Asian Heritage Portal

Abbotsford Sikh Temple National Historic Site of Canada

Abbotsford Sikh Temple.
© Parks Canada / Danielle Hamelin

Location: Abbotsford, British Columbia

Date designated: 2002

The designation:
The Abbotsford temple is the oldest surviving Sikh temple in Canada.

In the decade after 1900, about 5,000 Sikhs, mostly young single men, came to Canada to work in the logging, farming and railway industries of British Columbia. Their arrival, which coincided with a recession, intensified anti-Asian feeling in the province and in 1907 Sikhs lost the right to vote. In 1908, the federal government severely restricted immigration from India. As a result, the Canadian Sikh community was composed primarily of men for many years.

Three Abbotsford Lumber Co. workers, ca. 1915
© The Reach Gallery Museum Abbotsford P11927

Several Sikhs worked in the sawmills of Abbotsford, and in 1911 they built the Abbotsford Sikh Temple or Gurdwara. Its exterior, a wood frame building with a false front and a gabled roof, is similar to many buildings in Canadian frontier towns. Its interior reflects Sikh traditions and religious beliefs.

Temples were social centres where Sikhs gathered in familiar and welcoming surroundings. For new arrivals, the Gurdwara provided meals, accommodation and contacts. Through the Khalsa Diwan Society, temples also became centres for human rights advocacy. This contributed to a slight loosening of the federal government's immigration regulations in 1919, to allow some family reunification.

Abbotsford Sikh Temple interior, ca. 1977
© The Reach Gallery Museum Abbotsford N1371

The Society campaigned successfully to restore the vote to Sikhs in 1947 and opposed discriminatory immigration policy. In 1967, race and nationality based quotas were abandoned and Sikh immigration increased significantly.

The Abbotsford Sikh Temple is a reminder of the religious, social and political role that temples played in pioneer Sikh immigrant communities. It embodies their success in retaining their religious beliefs while adapting to Canadian conditions.

To explore this national historic site, visit Parks Canada 3-D Tours and This Week in History.