Black Canadians

Black Canadians (French: Canadiens Noirs) are citizens of Canada who have ancestry from any of the black racial groups of Africa. The Canadian-born (41.0%) were the largest Black population group in Canada in 2021, followed by the African-born (32.6%) and the Caribbean-born (21.0%). A large share of Black Caribbean immigrants (42.5%) migrated to Canada from 1960 to 1990, while over half (54.8%) of Black immigrants from Africa came to Canada from 2011 to 2021. A historically significant population includes the descendants of African Americans, including fugitive slaves, Black Loyalists and refugees from the War of 1812. Their descendants primarily settled in Nova Scotia and Southern Ontario, where they formed distinctive identities such as Black Ontarians and Black Nova Scotians. Black Canadians have contributed to many areas of Canadian culture. Many of the first visible minorities to hold high public offices have been black, including Michaëlle Jean, Donald Oliver, Stanley G. Grizzle, Rosemary Brown, and Lincoln Alexander. Black Canadians form the third-largest visible minority group in Canada, after South Asian and Chinese Canadians.