Canada and Senegal share a brief common history in the fact that both nations were once part of the French colonial empire.

During that time period, many Black Canadians today trace their ancestry to West Africa as their ancestors were brought directly to Canada as slaves by the French West India Company or brought in from the United States by traders.

[1] During World War II, both nations had troops fight in the Battle of France and in the Italian Campaign.

[2] In 1966 Senegalese President Léopold Sédar Senghor paid a ten-day visit to Canada, starting on 19 September.

[2] In February 2020, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau traveled to Senegal and met with President Macky Sall.