Segregated Schools in Canada? Yes

Yes, where there were Blacks, there was racism. Ontario and Nova Scotia were the only two provinces that legislated Black segregated schools in Canada.

Nova Scotia

While Blacks had lived in Nova Scotia as far back as the 1600s, and settlements like Louisbourg on the east coast, brought enslaved Blacks to the British and French colonies. During the American Revolution, Britain often promised freedom in exchange for service. After serving under Britain in the American Revolution, Britain provided transportation for about 3,500 Black Loyalists to Nova Scotia in the 1780s. While Blacks received freedom, many received smaller and less fertile land grants or no land at all. Some exchanged slavery for a system of indentured servitude.

Location of Halifax, Nova Scotia https://www.britannica.com/place/Halifax-Nova-Scotia

Due to racism and harsh conditions, many subsequently left Halifax for Sierra Leone. Many Blacks in Nova Scotia lived in Africville, on the outskirts of Halifax. It had its own (Blacks-only) stores, a school, a post office, and Seaview Baptist Church. The City of Halifax refused to provide clean water, sewage, garbage disposal, or other city services. They also built an infectious disease hospital, a prison, and a dump beside Africville. In the 1960s, Halifax decided to demolish all buildings in Africville, evict and relocate Africville residents. Blacks lost their community and the support of each other.

In 2010, Halifax made a public apology [1] for razing Africville and agreed to pay for building a replica of the destroyed Baptist church, which now houses the Africville Museum. The year 2010 was also the year that the Government of Nova Scotia apologized to Viola Desmond. Born and raised in Halifax, Viola Desmond [2] had refused to leave her main-floor seat in a Nova Scotia movie theatre in 1946.

Seaview Baptist Church operated from 1849 until it was demolished in 1969 when Halifax razed Africville. The church was rebuilt in 2011. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Halifax_NS-01334_-_Seaview_African_United_Baptist_Church_(28442814894).jpg

St Catharines, Ontario

St Catharines, Ontario, is across the Niagara River from Niagara Falls and Buffalo https://www.niagarahomes.com/blog/moving-to-st-catharines-your-ultimate-guide-to-life-in-the-garden-city/

St. Catharines is near Niagara Falls and Buffalo. Harriet Tubman escaped slavery in 1849 and moved to St Catharines, Ontario, in 1851 [3]. This was her base for Underground Railroad operations until 1862. As a conductor, she rescued approximately 70 enslaved people in 13 missions. Tubman was an abolitionist, humanitarian, social activist, and suffragette. She attended Salem Chapel, the British Methodist Episcopal Church on Geneva Street in St. Catharines. During the American Civil War (1861-65), Tubman was a scout for the Union army.

Harriet Tubman, nurse, spy, scout. https://www.flickr.com/photos/nationalparkservice/35403023243

Harriet Tubman escaped slavery in 1849 and moved to St Catharines, Ontario, in 1851. This was her base for Underground Railroad operations until 1862. As a conductor, she rescued approximately 70 enslaved people in 13 missions. Tubman was an abolitionist, humanitarian, social activist, and suffragette. She attended Salem Chapel, the British Methodist Episcopal Church on Geneva Street in St. Catharines. During the American Civil War (1861-65), Tubman was a scout for the Union army.

In the mid-1800s, St. Catharines established racially segregated schools. The Common School Act of 1850 permitted the creation of separate schools for Protestant, Roman Catholic, and Black families. Black schools were often underfunded and substandard. Local Black families protested these policies. However, when they brought forward the 1871 Hutchinson vs. St. Catharines legal challenge, the court ruled that the law currently gave the school board the legal authority to operate segregated schools [4].

Black freedom seekers highly valued education, and when the system did not supply them with adequate teachers or books, some of them paid for a private school for the Black community in St. Catharines.

Essex County

Using the Common School Act of 1850, local municipalities, school boards and courts prevented Blacks from attending schools dominated by Whites. In other cases, Black students could be required to sit on separate benches. Education Trustees warned teachers they could be docked pay or fired if they integrated their classrooms.

