Mr. Fred Kan

This interview with Fred Kan provides a detailed account of his pioneering role as one of the first Chinese-Canadian lawyers in Toronto. Born in Macao in 1940, Kan graduated from the University of Toronto Law School in 1967 as its first Chinese graduate, facing significant discrimination in securing articles due to being perceived as a security risk. Despite these challenges, he was called to the bar in 1969 and established a successful practice serving Toronto’s Chinese community.

Kan’s career was marked by extensive community activism and political involvement. He co-founded the United Action of Chinese Canadians in 1967, establishing information centers to serve new immigrants. His legal partnership with Robert Mark created one of Toronto’s first modern Chinese-Canadian law firms, handling real estate, immigration, and general practice matters for the growing Chinese immigrant population. Kan’s political engagement included running as the Liberal candidate for St. Andrews/St. Patrick in the 1975 Ontario provincial election, narrowly losing to Larry Grossman.

The interview chronicles Kan’s leadership in various community organizations including the Save Chinatown Committee and the Toronto Chinese Business Association, as well as his role in organizing national Chinese-Canadian conferences addressing immigration policy. In 1984, Kan relocated permanently to Hong Kong, where he established Fred Kan & Company as an international commercial law firm, representing a significant shift from his Toronto practice which was limited primarily to serving the Chinese-Canadian community.

This description was written by AI and may contain some inaccuracies.