Asian Heritage Month

May is Asian Heritage Month in Canada—an opportunity for all Canadians to reflect on and learn more about the many achievements and contributions that Canadians of Asian heritage have made and continue to make across the country.

The legacy of Asian Canadians is one of resilience, resistance, and remarkable achievement. From early immigration and labour struggles to the ongoing fight for equity in our workplaces and communities, these stories shape who we are—and who we must strive to become.

Updated April 29, 2026
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Greater Victoria Public Library
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https://www.policyalternatives.ca/sites/default/files/uploads/publications/BC%20Office/2021/02/ccpa-bc_Challenging-Racist-BC.pdf

This booklet dives into the long history of racist policies that have impacted Indigenous, Black and racialized communities in the province over the last 150 years since BC joined Canada. The illustrated booklet, co-published by the CCPA-BC Office, ties the histories of racism and resistance to present day anti-racist movements. The booklet is being released in advance of the 150th anniversary, which is on July 20, 2021. This engaging resource has been designed to assist anti-racist educators, teachers, scholars, policymakers and individuals doing anti-racism work to help pierce the silences that too often have let racism grow in our communities, corporations and governments.

\"An open source publication of the University of Victoria research project Asian Canadians on Vancouver Island: Race, Indigeneity, and the Transpacific and The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (BC Office).\"

