Diaspora · North America

Afro-Canadians

Country · Canada

From Black Loyalists in Nova Scotia to Haitian Montréal and Somali Toronto — and Caribana, the largest Caribbean festival in North America.

🇨🇦 Canada
The essentials

Afro-Canadians at a glance

Country
Canada
Main centres
Toronto · Montréal · Halifax · Ottawa · Calgary
Region
North America
How many
About 1.5 million, roughly 4% of the population
Languages
English · French · Haitian Creole · Somali
Dialling code
+1
The thread back

The African connection

Black Loyalists were promised land in Nova Scotia after the American Revolution; many received little and over a thousand left for Sierra Leone in 1792, founding Freetown. Africville, Halifax's Black community, was demolished by the city in the 1960s.

Plan around it

Key dates for Afro-Canadians

The dates this community marks — independence, emancipation, and the festivals that fill a hall wherever its people have settled.

Aug 1Emancipation DayRecognised nationally since 2021
FebruaryBlack History Month
Jul–AugCaribanaToronto Caribbean Carnival
One family

Diaspora meets diaspora

AfricAsia began with Africans in Asia. The same story runs through every entry in this section — people of African descent building a life a long way from where their ancestors started.

If you are from Afro-Canadians and you are anywhere in Asia — studying, working, playing, passing through — there are people here who will know what you are asking before you finish the question.

Every Asian country →
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The Afro-Canadians channel

Every entry in the diaspora section has its own free channel in the Hub, alongside the 108 country channels and the topic rooms.

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