This page provides a list of resources about Black History in Canada. Like the rest of this guide, this section will be continually growing, to showcase online and physical resources we have access to through the BU Library. There is so much to learn about when it comes to Black History in Canada! See the selection of resources below.
The Black Battalion 1916-1920 by 
Black Canadians by 
The Canadian Encyclopedia - Black History
Black history refers to the stories, experiences, and accomplishments of people of African origin. Black history did not begin in recent times in Canada, but in ancient times in Africa. People connected by their common African history and ancestry have created Black history here. The African-Canadian population is made up of individuals from a range of places across the globe including the United States, South America, the Caribbean, Europe, Africa, and Canada.
Radio Canada International: Portraits of Black Canadians
Find out more about black Canadians who contributed to the building of Canada and who are making their mark every day.
The story of black immigration to Canada began 400 years ago with the arrival of the French at Port Royal. John Graves Simcoe, the Lieutenant-Governor of Upper Canada, signed the Act Against Slavery in 1793.
Many black people came to Canada by their own means. But the Underground Railroad, an informal network of people and places organized to help black people escaping slavery, was an important feature of immigration to Canada in the nineteenth century.
Radio Canada International has produced a series of vignettes spotlighting some of the black Canadians that have marked the country’s past, as well as those that are marking Canada’s present.
Listen to Strong and Free, a six-part podcast from Historica Canada, produced by Media Girlfriends. Because Black history is Canadian history.
Tracing stories from the earliest Black settlers to recently arrived Canadians, Strong and Free captures just a few of the crucial stories of Black Canadians thriving and contributing to building this country.
This is a place for diverse Black Canadians to tell their stories and the stories of their ancestors, both here in Canada and the Diaspora.
InTheBlack: Canada, was started by three Black Canadian women Nina Aning, Sonia Godding-Togobo, and Donna Paris who, through their work in media and education, have focused on the experience of being Black Canadian. Together they created two projects - The Web Chronicles (2015), and The Windsor Project (2017), which is now part of the permanent collection of the Art Gallery of Windsor. Though the collective is not currently active, they all continue the work of telling the stories of Black people.
The I Am Black History project is Donna's latest project in collaboration with her life partner and photographer David Ofori Zapparoli. What started out as a possible art installation, due to Covid-19, has been reinvented here.
Library and Archives Canada: Black History in Canada
Click on the link "Research your history" to access a guide on how to trace your Black ancestry in Canada. This website includes information on starting your research, places to look, search tips, and related sources.
This edition of Kayak, featuring guest co-editor Natasha Henry, shares some amazing stories and examples of the ways Black Canadians built and shaped this country. Not only will you get the same great stories as the original, we’ve added three new articles featuring people who have helped preserve and promote Black history, Black women’s organizations with long histories, and we will introduce you to Canadians with Afro-Indigenous heritage.