Who Built the Canadian Pacific Railway? Separating Myth From Fact

CPR director Donald Smith drives home the last spike for the Canadian Pacific Railway in Craigellachie, B.C., on Nov. 7, 1885. The Canadian Press/National Archives of Canada

Commentary

Was the Canadian Pacific Railway built by Chinese labourers? The short answer is yes, some of it was. But all 4,800 kilometres of it? Certainly not. Why, then, do some people say, “The Chinese built the Canadian Pacific Railway” or even that “Canada was literally built by Chinese.” It’s not just posting and trolling. The Canadian Labour Congress states, “Over 17,000 Chinese immigrants built the Canadian Pacific Railway.” And B.C.’s NDP Parliamentary Secretary, Mable Elmore, said in 2023: “Between 1881 and 1884, more than 17,000 Chinese railroad workers came to build the Canadian Pacific Railway.”