Political persecution and human rights violations led many Chileans to flee the country and seek asylum elsewhere. Other Latin American countries, Europe, the United States, Canada, and Australia began to receive a steady flow of refugees. For some time, there was a feeling among many of those who had fled that their exile would be brief and that they would soon return. Some had moved to neighbouring Latin American countries to wait for the change and subsequent recrossing of the border that separated them from home.

The first Chilean refugees arrived in Canada on 9 October 1973 - 17 of the 50 people who found refuge in the Canadian embassy in Santiago. By 26 November, the Canadian government had established a special program for Chileans and, over time, the numbers arriving increased at a steady pace. But administrative constraints reflected a continuing cold war, the hangover of anticommunist sentiment, and Canadian officials were reluctant to admit those considered politically left-wing in 1973.

Public pressure was influential in removing the initial barriers to the Chilean refugees. Some Canadian church groups had had a long-standing connection with Chileans before the coup. A Latin American working group had been established in 1965, and Chilean students in Toronto had received support and an opportunity to exchange views and experience. The Chile Project was established in early 1973, and, the day after the coup, the ad hoc committee on Chile began to lobby Canadian officials. A mix of Canadian and international groups - churches, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Chile-Canada solidarity committees, and public gatherings of all kinds - provided the positive pressure that turned the initial positive-but-reluctant Canadian response into a generous and timely opening of the door to people whose lives were endangered and who needed a home.

By the end of 1973, an estimated total of more than 10,000 people had been killed in Chile. By March 1974, approximately 60,000 people were arrested, and an estimated 200,000 people lost their jobs for political reasons. Interrogations, long periods of imprisonment without charge or contact with family, and physical and psychological torture became the chief methods of control. General Pinochet had declared a state of siege, claiming the need for the government to defend itself by whatever means necessary. Eventually the state of siege was replaced by a state of emergency that was meant to reflect the achievement of some stability and order, but the regime continued to defend itself with guns and tanks, and with laws that set aside the rule of law and civil rights.

Although a large percentage of Chilean refugees came to Canada with good education, skills, and professional training, many were unable to find work in their professions or trades. Others found work, but far below their professional qualifications; they experienced a severe loss of income and social status. In Chile, their sense of personal worth and status had been significantly influenced by the nature of their jobs. In Canada, the decline in status made adapting to their new home more difficult.