Businesses
Explore independent owned bookstores that specialize in Black literature.
- A Different BooklistToronto - West. Bathurst.
- Nile Valley BooksToronto - East. Gerrard.
- Knowledge BookstoreBrampton.
Explore restaurants in Toronto you can support right now.
- 876JamRock RestaurantExplore the flavourful blend of homemade dishes that 876JamRock Restaurant has to offer
- African Chop BarA great spot for authentic Ghanaian cuisine
- Afrobeat KitchenAfrobeat Kitchen started off as a pop-up for Nigerian food in Bloordale and opened its first independent restaurant in Parkdale.
- Afro Continental Bar & GrillAfro Continental Bar & Grill is a taste of home away from home. We take you on a delicious journey with our traditional Ghanaian dishes.
- Authentic JerkA traditional Jamaican Restaurant serving the best Jamaican food in Toronto.
- Bold Quality LemonaideOur roots are planted in the Caribbean by way of Grenada and Jamaica, where lemonade was the easiest drink to make and everyone’s favourite.
- BoukanBoukan restaurant offers an in-dining Haitian Caribbean fusion food experience, located in Greektown Toronto.
- Mangos RestaurantHigh quality food carribean food.
- Ralph's West Indian Delights Inc.The number one spot for authentic Jamaican/Caribbean food and baked goods in Etobicoke for over 30 years!
- SugarKane RestaurantCaribbean & Cajun cuisine with a twist! Serving delicious plates & LIVE music
- Tinnel's PattiesExperience The Rich Spices And Juicy Beef Of Our Jamaican Patties.
- Willy's Jerk RestaurantBringing authentic Jamaican flavours and dishes to the GTA since 1993.
To find more then 100 Black-owned restaurants in Toronto click here.
- Bonnick's West Indian GroceryWhere you can find all the Caribbean food staples under one roof.
- New Era Mart LtdVisit to find all the authentic Ghanaian foods you need.
- Toronto African SupermartAFROCAN is an African, Caribbean, Afro Latina and Tropical Food Supermarket with a wide range of popular traditional Black staples from the diaspora as well as Black beauty products.
- Simi African FoodsSIMI AFRICAN FOODS is a a manufacturer of brand name African groceries with physical grocery stores in Ontario. Our online shopping cart is designed to allow you order your favourite groceries and items and pick them up during store hours and on weekends as well.
- Desta MarketDesta Market carry fresh and quality meat, gluten free Injera and a number of Ethiopian spices which are imported directly from Ethiopia.
Organizations
- Black Legal Action CentreEstablished in 2017, the Black Legal Action Centre (BLAC) is an independent not-for-profit community legal clinic that combats individual and systemic anti-Black racism by providing free legal services, conducting research, developing public legal education materials, and engaging in test case litigation and law reform.
- Black Professionals in Tech NetworkThe Black Professionals in Tech Network (BPTN) is bridging the network gap between Black talent and career opportunities across North America.
- Black Youth and Family ServicesBlack Canadian health and community service providers that provide services to Black Canadian families in need of support.
- Caribbean African Canadian Social ServicesCAFCAN is a registered charitable organization whose primary focus is on building and strengthening the service framework for African Canadian children, youth and families.
- National Black Canadians SummitThe Foundation is launching the Power of Youth, a grant providing young people an opportunity to lead projects in their communities that address the demands presented in the Halifax Declaration.
- TAIBU Community Health CentreTAIBU Community Health Centre offers Black-identifying clients from throughout the Greater Toronto Area access to primary care, health promotion and disease prevention programs in a culturally affirming environment.
Neighbourhoods
Welcome to Little Jamaica
About Little Jamaica:
Along Eglinton Avenue W., Keele Street in the west to Marlee Avenue in the east is known as Little Jamaica. It is considered one of Toronto’s many ethnic enclaves. The recent naming of a city lane way as “Reggae Lane” is a testament to this. Little Jamaica, is home to the highest concentration of a diverse and dynamic range of Black and Caribbean owned businesses in the City of Toronto (The Black Business and Professional Association, 2023).
Additional resources and information about Toronto's Little Jamaica Neighbourhood:
- CBC Toronto: The Living History of Little JamaicaA video discussing the project, called "The Living History of Little Jamaica" developed by emerging historian, Victoria Atteh, who documents the neighbourhood's cultural roots through the voices of those who call it home.
- A Big Vision for Little Jamaica - Azure MagazineJay Pitter reveals a unified, equity-based approach for the creation of Toronto’s first ever cultural district.
