During the 1850s and the 1880s, many Chinese came to Canada to escape the turmoil of the ChIng Emperor. Immigration slowed due to government restrictions in the form of a "head tax", and was halted altogether by the 1923 Chinese Immigration Act that prohibited Chinese from entering Canada until 1947.

The first recorded Chinese presence in the Lakehead region is mention made of a Chinese laundry in Port Arthur in 1883. An 1894 directory of Port Arthur lists a Chinese laundry on Pearl Street owned and operated by Hem Lee.

The first recorded Chinese in Fort William was Sam-Ling, who also operated a hand-laundry between 1894 and 1900. The Chinese population of the Lakehead increased in 1886 due to the completion of the Canadian Pacific Railway, which made migration from the west easier. Elders in the Chinese community recall the population reaching a peak in the late 1920s as anti-Chinese sentiment in the Western Provinces caused many Chinese to move east to the Lakehead. The elders estimate that between Port Arthur and Fort William there were never more than 200 Chinese present in the region at one time.

Early Chinese industry in the region consisted primarily of hand laundries and restaurants. These were businesses requiring a great deal of hard work, but not specialized equipment and capital.

The repeal of the Chinese Immigration Act in 1947 led to many Chinese coming to further their education in Canada. Many remained in the country after graduation and some found their way to Thunder Bay. The repeal of the Act also allowed some of the men who had come as labourers on the railway to finally sponsor their long-separated families to come and join them in Canada.

In the more than one hundred years that have passed since the first Chinese immigrant came to this region, the Chinese community has grown and changed extensively. Young families with professional and business backgrounds now make up the majority of the community. There are active Chinese cultural organizations that celebrate their heritage and annual events such as the Chinese New Year celebration and performances at the folklore festival.