Canadian History Fact Video: The Story of Sikhism in Canada Since 1867

This project focuses on creating a fact video about Sikhism in Canada, highlighting its historical significance and impact on Canadian society since 1867. The essay discusses the arrival of Sikhs in Canada, their settlement patterns, and their contributions to Canadian culture and politics. It mentions key events such as the Komagata Maru incident and the establishment of Sikh institutions like Gurudwaras. The project also emphasizes the importance of presenting the information in an organized and accessible manner, using a combination of text, images, and video clips to engage the audience. The goal is to educate viewers about the Sikh community in Canada and its role in the country's history, with the project involving collaboration among students to research, compile, and present the information effectively. The essay concludes by reiterating the significant presence and influence of Sikhism in Canada, underlining its importance as a widely practiced religion and a vital part of the Canadian population.

Running head: SIKHISM IN CANADA
Sikhism in Canada
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Sikhism is one of the most widely followed religions in Canada. It has been reported
that Canadian Sikhs make up a total of 1.4% of the population of the country and number for
a rough total of 468,670 people. People following Sikh religion are mainly largely found in
the regions such British Columbia, Ontario and Alberta. In the recent times. Sikhs have also
started living in the areas of Surrey, Brampton, Calgary and Abbotsford. April is also
celebrated as the Sikh Heritage Month in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario. It is also said
that the Sikhs were the ones who were responsible for paving the way for the South Asian
immigrants in Canada as well as establishing Sikhism in the USA.
The purpose of this essay is to make a Fact Video on the subject of Sikhism in
Canada so that the audience will be able to understand about the product.
Sikhism is one of the most widely followed religions in Canada. It was first said to
emerge in Canada with Kesur Singh, a Risaldar Major in the British Indian Army arrive to
settle in Canada. Since then, more and more Sikh families started to migrate to Canada have
migrated and settled in Canada. As stated by Hawley (2015), by 1906, there was said to be
about 1500 Sikh workers in Canada, out of which 5000 of them were Indians in total.
Although the white skinned population at that time were op[posed with the presence of the
Sikhs in the country, in British Columbia, however, the Sikhs were able to establish
themselves and able to get jobs for themselves owing to the fact that industrialists were short
of labour during that time.
In the modern era (1960’s – present day), thousands of Sikhs have settled in Canada
especially in the area between Toronto and Windsor. They gradually built Gurudwaras in all
major cities of Canada (Johnston, 2017) . In the 1980’s, the Khalsa Diwan Society grew
larger and built a sports complex where the children could play various kinds of sports. As
stated by Mandair (2016), it was also during the same time that the Federation of Sikh

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Societies of Canada would be formed which was the first Canadian Organization in Canada.
Recently in Canada, Operation Bluestar was launched which caused anger to many Sikhs in
the country as Sikhs were offered seats in the British Columbia University and the University
of Toronto. For the Sikhs to be considered as equal to their Canadian counterparts, was their
demand for the right to vote. For this reason, the Sikhs held town hall meetings and requested
their own politicians as well as the Canadian politicians to change the rules so that both Sikhs
and Canadians are considered to be equal to be the Canadian Government. It is said that
currently, there are almost 50,000 Sikhs in Canada. Thus, it can be said that Sikhism is one of
the most widely practised religions of all in the country of Canada and they form a minority
of the populations in Canada. The settlement pattern in the last two decades is mainly centred
around Vancouver (Baybrooke, 2017).
The above mentioned topic has significance to the Canadian history because Sikhism
is one of the most widely followed religions in the state of Canada. There are more than
50.000 Sikhs living in Canada and they play an important part in the governance of the
country. Canadians have their own politicians. This is a significant topic for the Canadian
history as Sikhs have been living in the country for many years now. Sikhs first shifted to
Canada during the British period in India and since then, they have been living there forming
their own communities and building Gurudwaras. The Sikh settlement pattern in the last two
years has mainly been seen around Vancouver but recently they have also started living in
other cities like Calgary, Alberta and Edmonton because of growing economic opportunities
in the area. Sikhism in Canada is a significant part of the Canadian history as Sikhs have
played a major part of the Canadian history, starting from the first arrival of the Sikhs during
the British rule in India to fighting in the Canadian wars to the incident of Komagata Maru
ship where Sikhs were not allowed entry into Canada and later shot dead by the British when
they refused to return to their homeland. In the recent times, with a large majority of Sikh

