Sam Kee Building

Location: 8 W Pender St, Vancouver, BC V6B 1R3

The Sam Kee Building, built by Chang Toy in 1913, is a designated Vancouver heritage building and is renowned worldwide for being the “shallowest commercial building” in the world by The Guinness Book of Records. This building is located in Vancouver’s Chinatown at the historic entrance and has heritage value not only for its architectural significance, but also for its historic occupation and ownership by Chinese-Canadians that has contributed to the formation and preservation of Chinatown and the Chinese community in Vancouver.

The property that this building now sits on was originally owned by a prominent Chinese merchant and businessman named Chang Toy, known to the non-Chinese community of Vancouver as Sam Kee. The reason for the building's unique slimness is an example of disrespect and racism against Chinese-Canadians by the Vancouver civic authorities. Due to Toy’s Chinese ancestry, and the fact that the property he owned was in Chinatown, the Vancouver civic authority did not respect his title to the land and stole nearly all of Toy’s property in order to widen the road, leaving Toy with a shallow property that was only 6 ft deep. Toy facing this adversity still managed to build a free-standing building that was extremely successful hosting retail shops, residential units, and social gatherings. Toy’s resilience to this blatant discrimination by still creating a successful business on the extremely reduced property more broadly displays the strength of the Chinese-Canadian community in fighting against racism and discrimination.

Chinese people have been settling in what is now Canada since the early 19th century. This settlement and immigration has resulted in a rich Chinese history in Canada, and a prominent Chinese community in Vancouver. Chinese-Canadians have helped shape Canada into the country it has become today even in the face of ongoing discrimination and racism.

Since the building’s creation in 1913, the Sam Kee building has played a prominent role in the conservation of Vancouver’s Chinatown. Today, the Sam Kee Building is owned by prominent businessman and activist Jack Chow, who has carried on furthering the building’s success in the face of discrimination towards Chinese-Canadians.

References

Canada’s Historic Places. (n.d.). Sam Kee Building. https://www.historicplaces.ca/en/rep-reg/place-lieu.aspx?id=2814

Library and Archives Canada. (n.d.). History of Canada's early Chinese immigrants. https://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/discover/immigration/history-ethnic-cultural/early-chinese-canadians/Pages/history.aspx

Matthews, J.S. (1936). Men sitting outside shallow building at Pender and Carall Streets [Photograph]. City of Vancouver Archives Bu N158.2. https://searcharchives.vancouver.ca/men-sitting-outside-shallow-building-at-pender-and-carrall-streets

Matthews, J.S. (1937). Sam Kee Building, Pender Street at Carrall [Photograph]. City of Vancouver Archives Bu N90. https://searcharchives.vancouver.ca/sam-kee-building-pender-street-at-carrall

Syverson, L. (2016). Vancouver's Sam Kee Bulding [Photograph]. Flickr. https://www.flickr.com/photos/124651729@N04/29539217196/