In September, 1928 the Steveston Buddhist Temple was officially organized and the first building was constructed on Second Avenue in Steveston. The temple was dissolved in early 1942 when the Japanese Canadians were forced to move from the West Coast because of World War II. The temple was reformed in March 1952, as many of the Japanese returned to Steveston after the war.
In the fall of 1952, the spiritual leader of Jodo Shinshu Buddhism, His Eminence Kosho Ohtani and Lady Yoshiko from the Mother Temple in Kyoto, Japan, paid their official visit to Steveston to commemorate the reformation of the Temple. During this visit, through the initiative of Lady Yoshiko Ohtani the Steveston Buddhist Temple’s Women’s Auxiliary was organized.