Planning for Pacific Mall began in the late 1980s amid the formation of Chinese immigrant communities in suburban Toronto and a flourishing of ethnic malls in Markham, Richmond Hill, and Scarborough. The mall was planned and constructed amid the so-called "Hong Kong Tide" of the 1980s and 1990s, which saw an increase in immigration to Canada by highly educated, skilled migrants from Hong Kong who were frequently wealthy entrepreneurs and investors. This immigration was influenced by a range of factors, notably the handover of Hong Kong, and new Canadian open-door immigration policies that recruited based on merit rather than national origin. The passage of the Investment Canada Act, which sought to direct business migrants and foreign capital into Canada, is also noted as a factor. Of additional note is the implementation of the Canadian Immigrant Investor Program (CANIIP), which granted landed immigrant status to individuals with least CAD$500,000 in wealth who agreed to invest $250,000 in Canadian business ventures. As a result of this immigration, Markham's ethnic Chinese population rose 15 percent in 1995, resulting in nearly 30 percent of Markham's population being of Chinese origin; by 1999, there would be a total of 58 Asian shopping malls in Markham, Richmond Hill, and Scarborough.