The Ottawa Chinese Community Service Centre (OCCSC) was established in December 1975 and incorporated provincially on November 19, 1976, by a small group of community-minded local Chinese Canadians in response to the unmet social services and integration needs of many Chinese immigrants who were largely from the rural areas in the Guangdong Province. The formation of the Centre was made possible with a small grant from the former federal Department of Manpower and Immigration.