Essex County is just across the Detroit River and holds Harrow, the site of the last segregated school. Chatham-Kent County is just east of Essex and is the home of Dresden and Uncle Tom's Cabin. https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Map-of-Counties-of-Essex-and-Kent-Ontario-The-dotted-areas-indicate-the-chief-centers_fig1_258041225

The majority of segregated schools were located in Essex County, at the Detroit-Windsor border and stretching through to Point Pelee. Kingsville and Leamington had laws requiring Blacks to be off the streets by sundown. Harrow had segregated restaurants and a Whites-only movie theatre. While some schools started as integrated, by 1918, all Whites had moved their students to other schools. The Black schools regularly faced discrimination and underfunding, no drinking water, poor lighting, heating, and toilet facilities. One school, S.S. #11 Colchester South, located near Harrow, was in especially poor condition [5].

In 1954, the US Supreme Court decided in Brown v. Board of Education that segregation in public schools was unconstitutional. However, segregation went unaddressed in small-town Ontario. Finally, in 1964, Canada's first Black provincial member of parliament initiated a discussion that resulted in the removal of segregated schools in the Separate Schools Act. That fall, 30 families near Harrow threatened to remove their children from the newly-integrating schools. After further negotiations, they decided on a gradual move. By September 1965, S.S. #11 Colchester South, located near Harrow, was closed. It was the last segregated school in Ontario.

1948 class at S.S. #11 segregated school in Harrow, Ontario, Canada

Chatham-Kent County

Just east of Essex County lies Chatham-Kent, the final destination for many freedom seekers who arrived in Canada via the Underground Railroad in the mid 1800s. The British Empire had abolished slavery in all of its colonies, including Canada, in 1833. Canada became a nation in 1867. An estimated 30,000 Blacks came to Canada [6] as refugees from slavery in the United States.

Josiah Henson became known as Uncle Tom. Public Domain Image: https://www.lookandlearn.com/history-images/YSP000032/Josiah-Henson

Josiah Henson, known to many as the inspiration for Harriet Beecher Stowe's 1852 novel "Uncle Tom's Cabin", escaped to Canada in 1830. As a conductor on the Railroad, he rescued 118 enslaved people. But that was just the beginning.

Henson founded the Dawn Settlement near Dresden, in Kent County [7], where many freedom seekers came to live. He lived in freedom in Kent County for over 50 years, working as an abolitionist, author, and minister. He was an educator and co-founder of the British American Institute. His home is now the Josiah Henson Museum of African-Canadian History.

By the 1940s, Dresden was bitterly divided along racial lines [8]. There were segregated restaurants and barbershops, pool halls, and churches. Blacks were not hired for anything but manual labour. In 1949, locals voted in a municipal referendum against a bylaw to ban discrimination. The Jewish Labour Committee publicized several events where Blacks were refused service, and eventually, media pressure on politicians was able to challenge the prejudices.

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Elaine Ricker Kelly Author is empowering women with historical fiction about women in the Bible and early church and Christian blogs about women in leadership, church history and doctrine. Her historical fiction features a biracial character who speaks out against segregation. Her books include:

• Forgotten Followers from Broken to Bold, Book 1, A Novel (2022)

• The Sword: A Fun Way to Engage in Healthy Debate on What the Bible Says About a Woman's Role (2023)

• Because She Was Called from Broken to Bold, Book 2, A Novel of the Early Church (2024)

• Walk with Mara on Her Healing Journey: 21 Steps to Emotional Resilience (2024)

• Finding Her Voice from Broken to Bold, Book 3, Acts of Early Female Apostles: A Novel (2025)

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1. https://humanrights.ca/story/story-africville

2. https://www.elainekelly.ca/post/how-is-canada-s-black-history-record

3. https://www.tvo.org/article/why-harriet-tubman-made-st-catharines-her-home

4. https://stcatharinesmuseumblog.com/2022/02/27/bhm-series-part-four-prioritizing-education/

5. https://www.tvo.org/article/the-story-of-ontarios-last-segregated-black-school

6. https://www.heritagetrust.on.ca/properties/josiah-henson-museum

7. https://www.heritagetrust.on.ca/properties/josiah-henson-museum/reclaiming-josiah-henson

8. https://historyofrights.ca/encyclopaedia/main-events/dresden-racial-discrimination/