<P> Many thousands of navvies worked on the railway . Many were European immigrants . In British Columbia , government contractors hired workers from China , known as `` coolies '' . A navvy received between $1 and $2.50 per day , but had to pay for his own food , clothing , transport to the job site , mail and medical care . After 2 ​ ⁄ months of hard labour , they could net as little as $16 . Chinese labourers in British Columbia made only between 75 cents and $1.25 a day , paid in rice mats , and not including expenses , leaving barely anything to send home . They did the most dangerous construction jobs , such as working with explosives to clear tunnels through rock . The exact number of Chinese workers who died is unknown . The victims of sickness and accidents were not given proper funerals . Most of the remains were buried into the railroad and the families of the Chinese who were killed received no compensation , or even notification of loss of life . Many of the men who survived did not have enough money to return to their families in China , although Chinese labour contractors had promised that as part of their responsibilities . Many spent years in isolated and often poor conditions . Yet the Chinese were hard working and played a key role in building the Western stretch of the railway ; even some boys as young as twelve years old served as tea - boys . In 2006 , the Canadian government issued a formal apology to the Chinese population in Canada for their treatment both during and following the construction of the CPR . </P>
<P> Many thousands of navvies worked on the railway . Many were European immigrants . In British Columbia , government contractors hired workers from China , known as `` coolies '' . A navvy received between $1 and $2.50 per day , but had to pay for his own food , clothing , transport to the job site , mail and medical care . After 2 ​ ⁄ months of hard labour , they could net as little as $16 . Chinese labourers in British Columbia made only between 75 cents and $1.25 a day , paid in rice mats , and not including expenses , leaving barely anything to send home . They did the most dangerous construction jobs , such as working with explosives to clear tunnels through rock . The exact number of Chinese workers who died is unknown . The victims of sickness and accidents were not given proper funerals . Most of the remains were buried into the railroad and the families of the Chinese who were killed received no compensation , or even notification of loss of life . Many of the men who survived did not have enough money to return to their families in China , although Chinese labour contractors had promised that as part of their responsibilities . Many spent years in isolated and often poor conditions . Yet the Chinese were hard working and played a key role in building the Western stretch of the railway ; even some boys as young as twelve years old served as tea - boys . In 2006 , the Canadian government issued a formal apology to the Chinese population in Canada for their treatment both during and following the construction of the CPR . </P>
who provided the labour to build the railroads in canada
who provided the labour to build the railroads in canada
European immigrants workers from China
European immigrants workers from China