The federal government has begun to redress the head tax once applied to Chinese immigrants, handing out the first of the $20,000 cheques to be issued as compensation for those who paid the tax.

Vancouver MP and International Trade Minister David Emerson, along with Canadian Heritage Minister Beverley Oda presented the cheques in Vancouver on Friday afternoon.

"In spite of obstacles you persevered and helped build a better, stronger Canada for all of us," Oda said.

"And as the prime minister said in June, before we can move forward together as Canadians and achieve our full potential we believe we must first lay to rest the past wrong of the head tax."

Oda said it's important to learn from the mistakes of the past, make amends, and "begin to heal."

Prime Minister Stephen Harper issued a formal apology to Chinese Canadians on June 22 in the House of Commons for the head tax that was charged between 1885 and 1923.

On Oct. 11, speaking to a group of Chinese immigrants, Harper said it is important that the payments come as soon as possible, while some of the immigrants who paid the tax to enter Canada are still alive.

In the speech, Harper praised the Chinese community's contribution to Canada, including helping build the CP Railway.

He called the tax a "moral blemish on our country's soul" and said the Canada of today wouldn't be possible without their contribution.

"You are part of our family," Harper said.

Chinese Canadians have pushed for an official apology for decades.

The head tax was brought in after Canada passed the Chinese Immigration Act in 1885 -- levying a tax for every Chinese immigrant entering the country.

The prime minister at the time, John A. Macdonald, had brought in Chinese immigrants to help build the cross-Canada railway.

Once it was completed, however, the government moved to discourage Chinese immigration amid fears they were taking jobs from Canadians.

The tax was set at $50 when it was first introduced in 1885, but it rose to $500 in 1903 -- then the equivalent of two years' wages.

The head tax was eventually replaced by the Exclusion Act which came into effect in 1923. The Act - which remained in place until 1947 -- effectively barred immigration from China.

Harper's official apology came as a relief to some, but for others it fell short of the mark.

Vancouver's Community Care and Advancement Association president Johnny Fong, thanked Harper for the apology.

"Your apology at the House of Commons this year has brought tremendous relief to so many in the community,'' Fong told Harper.

The Association of Chinese Canadians for Equality, however, said Ottawa had been too slow to address the issue.

"He only addressed point-six per cent of the head tax families -- less than one per cent -- of the head tax families that have survivors," the association's Sid Tan told The Canadian Press.

"What he has done is rewarded the government for dragging its feet for over 20 years. Shame on them for that."

It is believed there are about 400 surviving head-tax payers or their widows from an estimated 81,000 immigrants who paid the tax.