Beechwood’s Chinese cemetery tells the story of Chinese-Canadians in our country
One of the first things visitors will see when entering the southeast corner of Beechwood Cemetery is a pagoda honouring the ancestors of Ottawa’s Chinese community.
Built in 1995, the red, green and gold structure, standing on four pillars surrounded by flowers and trees, is one of the distinctive landmarks of Canada’s national cemetery, an island of tranquility in a city of nearly one million people.
It is designed according to Chinese religious principles, and surrounding the circle in which it lies are the graves of over 4,000 Chinese-Canadians, with room to grow for generations. They date from the first influx of former railway workers to third- and fourth-generation members of Ottawa’s now-thriving Chinese-Canadian community.
As Canada has grown and diversified, so has Beechwood Funeral, Cemetery and Cremation Services.
Inaccurately regarded as Ottawa’s Anglo-Protestant cemetery, Beechwood has always reflected Canada’s identity as a multicultural, multifaith society. It recognizes all races, creeds, religions and social standing. Its services are available in many languages.
Besides English and French Canadians, the cemetery has sections specifically designed for Chinese, Egyptian, Greek, Lebanese, Latvian, Muslim, Polish, Portuguese, Ukrainian, Vietnamese and other communities.
The Sacred Space, a ninesided multi-functional facility, was conceived after extensive consultations with local religious leaders and the Ontario Multi-faith Council. It can accommodate virtually any service.
Like Beechwood itself, the Chinese cemetery relates the story of Canada. Many of the cemetery’s early occupants were male and buried alone They had been recruited by agents in China to work on the Canadian Pacific Railway, and when the epic job was done they’d come to the capital, where federal politicians had passed immigration legislation preventing them from bringing their families to Canada.
Some Chinese had their bodies shipped back to their homeland after they died. Many died alone without money to make the trip, or even to finance a funeral, spurring members of the local Chinese community to come together and help.
In 1925, funds were raised to designate an area at Beechwood a Chinese section, however the first burial did take place in 1903.
Twelve years later, civilian transportation across the Pacific Ocean was cut off with the outbreak of war between China and Japan, and another 50 lots were set aside.
Headstones in Beechwood’s Chinese section, now officially known as the Chinese Cemetery of Ottawa, bear names like Wong, Hum and Chow. They were largely business people, restauranteurs, laundry workers.
The Chinese Exclusion Act was repealed in May 1947, and with the subsequent reunification of families, the country’s Chinese population grew and thrived. Ottawa’s population claiming Chinese ancestry has grown from fewer than 300 a century ago to more than 50,000 today.
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