In 1914, the steamship Komagata Maru arrived in Vancouver’s harbour carrying 376 passengers from British India—most of them Sikh men seeking work and a new life. Instead, they were met with hostility, legal battles, and Canada’s exclusionary immigration laws. For two months the ship was forced to anchor offshore, its passengers denied entry before being sent back to India—where violence and death awaited many. The Komagata Maru incident remains a stark reminder of how racism and fear shaped Canadian policy, and the human cost paid by those left stranded at sea.