Yip Sang

Who was Yip Sang?

Yip Sang was a prominent Canadian businessman, whose business and family flourished during the period when Chinese Canadians faced discrimination and restrictions.

Yip's fame was mainly in his business, but he was also a social reformer and political activist in Canada. Yip Sang was born on September 6, 1845, in Shengtang village, Taishan County, Guangdong, into a poor family. Yip went to California as a general labourer in 1864 and then to work in the goldfields in Canada in 1881.

Yip arrived in Vancouver to work as a coal salesman, then as a bookkeeper, timekeeper, and paymaster for the Canadian Pacific Railway Supply Company. He quickly worked up the ranks and became a superintendent of Chinese labourers. By 1888, Yip started his own business the Wing Sang Company, which provided labour contracting, as well as import/export business to and from the Far East.

Yip travelled to China during his time in California and British Columbia. He fathered 23 children among his four wives.

His company became a Chinese agent with his former employer, Canadian Pacific Railway Supply Company, providing human labour and produce.