Unfortunately, without a date, it is difficult to determine when the date of publication for the cookbook was, however it is likely a date that falls anywhere between 1960 and 1980 which allows us to understand what was occurring in Canada at the time. From influences on society, to the effects afterwards, this essay is designed to contextualize Chinese Recipes within the framework of Canadian society. In the early1960’s, Canada was reaching the end of the baby boom era characterized by a majority of people who were having children at an earlier age. At the time, the primary focus of the government was governing immigration. As the multiculturalism of the nation expanded, so did the immigration process. Thus, the Chinese Recipe cookbook was published at a time following the baby boom when multiculturalism in Canada was beginning to drastically increase.

In an attempt to improve the quality of intercultural relations, the policy of multiculturalism was introduced in 1971 by the federal government of Canada. Proposed methods included “promotion of intercultural contact with the reduction of barriers to such participation”. This subsequently served to the advantage of the company. Indeed, it could be argued that such a shift in society embrace of multiculturalism may have sparked an interest or may have even encouraged the Chinese Recipes cookbook. As an idea, creating a cookbook on Asian heritage, while still considering North American kitchens would be a great way to promote and preserve Chinese culture.

While the rate of immigration may have truly benefitted society, in terms of economy in the 1970's, Canada would face an economic downfall where unemployment and inflation increased. Noted in the cookbook, V-H referred to the cookbook as a way in which North Americans could bring home some of their favourite Chinese dishes but allude to how cheap Chinese cuisine is to prepare.

By 1978 the government of Canada had passed a new Immigration Act ultimately publicizing to foreign countries that regardless of race, religion, color or country, Canada was open to being a home to all. In years prior, “immigrating to Canada was restricted to a limited number and favored specific immigrants from specific countries”. In earlier years, immigration was seen as a necessity to shape Canada economically and culturally. In shaping Canada, immigrants from Europe were highly sought after including immigrants from Britain but slowly, as the number of immigration offices across the globe increased, so did the number of immigrants from areas including Asia, the West Indies and Africa. In 1961, there was a total of only three immigration offices across Asia, while in 1970 it had doubled to six offices. Without immigration offices, people were unable to come to Canada, hence the reason why Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau at the time believed in adopting a policy of multiculturalism to support schools and the community in hopes to benefit society. North America began to implement different ways to comfortably conform with the many new cultures. Considering all the societal factors of immigration, multiculturalism, and the steady increase of unemployment rates, Chinese Recipes was written to consider people at the time were adapting to other cultures, facing inflation rates and may be more interested in cheaper ways to make food and enjoy one of Canada’s new cultures.