The first Asian Canadian magazine, The Asianadian, was published from 1978 to 1985. It was described as a “progressive magazine” that “united Asian Canadian communities, and gave them the opportunity to cultivate a sense of cultural identity and political consciousness”. This historical magazine is a fine example of “Unity in Diversity: The Impact of Asian Communities in Shaping Canadian Identity”, the theme of Asian Heritage Month 2025.

Why The Asianadian?

It’s simply fun to look at this magazine! Pick any issue. Look at it from cover to cover. Leaf through it page by page. Especially if you’re of the digital generation, having little experience with print magazines, you’ll learn about and be fascinated by this vintage form of entertainment.

Notice the price on the cover. The first issues cost $1 per issue, $4 per year for individual subscribers, $6 for institutional (library) subscribers! All prices included postage. That’s right, the magazine was physically delivered.

The magazine covered historical, political, cultural and down-to-earth real-life topics that were relevant to to Canadians, not just limited to Asian-Canadians. For an example, browse the Spring 1980 issue on the theme of “Quebec”.

The editorial, written in English and French, discusses the soon-to-be-held Quebec referendum, the French Nationalism that originates from the historical discrimination against French Quebécois as minority in Canada, and the lessons that minorities, including Asianadians and Asiabécois, can learn from French Quebécois.

“…Whatever the outcome of the referendum, the current national consciousness will continue to grow as long as racial inequality perpetuates. French Quebecers have an historical duty to emancipate themselves from the yoke of injustices—just as Asianadians and Asiabécois have an historical duty to fight for equality and dignity.”

« Il adviendra, un jour, que toutes les nations vont, ensemble, s’unir contre les conditions, la haine et le préjugés qui opposèrent leurs ancêtres les uns contre les autres. En attendant ce jour, c’est notre devoir à nous tous de continuer chacun nos luttes nécessaires et complémentaires. »

The Asianadian @ McGill Libraries

All twenty-four issues of The Asianadian are available for download on the publisher’s website. You can also look at print copies of nineteen issues held at Rare Books and Special Collections. (*Our special thanks to Philip Cheong, a native Montréaler and McGill alumnus, whose generous gift enabled the McGill Libraries to purchase these rare items!)

We offer our deepest condolences to the Filipino Community of Vancouver and all other communities affected by the Lapu Lapu Festival tragedy!

The McGill Libraries is celebrating this year’s Asian Heritage Month with books and films by Quebecers of Asian heritage and those about them.

Check out these two Redpath Book Displays:

Creative Asian Quebecers showcases fiction, nonfiction, and poetry by Quebec writers of Asian heritage, and also films by Quebec directors of Asian heritage. Many of these creative workers are globally known and have won multiple prizes. On the list you are likely to find books and films that you enjoyed in the past without realizing their Québécois connection.

Montreal’s Chinatown between Past and Present presents books, videos, scholarly articles, as well as McGill student papers and theses about the important heritage site of Quebec.

Among the displayed are documentary films by two renowned Montrealers.

• Meet and Eat at Lee’s Garden (2020) by film director Day’s Lee “explores Chinese restaurants in Montreal, Canada in the 1950s and the role they played in creating a bond between the Chinese and Jewish communities.” The McGill Libraries acquired this rare DVD (currently available only at the McGill Libraries) with support of the Lee Tak Wai Foundation. (Note: the president of the Foundation, Honourable Dr. Vivienne Poy, was instrumental in having May recognized as Asian Heritage Month across Canada.)

• Film director Karen Cho’s Big Fight in Little Chinatown (2022) tells stories through the voices of members of Chinatowns in Canada and the United States (Montreal, Vancouver, and New York). While each story is unique, they share similar present challenges. How can they preserve their Chinatown amidst the intense urban development around it? How can they embrace their heritage and culture, while pursuing individual dreams?

As you will learn from these documentary films, for the old-time Montrealers of Chinese heritage, Chinatown is more than a heritage site and tourist attraction. It is a source of personal memories, as well as a community gathering place. It is their “home” or “Jiā 家.” To further explore the concept of Jiā 家 and learn about the movement to protect and promote the tangible and intangible cultural heritage of Montréal’s Chinatown, visit the JIA Foundation website.