Canada’s Black History Month is in February, and the Canadian government officially recognized this in 2008. This is all because newcomers and Black Canadians severely impacted Canada’s growth. Overall, this results from the previous racism and other challenges they must have faced. However, the non-racialized group of immigrants wouldn’t have gone through so much.
Canada’s Black History Month
The Canadian government wanted to honor the contributions made by these Black Canadians. As a result, it officially declared February as the month of Black History in the year 2008. Provinces have been honoring the Black History of these Canadians since the 1970s.
Additionally, Canada recently took initiatives and measures to balance its past flaws. These past issues were more or less related to slavery, racism, and marginalization in one form or the other.
A part of this initiative is also educating Canadians about the significant contributions made by Black Canadians toward the culture, communities, and economies.
The Black Canadian Population
The 2021 Census data depicts that around 1.4 million individuals are black, accounting for 4.3 percent of the total Canadian population. The previous Census data came out in 2016, and comparing the latest data from the previous one shows a rise of 350,000 individuals. Going by Canada’s trend, Statistics Canada states that the Canadian black population will be around 3 million by 2041.
23.7 percent of newcomers among Black immigrants arrived in Canada between 2016 and 2021. Additionally, the Canadian Black population comprised 300 ethnic and cultural origin people. For instance, Haitian, Canadian, Jamaican, and African. Africa gave rise to at least one-third of the Black immigrants’ population. The three African countries were the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Nigeria, and Ethiopia. Furthermore, per the Census, the Caribbean and Bermuda gave rise to around 21 percent of the Black immigrant population. However, most came from Jamaica and Haiti. Reportedly, about 249,000 Canadians had Jamaican ancestry.
Additionally, Canada’s majority of discriminated immigrants and Black immigrants prefer vast cities like Toronto. This city has a larger share of Black immigrants. The other cities include Ottawa and Montreal. Around 34,320 individuals shifted from Africa to Alberta. Most of them chose to settle in Calgary.
Black immigrants-youthful and educated
Canada could welcome a higher number of Black immigrants based on skills and education. The country prioritized these two factors immensely while inviting them. For instance, between 2016 and 2021, 46 percent of Black immigrants had acquired a Bachelor’s degree or an education level higher than this.
Apart from this, the Canadian Black population belongs to a younger age group, with a median age of 30. Moreover, this indicates that Black immigrants will more likely arrive in the country in their prime working age, between 25 and 54 years.
The citizenship and immigration Standing Committee held a meeting recently. In this meeting, the House of Commons suggested that Nigeria, Ghana, and other Francophone African nations must have access to the fast-track program, the Student Direct Stream.
This will act as an initiative for Black immigrants to settle in the country and also help promote bilingualism in terms of English and French outside Quebec.
Canada’s Black History
The history of Black immigrants in Canada isn’t entirely positive. Canada’s earlier history speaks volumes about its inherent slavery conditions. A majority of Black Canadians were subject to slavery in the early 1700s. Considering this dark phase in Canadian history, several memorials in the name of these earlier enslavers have been abolished. Besides this, several universities witnessed a change in their name as well.
Historically, during the American War of Independence between 1775 to 83, the British removed those from slavery who could fight the Americans. Hence, several people chose to do this and later settled in Nova Scotia (or Maritime provinces).
Additionally, the British empire in 1833 witnessed the abolition of slavery. Also, in the early 1800s, a massive number of Black immigrants moved to Canada. This was also because 30,000 black people wished to get rid of the shackles of slavery in the Southern United States. They used the secretive route of the Underground Railroad with several safe houses to avoid being captives.
Beginning in the 1900s, Canadian immigration policies also encouraged white Europeans and Americans. Most admissions took place under an officer and, based on their perceptions, more or less biased decisions. However, in 1962, new immigration rules surfaced to combat racial discrimination. According to these new rules, skill became the chief criterion for admissibility. This implied that nationality and race were no longer significant.