- The Living History of Little JamaicaDiscover the roots of Toronto’s first Caribbean community, and the vibrant heritage of the people who call it home. Explore an interactive map enhanced with oral history audio clips from members of the Little Jamaica community.
- Local History & Genealogy Research Guide to Reggae Lane: Toronto's Jamaican Music Scene, 1960s to the PresentA research guide, developed by the Toronto Public Library, with resources on reggae in Toronto in the Rita Cox Black and Caribbean Heritage Collection and at the Toronto Reference Library Arts Department.
Frying Plantain: Stories by Set in the neighbourhood of "Little Jamaica," Frying Plantain follows a girl from elementary school to high school graduation as she navigates the tensions between mothers and daughters, second-generation immigrants experiencing first-generation cultural expectations, and Black identity in a predominantly white society.
Welcome to Blackhurst:
About Blackhurst
Located in the Annex neighbourhood at Bathurst and Bloor streets, the community has a rich history dating back to the 1860s. The area came to be after Deborah Brown, a former enslaved woman, escaped from the United States with her husband to what was then “Upper Canada,” via the Underground Railway, according to Destination Toronto. They settled at 691 Markham Street. In the 1950s, Jamaican and other Caribbean immigrants started to arrive in Toronto. They settled and opened shops and businesses, cementing “Blackhurst” as a cultural community for Afro-Caribbean people (Ankra, Feb 1, 2023).
Additional resources and information about Toronto's Blackhurst Neighbourhood
Welcome to Blackhurst: An iconic Toronto neighbourhood: Features the stories of 30 people who lived, owned businesses or continue to call the area their home. Some of the trailblazers featured in this iconic coffee table book includes: civil rights activist Harry Gairey Sr., dentist and art curator Dr. Kenneth Montague, and award-winning jazz artist Molly Johnson, to name a few.
- Blackhurst Cultural Centre: A non-profit hub and destination that provides opportunities to experience the rich culture and history of Canadians of African and Caribbean ancestry. Located in Toronto’s iconic Bathurst-Bloor neighbourhood, “the Annex”, BCC engages the public to learn about these proud stories using literature, music, drama, dance, and visual arts.
- Itah Sadu - Blackhurst: A lesson in Black Canadian Culture, Inspiration & History: An interview with Itah Sadu on Blackhurst and Black Canadian culture.
Toronto History
About St James Ward (now called The Ward):
Bound by College Street to the North, Queen Street to the South, University Avenue to the West and Yonge Street to the East, the Ward was where many newcomers from the mid 19th century to the mid 20th century first settled. It was a densely populated neighbourhood and at various points home to African-Canadians, refugees from the Irish Potato Famine, African-Americans who escaped slavery through the Underground Railroad, Russian and Eastern European Jews, Italian and Chinese migrants, and many more (The Ward Museum, 2023).
Additional resources and information about The Ward:
- The Ward MuseumThe Toronto Ward Museum is a community-engaged museum that facilitates the preservation and sharing of personal stories of migrants in Toronto’s history.
The Underground Railroad: Next Stop Toronto by The Underground Railroad: Next Stop, Toronto!, a richly illustrated book, examines the urban connection of the clandestine system of secret routes, safe houses and "conductors." Not only does it trace the story of the Underground Railroad itself and how people courageously made the trip north to Canada and freedom, but it also explores what happened to them after they arrived. And it does so using never-before-published information on the African-Canadian community of Toronto. Based entirely on new research carried out for the experiential theatre show "The Underground Railroad: Next Stop, Freedom!" at the Royal Ontario Museum, this volume offers new insights into the rich heritage of the Black people who made Toronto their home before the Civil War. It portrays life in the city during the nineteenth century in considerable detail. This exciting new book will be of interest to readers young and old who want to learn more about this unexplored chapter in Toronto's history.
