About the Author: Born in Zhejiang, China, Larry N. Finished his undergraduate studies in Taiwan, and then went to the United States where he completed his master's degree at the University of Washington, and his PhD at Columbia University. He has served as a full professor in the department of history at the University of New Brunswick since 1981.

In Canada in Atlantic provinces

1951 32,528 883

1961 58,197 1,309

1971 118,815 2,145

1981 289,245 3,210

1991 586,645 4,050

Nova Scotia N. B. P.E.I. Newfoundland

1981 l ,540 875 160 635

1991 1,950 1,255 90 740

Considerable change has affected the employment pattern of the Chinese in the Maritimes in recent years. Although restaurants and other food still employ the greatest number of Chinese-Canadians In the region ,even this traditional industry has undergone transformation. New immigrants from Hong Gong and Taiwan have brought in enough capital to establish restaurants of respectable size and scale; some have formed joint Companies to manage restaurants; and there has been a 'marked shift away from the small family-run cafes of the past. Today, some of the largest, most prosperous restaurants in the Maritime are owned and operated by Chinese-Canadians.

With the removal of legal restrictions on Chinese employment, qualified Chinese both immigrant and Canadian born have moved quickly in to the professions previously closed them. In several cities of the Maritimes. the Chinese community claims a high proportion of persons in highly specialized professional and technical occupations. In the Halifax-Dartmouth area of the 1990s, in a well-known university with its medical school and in several hospitals, there are twenty-three medical doctors several dentists about two dozen research scientist and engineers and scores of laboratory technicians from a Chinese community of not more than two thousand people. Even Fredericton's Chinese community of about five hundred permanent residents includes about twenty PhDs and an equal number of engineers mid technicians with master's degrees,

Probably due to their relatively small population base in the Maritimes, not many Chinese have entered the business world aside from being the proprietors of restaurants. This pattern differs from that of major cities such as Toronto and Vancouver where a significant proportion of Chinese residents work in sales and clerical occupations and hold managerial and administrative positions. For the same reason, the Maritimes have not yet attracted much large-scale business or industrial investment from Hong Kong or Taiwan. However, a recent project involving industrial development in the overl-$1-million range is a glove making factory in Chipman, New Brunswick. an enterprise owned by recent Macau immigrants to that province.

For the Chinese in Maritimes, change in employment and occupational structure have generally resulted in the improvement of their economic conditions. For those in the restaurant business, the. recent trend has been has been to remove their restaurants away from the downtown core and relocate in shopping centres or other suburban locations. At the same time, the Image of the Chinese restaurant with living quarters upstairs is gradually disappearing. Most restaurateurs today can afford to keep their business and home separate, and this greater affluence has allowed the Chinese to join other upper--middle-class families to move to suburban subdivisions and other areas. This diversity certainly favours greater social integration.

With a growing and increasingly diverse Chinese population in Atlantic Canada, social organizations have also undergone change. The old style clan or district association never took root in the Maritimes; only the Chines Consolidated Benevolent Association still maintains a branch in Halifax, but it is doubtful whether tile younger generation or well-educated professionals are attracted to its style. Political organizations such as the Cheekungtang or the Kuomintang, which once had strong followings, are now generally shunned by the Chinese in Canada. There are. however two types of organizations. popular with the Chinese in the Maritimes: Christian groups. both Catholic and Protestant formed by congregations or of local Chinese Christians; and cultural associations that promote heritage and provide some Chinese-language training for young people. Again the diverse nature of the Chinese population makes common interests difficult to find; thus, the loosely structure cultural association is perhaps the best means to provide a social platform and encourage an affinity with one's roots.

The article is a section of THE PEOPLES OF THE MARITIMES SERIES --Chinese, published by Nimbus Publishing Limited, 1997