Black Canadians

Black Canadians is a designation used for people of Black African descent, who are citizens or permanent residents of Canada. The term specifically refers to Canadians with partial or direct Sub-Saharan African ancestry. The majority of Black Canadians are of Caribbean origin.

Black Canadians and other Canadians often draw a distinction between those of Afro-Caribbean ancestry and those of other African roots. The term African Canadian is sometimes used by Black Canadians who trace their heritage to the first slaves brought by British and French colonists to the mainland of North America, but many Blacks of Caribbean origin in Canada reject the term African Canadian as an elision of the uniquely Caribbean aspects of their heritage, and instead identify as Caribbean Canadian. Unlike in the United States where African American is the most widely accepted term, due to these tensions and controversies between the African and Caribbean communities the term "Black Canadian" is still accepted in the Canadian context.

Black Canadians have contributed to many areas of Canadian culture. Many of the first visible minorities to hold high public offices have been Black, including Michaëlle Jean, Donald Oliver, Stanley G. Grizzle, Rosemary Brown and Lincoln Alexander, in turn opening the door for other minorities. Black Canadians form the third largest visible minority group in Canada, after South Asian and Chinese people.