Black Canadians in the Greater Toronto Area

[4] Most of the early residents were born in Toronto or other areas in Southwestern Ontario, and could trace their roots to migration from the trans-Atlantic slave trade and the Underground Railroad.

Having moved to the city with low levels of education and without many marketable skills, the Nova Scotian group faced high unemployment rates.

In 1967, leaders of the Ontario-born Black Canadians merged their celebration of Emancipation Day with traditions of Trinidad and Tobago Carnival to establish Caribana.

[12] Several neighbourhoods in Toronto, including Jane and Finch, Rexdale, Malvern, Weston, St. James Town, and Lawrence Heights, are popularly associated with Black Canadians, although all are much more racially diverse than is commonly believed.

[14] Media representation of Black people in Canada has increased significantly in recent years, with television series such as Drop the Beat, Lord Have Mercy!

[citation needed] The films of Clement Virgo, Sudz Sutherland and Charles Officer have been among the most prominent depictions of Black Canadians on the big screen.

In North America's four major professional sports leagues, several Black Canadians from the Toronto area have had successful careers, including Jamaal Magloire, Andrew Wiggins, P. K. Subban, and RJ Barrett.

In athletics, Ben Johnson and Donovan Bailey were the Toronto area's most prominent Black sprinters in recent decades; the current generation is led by Andre De Grasse.

[16] Some Black Canadian musicians have enjoyed mainstream worldwide appeal in various genres, such as Dan Hill, Glenn Lewis, Tamia, Deborah Cox, Melanie Fiona, Kardinal Offishall, The Weeknd and Tory Lanez.