Kew Dock Yip (葉求鐸; pinyin: Yè Qiúduó; 1906–2001) was community leader in Toronto's First Chinatown, the first Canadian lawyer of Chinese descent, and played a critical role in helping repeal the Canadian Chinese Exclusion Act in 1947. He is the third youngest son of Yip Sang, a prominent Chinese merchant and paymaster of CP Railway, in Vancouver in the 1900s. Early years Yip was born in Vancouver in 1906, the 17th of 19 sons, and one of 23 children born to prominent Canadian businessman Yip Wang Sang's four wives. In 1931, Yip graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Pharmacy from the University of Michigan. After completing his pharmacological studies, Yip returned to Vancouver where he became Secretary for the Chinese Consulate; it was during this period that Yip decided to pursue a career in law. Yip, along with some of his brothers, were members of the Chinese Students Soccer Team in 1933, when they became the B.C. Mainland Cup Soccer Champions. The team is believed to be the only soccer team composed of Chinese players outside of China in that era, a time when Chinese people in B.C. faced heavy racism. In 2011, they were inducted into the B.C. Sports Hall of Fame. In 1941 Yip earned his Bachelor of Arts from the University of British Columbia. Driven by the fact that British Columbia did not allow individuals of Chinese origin to practice law, Yip moved to Toronto with his future wife Victoria Chow upon the completed his studies at UBC. In 1942 Yip joined the Canadian Army, becoming an army reservist with The Queen's Own Rifles of Canada. Law practice in Toronto After three attempts to gain admittance into Osgoode Hall Law School, he was admitted and graduated in 1945 with his Bachelor of Laws. Later that year, he became the first lawyer of East Asian descent called to the bar in Canada. Yip, working closely with civil liberties and human rights lawyer and law school friend Irving Himel and other activists from across the country, was an important player in convincing the Government of Canada to, in 1947, repeal the Chinese Immigration Act of 1923, commonly known as the Chinese Exclusion Act, thereby allowing immigration of Chinese people into Canada. He remained focused on this issue, through 1958 to 1966 fighting to have Canada's immigration policies reformed to reduce the barriers Chinese immigrants faced trying to enter