Black History Timeline

1689 Louis XIV Authorizes slavery in New France

1776 Black Loyalists Reach Nova Scotia Exchanging service in the American Revolution for freedom

CANADA

USA

Nova Scotia

1790 Imperial StatuTe from England Allows settlers to have slaves

1792 Black Loyalists leave Nova Scotia Return to Sierra Leone, Africa, due to discrimination

CANADA

Nova Scotia

ATLANTIC OCEAN AFRICA

1793 Upper Canada – Simcoe’s Anti-Slave Trade Bill Does not ban slavery but led to its prohibition

1796 The Maroons A group of former enslaved people from Jamaica came to Halifax and were instrumental in settling the area

The Maroons

1800 The Maroons Leave Maroons leave for Sierre Leone, Africa, due to neglect and discrimination

CANADA Maroon Exit Nova Scotia

ATLANTIC OCEAN AFRICA

1812 -1815 War of 1812 Black troops fight in the War of 1812

1812

1815 -1860 The Underground Railroad Tens of thousands of African Americans seek refuge from slavery in Canada using a series of safe houses and the help of anti-slavery Americans and Canadians

CANADA

USA

1833 British Parliament Abolishes Slavery Abolishment of slavery throughout the empire including Canada

British Parliament

1850 US Fugitive Slave Act Caused many more African Americans who had escaped slavery to flee to Canada

1851 James Douglas Appointed the first Black politician in Canada. He formed the Victoria Pioneer Rifles – an all-Black police force in British Columbia

1911 Anti-Black campaign in Canadian Prairies Follows after immigration of African Americans from Oklahoma

CANADA Alberta

Saskatchewan

Manitoba

USA

Oklahoma

1914 -1918 World War I Black Canadians served in WWI but were not allowed to fight

1914 - 1918

1923 Hogan’s Alley Black community established in Vancouver

MAIN STREET PARK LANE

DUNLEVY AVE

JACKSON AVE

1939-1945 World War II While first rejecting Black volunteers, Black soldiers are accepted into the army and fight for Canada

1939-1945

1944 Ontario passes Racial Discrimination Act Act prohibiting display of any symbol or sign that discriminates against an ethnic, racial or religious group

1946 Jackie Robinson By joining the Montreal Royals, Robinson breaks “the colour barrier” by becoming the first Black professional baseball player

1946 Viola Desmond Desmond (née Davis) arrested in Nova Scotia for sitting in the whites-only section of a movie theatre

1951 Bernie Custis First Black professional quarterback Bernie Custis plays for the Hamilton Tiger Cats

1958 Willie O’Ree O’Ree becomes the first Black professional hockey player

1962 Ellen Fairclough Immigration minister reforms Canadian immigration leading to reduced discrimination in Canadian immigration policy

1963 Leonard Braithwaite Braithwaite becomes the first Black person elected official in a provincial legislature (Ontario)

1968 Lincoln Alexander Alexander becomes the first person elected to the Canadian federal parliament and serves as the MP for Hamilton West, Ontario

1974 Oscar Peterson Canadian Jazz pianist Oscar Peterson wins the first of his eight Grammy Awards for music

1979 Lincoln Alexander Alexander becomes the first Black MP to serve in the federal cabinet

1985-1991 Lincoln Alexander Alexander becomes first Black Lieutenant-Governor in Ontario

1993 Jean Augustine Augustine is elected the first Black woman to serve in the federal Cabinet

1995 Donovan Bailey Oakville Ontario’s Donovan Bailey becomes the world’s fastest human by winning the 100m sprint at the world championship - he goes on to win an Olympic gold medal

2004 Michelle and Barack Obama Lawyer, activist and writer, Michelle LaVaughn Robinson Obama becomes the first African-American First Lady when her husband, Barack Hussein Obama, is elected the 44th U.S. President – the first Black leader of a North American country

2005 Michaelle Jean Born in Haiti but raised in Canada, Jean becomes the first Black person to serve as Governor-General of Canada

2010 Africville Apology The city of Halifax apologizes for the destruction in 1962 of Africville – a historic Black neighbourhood in the city

2010 Viola Desmond Pardoned Desmond (née Davis) pardoned for her arrest in the 1946 for sitting in a whites-only section of a movie theatre

2014 Lincoln Alexander Day A day is declared every January 21 across Canada in honour of Alexander

2018 New $10 Bill Canadian civil rights pioneer Viola Desmond (née Davis) appears on the new Canadian $10 bill

BANK OF CANADA BANQUE DU CANADA

GOUVERNEURE GOVERNOR

2020 Black Lives Matter BLM movement gains momentum in Canada to protest racial discrimination and social injustice

2022 Sarah Nurse Canadian female hockey player from Hamilton, Ontario sets Olympic Record for most points (18) and most assists (13) in a women’s tournament on route to a Gold Medal

2023 Masai Ujiri President and Vice Chair of the Toronto Raptors appointed Officer of the Order of Canada for his leadership in sport and as a Black rights activist

2024 Sarah Nurse Canadian female hockey player from Hamilton, Ontario drafted second by Toronto in the inaugural season of the PWHL