Black Canadian is a term used to identify a Canadian of predominantly, or at least partial, African descent. Historically the majority of those in Canada of African descent have been black, therefore the term is not typically used to apply to non-black people. It is also becoming increasingly common to refer to a black Canadian as an African Canadian or Afro-Canadian, with the US term African American being sometimes used as well.

Many black Canadians, or blacks as they are sometimes known, are descendants of: persons who left the United States to escape from slavery during the 1800s, black Canadian slaves, and persons who immigrated to Canada from the West Indies and Africa during the 20th century.

According to the 2001 Census 662,215 Canadians identified themselves as black, approximately 2% of the entire Canadian population (Statistics Canada). The majority of black Canadians live in five Canadian cities. As of 2001, Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa, Vancouver and Halifax were home to approximately 78.4 percent of all black Canadians.

Although black Canadians have made great contributions to Canadian society, many still face significant challenges. According to the Ethnic Diversity Survey that was released in September 2003, almost half of the black Canadians surveyed said they have experienced some form of discrimination or unfair treatment in the past five years.

Notable black Canadians, past and present

• Lincoln Alexander, first black Member of Parliament in Canada and former Lieutenant Governor of Ontario
• Marie-Joseph Angélique, executed for setting fire to Montreal
• Donovan Bailey, first Canadian to win an Olympic gold medal in the 100m sprint (1996 Atlanta)
• Emery Barnes, first black speaker of the British Columbia legislature and CFL defensive end
• Dionne Brand, author
• Rosemary Brown, British Columbia legislator, and the first woman to run for the leadership of a political party in Canada (the federal New Democratic Party)
• Anson Carter, NHL star.
• Mary Anne Chambers, Ontario cabinet minister
• Austin Clarke, novelist (The Polished Hoe, Growing Up Stupid Under the Union Jack)
• Anne Cools, Canada's first black senator
• Deborah Cox, pop/R&B singer, holds the record for the longest-running #1 single ("Nobody's Supposed to be Here") in the history of Billboard magazine's R&B charts
• Alvin Curling, Ontario Member of Provincial Parliament and Speaker of the Legislature of Ontario, amassed the highest-ever vote total in a Canadian election
• Rita Deverell, broadcaster and journalist, founder of Vision TV
• George Dixon, first black world boxing champion in any weight class
• Robert Esmie, Olympic gold medalist 4x100 relay (1996 Atlanta)
• Perdita Felicien, Olympic athlete
• Glenroy Gilbert, Olympic gold medalist 4x100 relay (1996 Atlanta)
• William Hall, first Canadian and first black person to be awarded The Victoria Cross
• Josiah Henson, former slave, believed to be the inspiration for the novel "Uncle Tom's Cabin".
• Nalo Hopkinson, science fiction author
• Jarome Iginla, first black athlete to be named captain of an NHL team
• Michaelle Jean, broadcaster
• Ferguson Jenkins, former Major League Baseball star and member of the Baseball Hall of Fame.
• Marlene Jennings, first black woman from Quebec to be elected to Parliament
• Ben Johnson, Olympic sprinter disqualified in 1988 drug scandal
• Molly Johnson, rock and jazz vocalist
• Olivier Le Jeune, believed to have been the first slave purchased in what later became Quebec
• Daurene Lewis, first black woman mayor in North America
• Elijah McCoy, origin of "the real McCoy", inventor
• Howard McCurdy, parliamentarian
• Maestro, hip-hop musician, first Canadian rapper to have a Top 40 hit
• Willie O'Ree, first black hockey player in the National Hockey League
• Oscar Peterson, jazz pianist
• Djanet Sears, playwright (Adventures of a Black Girl in Search of God)
• Mary Ann Shadd, first female newspaper publisher
• Bruny Surin, Olympic gold medalist 4x100 relay (1996 Atlanta)
• Juanita Westmoreland-Traoré, first appointed black judge in the history of Quebec
• Portia White, singer
• William A. White, only black officer of the No. 2 Construction Battalion
• Ken Wiwa, journalist and author, and son of executed Nigerian political prisoner Ken Saro-Wiwa

Multiracial Canadians

Multiracial refers to people who are of mixed racial heritage.

There are a number of famous Canadians who are of mixed African/Caucasian or African/Asian descent. While some do not consider such people to be true black Canadians, others note that multiracial individuals often feel themselves to be outsiders whose sense of both belonging and not belonging to multiple cultures creates a unique perspective.

Author Lawrence Hill published a bestselling memoir of his experiences as a multiracial Canadian, Black Berry, Sweet Juice: On Being Black and White in Canada, in 2001.

• Malcolm Azania, writer and activist
• Fefe Dobson, rock singer
• Grant Fuhr, former NHL hockey star and member of the Hockey Hall of Fame
• Dan Hill, pop singer/songwriter
• Lawrence Hill, novelist and memoirist
• Amanda Marshall, pop singer/songwriter
• Juliette Powell, television host and the first black Miss Canada (1989)
• Jarome Iginla, NHL hockey star

Related topics

• African American
• List of Canadians
• Slavery in Canada
• Underground Railroad

References

• Ethnic Diversity Survey