Punjabi Market, Vancouver

The Punjabi Market (Punjabi: ਪੰਜਾਬੀ ਮਾਰਕਿਟ) is a commercial district and ethnic enclave in Vancouver, British Columbia. Officially recognized by the city as being primarily a major Indo-Canadian business community and cultural area, the Punjabi District is roughly a six block section of Main Street around 49th Avenue in the Sunset neighbourhood.

History

The first Indo-Canadian immigrants from Punjab landed in Vancouver in the 1890s. The first Indian settlement is said to have come by the name of Paldi after a village near Hoshiarpur in Punjab. They settled down in Kitsilano near First Avenue and Burrard Street and were believed to have worked in lumber mills and at construction sites throughout the Lower Mainland.

East Indians who later immigrated to Vancouver are believed to have suffered the same treatment given to the Chinese (Chinatown) and Japanese (Japantown). They were subject to the bias and animosities of the predominantly Anglo-Saxon majority and occupied distinct and discrete quarters of the city.