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 on Canada's shores over 150 years ago, Filipinos have contributed invaluably -- though too often invisibly -- to the fabric of Canadian society. This anthology of writing by members of the Filipino-Canadian community explores Filipino-Canadian identities, experiences,...
Malai : frozen desserts inspired by South Asian flavors
Bavishi, Pooja
Paper Book
A celebration of South Asian flavors by Pooja Bavishi, the founder of acclaimed Malai ice cream. Learn to create frozen desserts at home with this first-of-its-kind South Asian-inspired ice cream cookbook. Bavishi shares the secrets behind Malai's beloved flavors,...
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.
Paper Book
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...
The voyage of the Komagata Maru : the Sikh challenge to Canada's colour bar
Johnston, Hugh J. M.
Paper Book
A century has passed since the Komagata Maru arrived in Vancouver. Its arrival was a direct challenge to Canada's immigration laws, which barred immigrants from India - yet the nearly four hundred Punjabi passengers on board the ship had been promised equality with all other British subjects, and...
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...
Mindy Kim makes a splash
Lee, Lyla.
Paper Book
Fresh Off the Boat meets Junie B. Jones in this adorable chapter book series following Mindy Kim, a young Asian American girl--in this eighth novel, Mindy learns to swim. Mindy Kim can't wait to learn how to swim with her best friend, Sally! But during her first swim...
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...
Return to Paueru Gai : Fifty Years of Vancouver's Powell Street Festival
Morita, Emiko
Paper Book
Essays about the remarkable history of Vancouver's Powell Street Festival and the proud Japanese Canadian community behind it Paueru Gai, the Powell Street neighbourhood in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside, was a place of early settlement and forced removal for Japanese...
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...
Landscapes of injustice : a new perspective on the internment and dispossession of Japanese Canadians
Stanger-Ross, Jordan
Paper Book
In 1942, the Canadian government forced more than 21,000 Japanese Canadians from their homes in British Columbia. They were told to bring only one suitcase each and officials vowed to protect the rest. Instead, Japanese Canadians were dispossessed, all their belongings either stolen or sold....
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
A national bestseller in Canada, hailed by The New York Times asan "intimate expression of self-acceptance and forgiveness, tenderly written to fellow trans women and others." "Required reading."-Glennon Doyle, #1 bestselling author of Untamed A...
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...
My Cambodia : a Khmer cookbook
Yun, Nite
Paper Book
Celebrate Khmer and Cambodian American cuisine with award-winning chef and restaurateur Nite Yun, featuring over 100 recipes for her favorite dishes. Khmer recipes and culinary techniques are traditionally passed orally from generation to generation, and in My Cambodia,...

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