Question 1 The first Indian immigrants to Canada came as refugees during the mid 20th century. False. The first Indian immigrants to Canada came at the turn of the century. In 1897 Queen Victoria invited her loyal Indian troops to attend her Diamond Jubilee celebrations in London. These soldiers returned to India via Canada and took home stories of a land waiting to be British subjects like themselves. By 1908 more than 5,000 South Asians had immigrated to British Columbia, over 90% of them Sikhs. Next Top of Page