Our History
Black Canadian History
The rich and proud legacy of the diverse Black Canadian Population stems from the Underground Railroad from the USA, The Maroons from Jamaica in 1765, Along with multiple wave of migration from Africa, The Caribbean, Europe, Australasia and from the Americas
Black People have helped to establish Canada as a Nation from the earliest settlers who arrived in this Country prior to all European and Asian migrants. According to Western History, the first named Black person to set foot on Canadian soil was Mathieu Da Costa, a free man who was hired as a First Nations, French, English and Portuguese translator by Explorer Samuel de Champlain’s for his 1605 excursion. The first shipload of African slaves to reach British North America landed at Jamestown in 1619 long before Canada was established as a Country in 1867.
Since Mathieu Da Costa was born on March 1st, 1589 in Africa and was able to translate between French, Portuguese and the Aboriginal First Nations languages, it is evident that he had visited The North American Continent in the late 1500s prior to the Europeans arriving who then hired him for his Translation services. He lived among Canada’s First Nations and Aboriginal People for some time to have understood their Languages, Customs and way of life.
Canadian Black Population
According to Statistics Canada in the year 2021, the Black Canadian population was listed at 1.5 million approximately 4.3% of the total Canadian population. According to Census Canada this population is expected to exceed 2million people by the year 2030.
Overall, more than 200 ethnic or cultural origins were reported by the Black population in Canada. The long-established Black population in Canada is more likely to report several ethnic or cultural origins. The mother tongues reported among the first-generation Black population are much more diverse than the mother tongues among the third generation or more. A higher percent of people within the Black population (28.0%) speak French at home compared to the total population (23.3%). Most of the Black population live in large urban areas:
In 2016, 94.3% of Black people lived in Canada’s census metropolitan areas (CMAs), compared with 71.2% of the country’s total population.
Toronto, Montréal, Ottawa-Gatineau, Edmonton and Calgary were each home to at least 50,000 people who reported being Black in 2016.
Toronto has the largest Black population in the country, with 442,015 people or 36.9% of Canada’s Black population. The size of this population has increased in 15 years, but it now represents a smaller share of Canada’s Black population than in 2001 (46.9%).
CMAs of Ottawa-Gatineau (Quebec part), Lethbridge and Moncton had the fastest growing Black population in the country between 1996 and 2016.
Black people represented 7.5% of Toronto’s total population, the highest proportion among census metropolitan areas. Montréal and Ottawa-Gatineau had the second and third highest proportions.
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