historical Collections

With approximately half a million people of Hong Kong descent residing in the metropolitan regions of Vancouver and Toronto, Canada has one of the strongest Hong Kong communities abroad. Understanding the issues around the handover of Hong Kong’s sovereignty in 1997 is an important step in comprehending the immigration story of Hong Kong Chinese Canadians.

The digitized materials, approximately 15,000 pages, consist of books, academic papers, original art works, manuscripts, newspaper clippings, ephemeral materials documenting the handover ceremony, photographs, and government documents.  The subjects of this digitized collection include “one-country, two-systems”; Hong Kong people ruling Hong Kong; Sino-British Joint Declaration of 1984; Hong Kong Basic Law; Opium War of 1841; People’s Liberation Army in Hong Kong; and immigration to Canada. With about 60% in English and 40% in Chinese, the digitized items document and reflect the experience of Hong Kong Chinese Canadians.

This collection, consisting of 56 reels of microfilm, provides information on individuals, organizations, buildings, roads, land matters and important events relating to Hong Kong, Macau and China's coastal cities from the mid 19th century onward.

These 139,922 double-sided data cards were painstakingly compiled by Reverend Carl T. Smith through some 25 years' intensive research into a vast quantity of original records, newspapers and publications held by the Public Records Office (PRO) in Hong Kong. An online index to these cards is available from PRO’s website. For details, please refer to the collection’s catalogue record or the finding aid.