The Indian immigration to Canada is a twentieth century phenomenon, beginning about 1904–05 and reaching increased numbers by 1908 and then abruptly declining within the next year essentially because Canadian exclusionary policies barred immigration from India in 1908 through manipulative policies. The Indians were shovelled out of Canada as opposition to their entry acquired a virulent form. The Canadian labour, backed by the press, politicians, provincial and federal governments, and the citizenry in general, demanded exclusion of Indians from Canada. This happened because at the time racial homogeneity was a widely shared value among white Canadians and exclusion of people, belonging to non - white races, was accepted as something given. Before the arrival of Indians, Canadians had already identified Chinese and Japanese as the unwanted and it did not take them long to slot Indians in the same category. After 1908 Indian immigration to Canada remained closed for almost half a century till it resumed in 1960s. The paper concentrates on the early phase of Indian immigration to Canada and argues that despite virulent racism directed against them, the Indians managed to lay the foundations of their community at a time when Canada and India were British colonies.