Asian Heritage Month at UBC

See what’s happening

Asian Heritage Month is an opportunity for all Canadians to learn more about the many achievements and contributions of Canadians of Asian descent.


Featured Events

April 26, 2023 | 7 pm

Book Launch: Kevin Chong and Lindsay Wong, with guest Christine Lai

Celebrate the book launches of authors Kevin Chong and Lindsay Wong. Enjoy readings and talks from both, and featured guest Christine Lai.

April 29, 2023 | 10 am

explorASIAN Festival Opening Ceremony

Celebrate the month of May with 60+ Asian Heritage Month in-person and virtual events and exhibitions presented by our various community partners.

May 5, 2023 | 8 pm

Chan Centre Presents: The Journeyed Compass: Dinuk Wijeratne, Layale Chaker, Kinan Azmeh

Multi-award-winning musicians Layale Chaker, Kinan Azmeh, and Dinuk Wijeratne come together to create highly distinctive music that draw from a confluence of cultural influences.

May 13, 2023 | 1 pm

Passage to Freedom: Film Screening and Discussion

Stop in at UBC Robson Square for this film that highlights the courage of the Southeast Asian refugees and the compassion shown in that era by Canadian officials, churches, and ordinary citizens who stepped up to innovate a private sponsorship immigration program, under the 1976 Immigration Act, where private citizens could sponsor complete strangers as refugees to Canada.

May 13–31, 2023

Hearts of Freedom Exhibition: Stories of Southeast Asian Refugees

Visit UBC Robson Square for this traveling exhibit. It is brought to BC by the Pacific Canada Heritage Centre – Museum of Migration Society (PCHC) and is an extension of a national research project that has documented an oral history of Southeast Asian refugees from 1975 to 1985 – the longest and largest migration and settlement of non-European refugees in Canada, and the stories of people who assisted them.

May 18, 2023 | 6:30 pm

Making Space: Asian Heritage Month

Join us in learning from four individuals and activists who are working for their communities in mindful and intersectional ways through cultural food justice. Register early as space is limited.

May 27, 2023 | 2:30 pm

Places, Histories, Communities: Exploring Queer Asian Identities through Zine-Making

In this interactive workshop artist-writer Rachel Lau will guide us through the process of zine-making as a way to rewrite queer Asian narratives and places. Attendees will create their own personal zines. No prior skills or experience necessary.

June 5, 2023 | 6:30 pm

Big Fight in Little Chinatown: Film Screening and Discussion

All across the globe, Chinatowns are under threat of disappearing – and along with them, the rich history of communities who fought from the margins for a place to belong. Set against the backdrop of the unfolding COVID pandemic and an unprecedented rise in anti-Asian racism, Big Fight in Little Chinatown documents the collective fight to save Chinatowns across North America.



Are you in a UBC department or student group planning an Asian Heritage Month event?
Please connect with us to have your event considered for this page info.events@ubc.ca.