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Description found in Archives

Title

Inspection Division [textual record]. 

Arrangement structure

Show Arrangement Structure

Series part of

Immigration Program sous-fonds [textual record, graphic material] (R1206-43-9-E)

Bilingual equivalent

Division de l'inspection [document textuel]

Date(s)

1950-1976

Place of creation

No place, unknown, or undetermined

Extent

0.85 m of textual records

Language of material

English

Scope and content

Series consists of Chinese case files maintained by the Inspection Services of the Department during the investigation by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police of illegal and fraudulent immigration practices among Chinese immigrants and agents, 1950-1963. The files contain documentation on the individuals, families, businesses, and agents involved in instances of illegal immigration dealt with by the Inspection Services office. This includes personal immigration documents, records of the investigations (such as police and RCMP reports, Immigration's notes, and correspondence from and to the parties involved), and some documentation on prosecutions where applicable. Originally coded as regular Chinese (CH) case files (described under Chinese immigration case files sub-series, RG76-D-2-i, MIKAN 161425) these particular files were taken over and recorded in the DIS (Departmental Inspection Services) series. Most were classified to Secret when transferred to the National Archives.

Conditions of access

Textual records
32: Restricted by law
Volume
from 727 to 732
32: Restricted by law
Archival reference no.
R1206-184-5-E
Former archival reference no.
RG76-D-4

Terms of use

Copyright belongs to the Crown.

Finding aid

Finding aid 76-56 is a handwritten file list. 76-56 (Paper)

Finding aid 76-57 is a handwritten file list. Access to this finding aid is restricted. 76-57 (Paper)

Additional name(s)

Canada. Dept. of Citizenship and Immigration. Inspection Division. Dept. of Citizenship and Immigration. Inspection Division.

Biography / Administrative history

The office known as Inspection Services - officially the [Departmental] Inspection Division of the Departmental Administration Branch - was apparently established between 1954 and 1956 to monitor departmental activities generally. In the spring of 1959, however, the Director of Inspection Services was asked by the Minister to investigate reports of immigration irregularities in the Hong Kong immigration office. This inspection led to a full-scale three-year national and international investigation of Chinese immigration patterns (1959-1962), which entailed police surveillance, raids on suspected offenders in Canada - said to be the largest RCMP action in peacetime up to that date - and other enforcement activities.

The Inspection Division, under its Director J. Kim Abbott, appears to have played a central role in organizing this investigation. It also produced reports on regular and irregular patterns of immigration from other foreign countries.

In 1964-1965 the Division was abolished. What remained of its continuing special duties were apparently assigned to the new Special Services Directorate, responsible for immigration enforcement and related matters. RG76 General Inventory

Additional information

Source of title
Title is based on the contents of the series.

Accruals
No further accruals are expected.

Related materials
See also the Chinese immigration case files sub-series (RG76-D-2-i, MIKAN 161425). For further information on the office see the Subject files sub-sub-series (MIKAN 161296, RG76-B-2-b, Vols. 718-725). For reports prepared by Inspection Services between 1959 and 1964, surveying patterns of immigration from various foreign countries and summarizing findings on illegal Chinese immigration, see the Reports, studies, and forms series (MIKAN 134841, RG76-D-1-a, Vol. 735, folders 1-6). Other files created by this office may have been reintegrated into the main Central Registry file series in 1964-1965 (see Headquarters central registry files series, RG76-B, MIKAN 134828).

Source

Government

MIKAN no.

161441