Ethnicity, Language and Immigration Thematic Series
Diversity of the Black population in Canada: An overview

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The Black population has contributed to Canada’s heritage since the arrival of Mathieu Da Costa (a navigator and interpreter for Pierre Du Gua de Mons and Samuel de Champlain), whose presence in Canada dates back to the early 1600s.

Black people in Canada have diverse backgrounds and experiences – while some can trace their roots in Canada for many generations, others have immigrated in recent decades. They have contributed in many ways to the growth, diversity and development of the country.

In conjunction with both the United Nations’ initiatives for the International Decade for People of African Descent (2015-2024), and Black History Month, this portrait aims to highlight the diversity of the Black population in terms of their ethnic and cultural origins, places of birth and languages.

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In 2016, close to 1.2 million people in Canada reported being Black

• In 20 years, the Black population has doubled in size, going from 573,860 persons in 1996 to 1,198,540 persons in 2016.
• Among the Black population, 12% have reported being both “White” and “Black” in the 2016 Census.
• The Black population now accounts for 3.5% of Canada’s total population and 15.6% of the population defined as a visible minority.
• According to the population projections from Statistics Canada^{Note 1}, the Black population would continue to increase and could represent between 5.0% and 5.6% of Canada’s population by 2036.
• Both international net migration (difference between immigration and emigration) and natural increase (difference between births and deaths) have contributed to the growth of the Black population in Canada.

The Black population is a young population…

• In 2016, the Black population was younger than the total population in Canada. The median age for the Black population was 29.6 years, while it was 40.7 years for the total population.
• Children under 15 years old represented 26.6% of the Black population, while they represented 16.9% of the total population. At the other end of the age spectrum, 7.3% of the Black population were aged 65 years and over, compared to 15.9% of the total population.
• Similar to the total population, there are slightly more Black women than Black men. In 2016, 51.6% of the Black population was comprised of women. This was similar to the proportion in the total Canadian population, where 50.8% of the population was comprised of women.

…with a history in Canada

Canada is the top place of birth of the Black population. In 2016, more than four in 10 Black people were born in Canada.

About half of the Black population is or has ever been a landed immigrant or permanent resident in Canada…

In 2016, about 623,195 Black people were immigrants, which included landed immigrants/permanent residents and Canadian citizens by naturalization^{Note 2}.

…who came at different points in time

…and through different gateways to Canada

• In the late 1960s, Canada’s immigration policy changed significantly. The discriminatory policy based on race or national origins was removed and the first point-based system focusing on criteria such as occupational skills, education and knowledge of official languages was introduced to select economic immigrants.
• Among those who still lived in Canada in 2016, the majority of the Black immigrants who landed in the 1980s and 1990s were sponsored by their family already living in the country.
  • Women outnumbered men among those who were admitted in these two decennials. Most of them came from Jamaica and Haiti. 
• By contrast, the largest share (40.3%) of Black newcomers (2011 to 2016) were admitted under the economic program. About three in 10 Black newcomers were refugees.
  • Top countries of birth of economic newcomers were: Nigeria, Haiti, Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire and Jamaica.
  • Top countries of birth of new refugees were: the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Eritrea, Haiti, Somalia and Ethiopia.
• About 44,285 Black people were non-permanent residents in Canada in 2016. They were living temporarily in Canada on a work or study permit or as refugee claimants (asylum seekers).

The source regions of immigration have changed over time

Long-established Black immigrants were mostly from the Caribbean, but recent immigrants were predominantly from Africa.

• According to the 2016 Census, more than half (56.7%) of the Black immigrants who landed before 1981 were born in Jamaica and Haiti.
• Black newcomers now come from about 125 different countries. The top countries of birth for Black immigrants admitted between 2011 and 2016 were Haiti, Nigeria, Jamaica, Cameroon and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

More than 170 different places of birth for the Black immigrants in Canada

Jamaica and Haiti are the two main countries of birth for Black immigrants in Canada.

Overall, more than 200 ethnic or cultural origins were reported by the Black population in Canada

• Ethnic origin refers to the ethnic or cultural origins of the respondent’s ancestors. An ancestor is usually more distant than a grandparent.
• Close to 30% of the Black population reported more than one ethnic origin in 2016.
• The 10 most frequently reported origins among the Black population were: Jamaican, African^{Note 3}, Haitian, Canadian, English, Somali, Nigerian, French, Ethiopian and Scottish.
• In 2016, five new African origins were published in the census products: Edo, Ewe, Malinké, Wolof and Djiboutian – a reflection of the most recent immigration waves.

The long established Black population in Canada is more likely to report several ethnic or cultural origins

• In 2016, 62.7% of the third generation or more Black population reported more than one origin, compared with 40.7% and 17.3% of the second and first Black generations, respectively. Various factors can explain why people report more than one origin, such as mixed marriages between people from different ethnic or cultural backgrounds or knowledge of family history.
• African and Caribbean origins are the most common ethnic origins reported by the first and second Black generations in Canada. Jamaican, African^{Note 3}, and Haitian are the three most common origins reported by the foreign-born Black population (first generation in Canada), while Jamaican, Canadian and Haitian were reported by the second generation (born in Canada, with at least one parent born abroad).
• The third generation or more have a longer history in the country. They have reported less often Caribbean and African origins. It includes: Canadian, Jamaican, African^{Note 3}, English, Irish, Scottish, French and First Nations (North American) origins. 

