central
Canada

(ON, QC)

Historic Black Communities, Settlements and Neighborhoods

ontario

Amherstburg, Buxton and North Buxton (Elgin Settlement), Dawn Settlement (near Dresden), Wilberforce Settlement (near Lucan), Dresden, Queen's Bush Settlement (Wellesley/Woolwich Townships), Oro Township Settlement, The Banwell Road Area Settlement (Tecumseh), Grey County Settlements including Negro Creek, Priceville, Owen Sound - specifically Mudtown area and along the Old Durham Road. Chatham, St. Catherines, Windsor (Sandwich), Colchester, Toronto (historically St. John's Ward / "The Ward" and more recently “Little Jamaica” neighborhoods).

quebec

Little Burgundy a.k.a. Saint-Antoine (Neighborhood in Montreal) see BLK: An Origin Story (Episode 104). Montréal-Nord, Saint-Michel, and Rosemont (Neighborhoods in Montreal). Missisquoi, Saint-Armand and Brome Counties in the Eastern Townships. Quebec City - earliest documented presence of people of African descent in Canada was in Quebec City (as well as Acadia, now the Maritimes, another colony of New France) 

Fun Fact:

According to the Statistics Canada 2021 Census, over 75% of Canada’s Black population live in Central Canada - the provinces of Ontario and Quebec.

  • The Cairn - Memorial to Owen Sound's Black Settlers (2025)

    Image used with the permission of Deanna Heron

  • Circulation Desk at the Maria A. Shchuka Branch of the Toronto Public Library in Little Jamaica (2025)

    Image used with the permission of Deanna Heron

Expanding Human Rights and Equality of Citizenship from central Canada

  • Thornton and Lucie Blackburn

  • Mary Ann Shadd Cary

  • The 1851 North American Convention of Colored Freemen 

  • Daniel G. Hill

  • Leonard Braithwaite

  • Jean Augustine

  • William Peyton Hubbard

  • Bromley Armstrong

  • Dudley Laws and the Black Action Defence Committee

  • Donald Willard Moore

  • The Sir George Williams Affair

  • Gloria Baylis

  • Fred Christie

  • Michaëlle Jean

  • Anne Cools

Elevating Canadian Sports and Culture from central Canada

Arts and Culture

André Alexis, John Alleyne, Trey Anthony, D'bi.Young Anitafrika, Salome Bey, Doudou Boicel, Jully Black, Dionne Brand, Ethel Bruneau, Kathryn Brown, Daniel Caesar, Austin Clarke, David Chariandy, Afua Cooper, Deborah Cox, Vera Cudjoe (Black Theatre Canada), R. Nathaniel Dett, Fefe Dobson, Charles Ellison, Drake (Aubrey Drake Graham), Denham Jolly (FLOW 93.5), Dan Hill, Lawrence Hill, Jennifer Holness, Nalo Hopkinson, Oliver Jones, Dany Laferrière, Tony Miller, Andrew Moodie, Charles Officer, Ngozi Paul, Patrick Parson, Oscar Peterson, Jackie Richardson, Carl Rose, Jackie Shane, Ola Skanks, Vivine Scarlett, Djanet Sears, Sudz Sutherland, Kaytranada (Louis Kevin Celestin), The Weeknd (Abel Tesfaye), Clement Virgo, Tonya Lee Williams 

Caribana (Toronto Caribbean Carnival)

sports

Donovan Bailey, RJ Barrett, Tajon Buchanan, Herb Carnegie and the "Black Aces Line", Alphonso Davies, Jonathan David, Andre De Grasse, Perdita Felicien, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Stewart Granger, Charmaine Hooper, Atiba Hutchinson, Angella Issajenko, Angela James, Ferguson Jenkins, Ben Johnson, Cyle Larin, Georges Laraque, Lennox Lewis, Jamaal Magliore, Victoria Mboko, Kia Nurse, Félix Auger-Aliassime, P.K. Subban, Bruny Surin, Tammy Sutton-Brown, Fred Thomas, Damian Warner, Andrew Wiggins.

The Black Panthers (Montreal baseball team), Chatham Coloured All-Stars (baseball team), The St. Catharines Orioles (hockey team), West Indies Football Club (Toronto soccer team).

Note: BLK, Ep. 102 features Lawrence Hill and Tony Miller and Ep. 104 features Oliver Jones, Charles Ellison, Ethel Bruneau and pays tribute to Doudou Boicel and Oscar Peterson