The Ward Uncovered by In early 2015, a team of archaeologists began digging test trenches on a non-descript parking lot next to Toronto City Hall -- a site designated to become a major new court house. What they discovered was the rich buried history of an enclave that was part of The Ward -- that dense, poor, but vibrant 'arrival city' that took shape between the 1840s and the 1950s. Home to waves of immigrants and refugees -- Irish, African-Americans, Italians, eastern European Jews, and Chinese -- The Ward was stigmatized for decades by Toronto's politicians and residents, and eventually razed to make way for New City Hall. The archaeologists who excavated the lot, led by co-editor Holly Martelle, discovered almost half a million artifacts -- a spectacular collection of household items, tools, toys, shoes, musical instruments, bottles, industrial objects, food scraps, luxury items, and even a pre-contact Indigenous projectile point. Martelle's team also unearthed the foundations of a nineteenth-century Black church, a Russian synagogue, early-twentieth-century factories, cisterns, privies, wooden drains, and even row houses built by formerly enslaved African Americans. Following on the heels of the immensely popular The Ward: The Life and Loss of Toronto's First Immigrant Neighbourhood, which told the stories of some of the people who lived there, The Ward Uncovered digs up the tales of things, using these well-preserved artifacts to tell a different set of stories about life in this long-forgotten and much-maligned neighbourhood.
The Ward: The life and loss of Toronto's first immigrant neighbourhood by The story of the growth and destruction of Toronto''s first ''priority neighbourhood.'' From the 1840s until the Second World War, waves of newcomers who migrated to Toronto - Irish, Jewish, Italian, African American and Chinese, among others - landed in ''The Ward.'' Crammed with rundown housing and immigrant-owned businesses, this area, bordered by College and Queen, University and Yonge streets, was home to bootleggers, Chinese bachelors, workers from the nearby Eaton's garment factories and hard-working peddlers. But the City considered it a slum, and bulldozed the area in the late 1950s to make way for a new civic square. The Ward finally tells the diverse stories of this extraordinary and resilient neighbourhood through archival photos and contributions from a wide array of voices, including historians, politicians, architects, story-tellers, journalists and descendants of Ward residents. Their perspectives on playgrounds, tuberculosis, sex workers, newsies and even bathing bring The Ward to life and, in the process, raise important questions about how contemporary cities handle immigration, poverty and the geography of difference. The Ward shines a light on one of Toronto''s most historically significant and most forgotten neighbourhoods.
- How Did Toronto Greet the Underground Railroad? | The Agenda"The Underground Railroad: Next Stop, Toronto!" traces the story of the secret route of safe houses into Canada and offers new insights into the rich heritage of the Black people who made Toronto their home before the Civil War. For insights, we welcome the book's co-author Afua Cooper, Killam Research Chair at Dalhousie University.
Unsettling the Great White North : Black Canadian History by An exhaustive volume of leading scholarship in the field of Black Canadian history, Unsettling the Great White Northhighlights the diverse experiences of persons of African descent within the chronicles of Canada's past. The book considers histories and theoretical framings within the disciplines of history, sociology, law, and cultural and gender studies to chart the mechanisms of exclusion and marginalization in "multicultural" Canada and to situate Black Canadians as speakers and agents of their own lives. Working to interrupt the myth of benign whiteness that has been deeply implanted into the country's imagination, Unsettling the Great White Northuncovers new narratives of Black life in Canada.
Blacks in Canada, A History.The definitive history of the African-Canadian experience, this third edition includes a foreword by George Elliott Clarke, E.J. Pratt Professor of Canadian Literature at the University of Toronto. Clarke's contribution adds a necessary critical lens through which twenty-first-century readers should view Winks's research.- The Underground Railroad: Next Stop Toronto by The Underground Railroad: Next Stop, Toronto!, a richly illustrated book, examines the urban connection of the clandestine system of secret routes, safe houses and "conductors." Not only does it trace the story of the Underground Railroad itself and how people courageously made the trip north to Canada and freedom, but it also explores what happened to them after they arrived. And it does so using never-before-published information on the African-Canadian community of Toronto. Based entirely on new research carried out for the experiential theatre show "The Underground Railroad: Next Stop, Freedom!" at the Royal Ontario Museum, this volume offers new insights into the rich heritage of the Black people who made Toronto their home before the Civil War. It portrays life in the city during the nineteenth century in considerable detail. This exciting new book will be of interest to readers young and old who want to learn more about this unexplored chapter in Toronto's history.
The Promised Land: History and Historiography of the Black Experience in Chatham-Kent's Settlements and Beyond by Publication Date: 2018-07-11Using a cultural studies framework for their collective investigations, the authors trace physical and intellectual trajectories of Blackness that have radiated from southern Ontario to other parts of Canada, the United States, the Caribbean, and Africa. The result is a collection that represents the presence and diffusion of Blackness and inventively; challenges the grand narrative of history.
The Refugee Narratives of Fugitive Slaves in Canada (1856)A collection of over 100 testimonies of escaped slaves by white American abolitionist Benjamin Drew.