3SIKHISM IN CANADA
population residing in Canada and having their own political representatives in the country,
Sikhism in Canada is indeed a significant part of the Canadian history as Sikhs have been
living in Canada for a very long time.
The Fact Video on Sikhism have been organized in a particular way to make it look
proper and present the subject matter in an organised way. For preparing the Fact Video, the
subject matter needed to be presented in such a manner that it would be clear to the public.
For this reason, the subject matter was presented in a way that it would match with the text,
images and the subject matter. In this case, the topic is Sikhism in Canada, so in the Fact
Video, the subject matter is presented with a combination of texts, and images so that the
audience would easily be able to understand what the subject matter is about. This would
help to ensure that the subject matter of the Fact Video is presented in such a manner that the
audience can understand the subject matter easily. This will make the audience understand
the subject matter easily without any difficulties.
This Fact Video will be effective for the audience as they will be able to understand
about the subject of Sikhism in Canada. It will allow them to know about the Sikhs who
reside in Canada and are a minority of the population. The Fact Video will teach the public
about the Sikhs, their religions and their lifestyles. Children will also be able to learn about
the various non-Canadian population that resides in Canada. Hence, a Fact Video on the
above mentioned subject will really be effective for the audience as it will teach about the
various kinds of population that lives in Canada.
For making the Fact Video, the job involved the help of students as a single person
would not be able to perform the entire project by himself/herself. So the job involved
enlisting the help of the students of the class. This involved the students organizing
themselves in groups and working together to make the Fact Video. Majority of the jobs

4SIKHISM IN CANADA
included finding as much information as they can on the subject of Sikhism in Canada. This
involved knowing as much as they can on the subject by visiting libraries and Sikh
communities to find out information from the people themselves. The next step involved
putting the information collected into the fact video along with images, videos and pictures.
This was done to make sure that the Fact Video looks good and matches with the information
presented in the Fact Video matches with the images, texts and the videos. Doing that will not
only present the Fact Video in an organized manner but will also enable the audience to learn
about the topic presented in the video. This will also be good for the students as making a
Fact Video that looks proper will not be criticized by the teachers.
The other thing the students had to do was to organize the Fact Video in such a
manner that it presents exactly the kind of information that the students managed to find out.
This will make sure that the Fact Video is well presented and it will contribute to the
knowledge of the audience about the Sikh population residing in the country. Thus, it will
add to the credibility of the Fact Video.
Thus, from the above essay, it can be seen that the Sikhs are indeed one of the
varieties of the population that resides in Canada and Sikhism is one of the widely practised
religions in the country. Sikhs have been residing in the country since the British period in
India. They have not only built communities in the country but also have politicians to
represent themselves in the country. Apart from that, the Sikhs also have been investing in
businesses and involving themselves in various activities which would improve the Sikh
community in the country. Sikhs are currently also involved in the Government and play an
important role in the decision making activities of the country. In the recent times, there are
Sikh majority areas in the country which looks after the interests of the Sikhs in the country.
The Khalsa Diwan Society is the organization that looks after the interests of the Sikhs in the
country. All of this largely proves the fact that Sikhs usually comprise a minority of the

5SIKHISM IN CANADA
population in Canada and that Sikhism is indeed one of the most widely followed religions to
be practised in the country of Canada.

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Reference List
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Dilmaghani, M. (2018). Religiosity and subjective wellbeing in Canada. Journal of
Happiness Studies, 19(3), 629-647.
George, U., & Chaze, F. (2015). Punjabis/Sikhs in Canada. Migration, Mobility and Multiple
Affiliations, 94-104.
Hawley, M. (2015). Textbooks on Sikhism: the burgeoning tradition. Religion, 45(1), 103-
112.
Jacobsen, K. A. (2017). Sikhism.
Jakobsh, D., & Walton-Roberts, M. (2016). A century of miri piri: securing Sikh belonging in
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Johnston, H. (2017). Sikhism in Global Context.
Mandair, A. (2017). Sikhism. In World Religions for Healthcare Professionals (pp. 130-148).
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