The municipal government in the west coast Canadian city of Vancouver has delivered a formal apology to the Chinese community for past discriminatory policies against the city's Chinese community, reports Chinanews.com.

Mayor Gregor Robertson read the apology in English on Sunday afternoon as part of a ceremony held in the city's Chinatown area. Former Vancouver City councilors Maggie Ip and Bill Yee read the apology in Cantonese and the Sze Yup dialect, which are both widely spoken among Vancouver's Chinese residents.

Representatives of Vancouver's Chinese community also spoke about the hardships their ancestors went through, while also highlighting Chinese people's contribution to the development of Canada.

To try to stem a perceived mass influx of Chinese migrants at the time, the city of Vancouver introduced a number of discriminatory policies. They included banning Chinese residents from voting in local elections between 1886 and 1948. They were also not able to hold public office. A Chinese "head tax" was also instituted at the time, among with other discriminatory policies.

In a bid to right the past wrongs, Vancouver city council launched a historical review of the policies in 2014. This then led to the city council finally approving Sunday's formal apology late last year.

Vancouver's move follows a move by the federal government of Canada, which has also issued a formally apology to Chinese-Canadians for past discrimination.

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