20th Century Black History in Mississauga – Part 1

February is Black History Month, and we will be sharing stories from our ongoing research. The theme for Black History Month in Canada for 2025 is “Black Legacy and Leadership: Celebrating Canadian History and Uplifting Future Generations.” For more information on Black History Month programs, please visit:

https://campaign.mississauga.ca/black-history-month/
https://www.canada.ca/en/canadian-heritage/campaigns/black-history-month.html
https://blackhistorysociety.ca/

In 2006, Heritage Mississauga undertook an arduous task trying to trace our earliest Black residents on the landscape of what we would now call Mississauga. This initial research and subsequent projects have been able to give us a robust understanding of Black history in historic Mississauga in the 19th century. However, we struggled to bring this history into the 20th century for a number of reasons. Firstly, when research first began on this topic two decades ago, we only had access to census records up until 1901. Now that time has passed, we have access to more census records and more primary source documentation such as newspapers through various online archival institutions. The access to these new resources has highlighted the need for us to continue our research as an essential means to connect to and better understand current populations and their experiences. As time continues to pass in the coming decades, we will continue to gain access to more and more informational resources, which will further expand our understanding.

Unlike other parts of Canada that have had established Black communities for hundreds of years, immigration of Black people into historic Mississauga is fairly recent, namely following the abolition of slavery in Upper Canada on August 1, 1834. At this point, the migration of African Americans through the Underground Railroad began in earnest with the largest immigration wave being between 1850 and 1860 with an estimated 20,000 African Americans settling in Canada.  Despite abolition, systemic employment, housing and service discrimination continued here in Canada. Many restaurants, hotels, and theatres refused service to Black Canadians. Here in historic Mississauga, there was no African Methodist Church, no predominantly black schools or established neighbourhoods, which would all point to a Black community. Most of those who immigrated here in the 19th century did not stay long, treating historic Mississauga as little more than a stopping point in a larger journey to freedom, safety and security. By the late 19th century, most had left the area for good.

Tea party at the Don Avalon Centre celebrating one year in Canada for a group of recent immigrants, 1959, courtesy of Heritage Toronto

In 1910, new immigration legislation was passed which allowed the government to prohibit and even deport immigrants who were, “unsuited to the climate or requirements of Canada”. The act was a thinly veiled attempt at prohibiting immigration based on race, and quite boldly gave the government the powers to do just that. While this period affected several ethnic groups including Chinese Canadians, there was no question that Black Canadians were one of the main groups impacted. For example, in 1911, Prime Minister Wilfrid Laurier approved Order-in-Council P.C. 1324 which proposed banning Black migrants entering Canada. The order justified its stance by stating that, “the Negro race … is deemed unsuitable to the climate and requirements of Canada.”  While the order never became law, the wording made it crystal clear that Black immigrants were not wanted by the Canadian government. In 1919, the Immigration law allowed Cabinet to bar immigrants of any race, “owing to their peculiar customs, habits, modes of life and methods of holding property and because of their probable inability to become readily assimilated.” While the wording changed slightly over time, the discriminatory powers wielded by the Canadian government remained in effect from 1910 to 1978.

The result of these discriminatory immigration tactics was that few Black immigrants were able to enter Canada in the early 20th century. The effects of this era are dramatically felt in historic Mississauga. If the early Black population in historic Mississauga was small before 1910, the Black population in the 1911, 1921 and 1931 censuses was nearly non-existent. While it is true that the population between censuses was not effectively recorded, likely resulting in gaps in our knowledge, the drastic decline from the 1851-1891 census years are startling. For example, one of the only Black residents on the 1911 census was a Mitchell Clay who was a domestic worker in the household of James and Sarah Jane Robinson. Mitchell Clay had immigrated from the United States in 1901, prior to the 1910 ruling. In the 1921 census, one of the only Black families observed is the Vignale family. Originally from Trinidad, the Vignale family were cocoa planters who immigrated to Canada in 1913, eventually settling in Lakeview. Mitchell Clay and the Vignale family were a few of the exceptions to this period of declining Black residents in historic Mississauga. This observation is not unexpected as those who did come to the country often settled where there was available work to be had in larger cities such as Toronto, Montreal, Winnipeg and Vancouver. Of course, Toronto’s Black community could have moved to historic Mississauga, but the township did not have the same economic opportunities or the same pull factors that larger cities did.

Mitchell Clay on 1911 Canadian Census, Peel District, Toronto Township, Page 14

How, then, did this immigration situation change so drastically with Peel Region reporting that over half of all Black residents being born outside Canada by the 2000s? The Second World War was a major factor in changing immigration regulations. Canada was in the midst of an economic boom and immigrants from the Caribbean (particularly the British West-Indies) came directly to Canada or via other Western nations in greater numbers than ever before. Reasons for leaving were multi-fold, but typically fell into either push or pull factors. Political instability and unemployment at home would be considered push factors from one’s mother country, while economic opportunities abroad and health care may be examples of pull factors from another, typically more developed country. Canada was booming economically, and immigration policies were beginning to change, allowing for an environment of increased immigration.

One of the most successful immigration programs in Canada was the West Indian Domestic Scheme, which was in place from 1955-1967, and encouraged women from Jamaica and Barbados to come to Canada as domestic workers. However, the subjugation of these women into low-paying, service or domestic positions reflects lawmaker’s inherent bias that Black women were suited for only certain types of employment. Relics of enslaved labour practices kept people in cycles of poverty for generations. Indeed, these women faced discrimination under the system, leading to its cancellation in January of 1968. Nevertheless, it was an opportunity for Black Caribbean women to come to Canada which had not previously been possible for them. Prior to 1961, 72% of Black immigrants to Canada came from the Caribbean (with the majority from Jamaica), as well as from Central and South America.

From 1960 to 1971, the Canadian Immigration Act went through a process of “liberalization” to a certain degree. For example, in 1962, the Immigration Act was amended to place greater emphasis on education and employable skills rather than race. During this period, approximately 64,000 Caribbean nationals immigrated to Canada. When the Points Immigration System was introduced in 1967, it was aimed at ending once and for all much of the openly discriminatory immigration practices of the past. It assessed potential immigrants in a points-based system, which ranked people by age, education, skills, employment prospects and linguistic skills, not race. It had the effect of opening immigration to Caribbean and African migrants in the first real way. The practice of utilizing labour and people from developing countries was a general immigration trend in the 1970s. By 1973, Caribbean immigrants made up the largest group of new Canadians. Caribbean influence is a recognizable facet of Mississauga’s cultural landscape. As of 2007, the Region of Peel reported that of those Black residents born outside Canada, the vast majority where born in the Caribbean, largely immigrating after 1980.

We will continue to explore this story in upcoming articles.