The mother tongues reported among the first generation Black population are much more diverse than the mother tongues among the third generation or more

• In 2016, when both single and multiple responses were considered, English was the mother tongue (defined as the language first learned at home in childhood and still understood) of 59.8% of the Black population, while French was the mother tongue of 19.6%. 
• Creole languages, Somali, Amharic and Niger-Congo languages, n.i.e.^{Note 4} were the other top mother tongues most frequently reported. Overall, more than 100 languages were reported as a mother tongue by the Black population in the country.

A higher percent of people within the Black population (28.0%) speak French at home compared to the total population (23.3%)

• The Black population is more likely to speak a language other than English or French at home (28.0% - when all categories are taken into consideration) than the total population (21.8%). In many cases, the Black population speaks English or French primarily at home, in addition to other languages on a regular basis.
• Both the Black population and the total population show similar percentages for those who speak English at home – around 74%.

The vast majority of the Black population live in large urban areas

• In 2016, 94.3% of Black people lived in Canada’s census metropolitan areas (CMAs), compared with 71.2% of the country’s total population.
• Toronto, Montréal, Ottawa-Gatineau, Edmonton and Calgary were each home to at least 50,000 people who reported being Black in 2016.
• Toronto has the largest Black population in the country, with 442,015 people or 36.9% of Canada’s Black population. The size of this population has increased in 15 years, but it now represents a smaller share of Canada’s Black population than in 2001 (46.9%).
• CMAs of Ottawa-Gatineau (Quebec part), Lethbridge and Moncton had the fastest growing Black population in the country between 1996 and 2016.
• Black people represented 7.5% of Toronto’s total population, the highest proportion among census metropolitan areas. Montréal and Ottawa-Gatineau had the second and third highest proportions.

Atlantic provinces: Longest history

• The majority of the Black population living in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick were born in Canada.

Quebec: French speaking

• The Black population in Quebec is predominately first generation living in the country, but some have also called Canada home for many generations.

Ontario: Largest Black population in Canada

• Close to half of Ontario’s Black population was born in Canada, which reflects in part, their long immigration history in this province.

The Prairie provinces: Fastest growing

• Black people in the Prairies are predominately first generation living in the country, but some have also called Canada home for many generations.

British Columbia: Few recent Black immigrants

• Many Black people in British Columbia have a long history in the country.

The Territories: Smallest Black population in Canada

• The first generation Black population makes up the majority of the total Black population in the Territories.

Conclusion

This portrait of Canada’s Black population from the Centre for Gender, Diversity and Inclusion Statistics is based mainly on 2016 Census data. It provides a demographic overview of the Black population, as well as key statistics related to their ethnic, cultural and linguistic diversity and a few geographical highlights. However, this portrait is not meant to be exhaustive.

Although it highlights the great diversity within the Black population, it does not present any result related to the several challenges and issues faced by many members of Black communities in Canada.

Challenges and issues such as those related to labour market integration, income inequalities, differential access to resources, health conditions, discrimination, school dropout, etc., may impact differently various groups within the Black population. Moreover, although the Black population generally has similar characteristics compared to the overall population, they often present different socio-economic outcomes. For example, the unemployment rate for the Black population is higher than for Canada’s total population.

Disaggregated 2016 Census data tables with selected demographic, cultural, labour market and income characteristics are available on Statistics Canada’s Census program website which can provide insights on similarities and differences within the Black population as well as between the Black population and other populations in Canada.

New analytical products will be released later which will describe in more detail the characteristics of Canada’s Black population, as well as their socio-economic outcomes.

Acknowledgments

This portrait was prepared by Hélène Maheux and Deniz Do, analysts of the Social and Aboriginal Statistics Division. Special thanks to Jean-Pierre Corbeil and Éric Caron Malenfant for their advice and guidance. The authors also wish to thank Émilie Lavoie, Alejandro Paez Silva, Julien Acaffou, Christine Bizier, Nathalie Villemure and Denis Theriault for their input and assistance in the verification and finalizing of this portrait. They would also like to thank Jennifer Arkell for the creation of the cover page for this portrait.

The authors are also grateful for the members of the Expert Working Group on Black Communities for their invaluable insight and comments for this project. Members include: Malinda S. Smith (professor, University of Alberta), Myrlande Pierre (researcher, Centre de recherche en immigration, ethnicité et citoyenneté de l’UQAM), Carl James (professor, York University), Scot Wortley (professor, University of Toronto), and Frantz Voltaire (director, Centre international de documentation et d’information haïtienne, caribéenne et afro-canadienne).

Notes