Awe-samosas!
Abbas, Marzieh
Paper Book
This warm and joyful picture book blends family tradition and creativity as Noor puts an awesome spin on her Dadijaan's yummy but ingredient-specific samosa recipe. It's Noor's first time making her Dadijaan's Special Samosa recipe. When she can't get in touch with her Dadijaan because it...
A dupatta is...
Abbas, Marzieh
Paper Book
A Dupatta Is..., written by Marzieh Abbas and vividly brought to life by the artwork of Anu Chouhan, is a loving and lyrical ode to the dupatta. A dupatta is so much more than a beautiful piece of fabric. A dupatta is sound--swooshing and swashing like a...
Magdaragat : an anthology of Filipino-Canadian writing
Alcuitas, Teodoro
Paper Book
Since first arriving in Canada, the Filipino community has contributed invaluably -- and too often invisibly -- to the fabric of Canadian society. In this anthology of Filipino-Canadian writing, Magdaragatexplores the diverse intricacies of these growing yet underrepresented peoples, continuing...
My name is Saajin Singh
Brar, Kuljinder Kaur
Paper Book
A picture book that explores the importance of pronouncing names properly and celebrates cultural identity. Saajin loves his name--he loves it so much that he sees it spelled out in the world around him in his snacks, in the sky and sometimes he even sings it aloud. On his first day of...
Journey after midnight : India, Canada and the road beyond
Dosanjh, Ujjal.
Paper Book
A midnight's child of poor rural India, Ujjal Dosanjh emigrated to the United Kingdom in 1964 at the age of eighteen, and spent nearly four years making crayons, car parts and shunting trains while he attended night school and learned English by listening to BBC Radio. He moved to Canada in...
Red Silk : an anthology of South asian Canadia women poets
Dunlop, Rishma
Paper Book
An anthology of South Asian Women Poets/
Wedding: A Novel
Gurjinder Basran
Ebook
The Astronaut Children of Dunbar Street
Ho, Wiley Wei-Chiun.
The Astronaut Children of Dunbar Street is an intimate geopolitical memoir about a family separated by distance and borders, split between Taiwan and Canada in the wake of shifting global powers. In 1979, following the US-Taiwan break in diplomatic relations, a family...
Berani
Kadarusman, Michelle
Paper Book
An honest and stirring novel about the choices made by young environmental activists, and the balancing act between consequence and triumph Malia has had a privileged upbringing in Indonesia, but since her Indonesian father died, her Canadian mother wants to return to her own family on the...
Breaking Bao : 88 bakes and snacks from Asia and beyond
Lam, Clarice
Paper Book
Food & Wine Best Cookbooks of 2024 * New York Times Best Cookbooks of 2024 "Breaking Bao is the rare cookbook that stops you in your tracks. Visually arresting, thoughtfully researched, and both whimsical and grounded in serious...
On the Ravine: A Novel
Lam, Vincent
Paper Book
From the bestselling, Giller Prize-winning author of Bloodletting & Miraculous Cures comes an exquisitely crafted novel, piercing in its urgency and breathtaking in its intimacy, about the devastating experience of addiction. CBC's Best Canadian Fiction of the Year. ...
Superfan: How Pop Culture Broke My Heart: A Memoir
Lee, Jen Sookfong
Paper Book
Finalist for the 2024 Forest of Reading Evergreen Book Award and the City of Vancouver Book Award. Named a Best Book of 2023 by the Globe and Mail and Apple Books Canada A TODAY Show Recommended Read This beautifully intimate memoir-in-pieces uses one woman's life...
The Great Henna Party
Malik, Humera/ Zohra, Sonali (ILT)
Paper Book
If you were to name the person you loved the most, who would you choose? Noor's cousin is getting married tomorrow, and tonight, Noor's family will hold a henna party in her honor. They'll sing traditional songs, eat delicious treats, and have their hands painted in swirling designs using...
Smiling eyes
Park, Linda Sue
Paper Book
From Newbery Medalist and bestselling author Linda Sue Park comes a joyous and inclusive celebration of eyes--showcasing the variety of Asian eye shapes and hues--in lively rhyming text ideal for sharing with any child. For an enthusiastic little boy, an ordinary day is...
Dayo
Perez, Marc
Paper Book
WINNER OF THE 2025 GERALD LAMPERT MEMORIAL AWARD An elegant debut collection that illuminates the contours of un/belonging. Dayo: a Tagalog word referring to someone who exists in a place not their own. A wanderer, migrant worker, exile or simply a stranger. At...
Duty, honour & izzat : from golden fields to crimson : Punjab's brothers in arms in Flanders
Purewal, Steven
Paper Book
The story of how the Indian soldiers of the Punjab chose to ignore the insults to their honour and dignity, to help stop Great Britain losing World War One in 1914. Presented as a historical scrapbook with beautifully realised, photo-realistic artwork. Framing the history is a story about a teenage...
Mad love : big flavors made to share, from South Asia to the West Indies : a cookbook
Rajkumar, Devan
Paper Book
A GLOBE & MAIL BESTSELLER! "Chef Dev brilliantly combines flavors and techniques from across the globe into dishes that feel comfortingly familiar yet wildly exciting. Each recipe is a story you can't wait to re-tell so you can watch the joy spread to others and...
Sona Sharma looking after planet Earth
Soundar, Chitra
Paper Book
Sona is determined to get her whole suburban Indian neighborhood to help fight climate change in this second heartwarming story. When Sona learns about the climate crisis at school, she worries that nobody is doing enough to combat it. So she takes up the challenge herself! But...
They called us enemy
Takei, George
Paper Book
New York Times Bestseller! A stunning graphic memoir recounting actor/author/activist George Takei's childhood imprisoned within American concentration camps during World War II. Experience the forces that shaped an American icon -- and America itself -- in this gripping tale...
Falling back in love with being human : letters to lost souls
Thom, Kai Cheng
Paper Book
SHORTLISTED FOR THE LEAGUE OF CANADIAN POETS PAT LOWTHER MEMORIAL AWARD "Required reading for the untamed soul . . . reminded me how to love others and myself."--Glennon Doyle, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Untamed A transformative...
The doll
Tran-Davies, Nhung N.
Paper Book
A young girl and her family arrive in an airport in a new country. They are refugees, migrants who have travelled across the world to find safety. Strangers greet them, and one of them gives the little girl a doll. Decades later, that little girl is grown up and she has the chance to welcome a group...
Asian vegetables : gardening, cooking, storytelling
Wang, Stéphanie
Paper Book
While bok choy is now a staple on Western grocery store shelves, other Asian vegetables remain unknown--even though they're delicious, nutritious, and easy to grow in northern climates.  Caroline, Stéphanie, and Patricia Wang, three sisters of Cantonese descent, have made it their...
Bad b*tch in the kitch : craveable Asian recipes to ditch the takeout
Yeung, Cassie
Paper Book
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER . Add some razzle dazzle to your home cooking with 80 recipes for your favorite Asian takeout dishes from culinary influencer Cassie Yeung Cassie Yeung likes to think of herself as a chef for the people-no professional culinary training here, just...

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