20th Century Black History in Mississauga – Part 2

Read Part 1 here.

February is Black History Month, and we will be sharing stories from our ongoing research. The theme for Black History Month in Canada for 2025 is “Black Legacy and Leadership: Celebrating Canadian History and Uplifting Future Generations.” For more information on Black History Month programs, please visit:

https://campaign.mississauga.ca/black-history-month/
https://www.canada.ca/en/canadian-heritage/campaigns/black-history-month.html
https://blackhistorysociety.ca/

In the late 1960s, Canada introduced a point system to set merit-based standards for individuals applying to immigrate to Canada. Under the Points System, each applicant was awarded points for age, education, ability to speak English or French, and demand for a particular applicant’s job skills. If an applicant was in good health and deemed of good character in addition to scoring enough points, they were granted admission, together with their spouse and dependent children. Those who did not score enough points were denied admission.

Although the Points System for immigration into Canada was largely responsible for increasing Caribbean immigration and allowing small community hubs to find a home in Mississauga, the Points System was not without flaws. Even under the Points System, immigration remained difficult for many African immigrants. It became clear that while the Points System was outwardly meant to be objective, there were ways in which it was also selective.  At its core, the system is still one in which Canada strictly determined who was worthy or unworthy of entering the country. English or French speaking, non-Black Entrepreneurs with funds to establish businesses were typically favoured. For example, during South Africa’s oppressive regime, White South Africans, who were historically more well-off, owned businesses, and spoke English at higher rates, were far more likely to be accepted into Canada than their Black counterparts. This statistic seems to follow locally as well with English remaining the predominant mother language in the Peel’s Black community.

Map of Immigration Origins for Toronto and area, 1971-1980 from Toronto Transforms

Further, in the 1970s, only three Canadian Immigration and Citizenship offices existed in the entire African continent, making if difficult for most to access Canadian immigration services. Of all the countries, Nigeria and Ghana tended to be favoured, though African immigration remained low overall. However, things changed in the late 1970s. The 1976 Immigration Act in Canada established a new “refugee class”, and the 1978 Immigration Act allowed Canadian citizens to sponsor close relatives. This resulted in a rise of African and Caribbean immigration. Many of these migrants came not because Canada was necessarily sought after, but rather because of instability, wars, famine and violence in their home countries. By the 1990s, 48% of Black immigrants to Canada were born in Africa.

Meanwhile, Mississauga was evolving rapidly. The decades of the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s are considered Mississauga’s largest period of growth and sprawl.  Development transitioned from “random, isolated neighborhoods to planned, comprehensive mini-cities within half a century”, and suburbs began to develop from what had largely been a rural township. Historic Mississauga’s population grew from 55,673 in 1951 to 574,000 in 1996. Between 1965-1970, historic Mississauga grew by approximately 11,000 individuals per year, but only two decades later, the city was expanding by 25,000 annually between 1991-1996.

Black Population in Peel, courtesy of Peel Region United Way, 2007

The most obvious impact on these increasing numbers is the role immigrants have played on the development and landscape of Mississauga. By 1996, 40% of Mississauga residents had been born outside the country. In fact, the immigrant population vastly outweighed even the total Mississauga population growth in the post-war period with the immigrant population growing with 148.4% as compared to the total population growing by only 24.3% between 1951-1961.  While Toronto remained a major hub for the Black community, likely due to economic incentives, the house market and car ownership expanded Toronto’s influence and allowed residents to come to Mississauga while still retaining their jobs in Toronto.

Today, Mississauga’s Black population is incredibly diverse. Black immigrants in Mississauga trace their roots to a variety of places across the globe such as Jamaica, Haiti, Somalia, Ghana, and Ethiopia, to name a few. They bring their own cultural, linguistic, culinary, spiritual and social customs. Black residents are involved in every facet of Mississauga life including politics, business, entertainment, arts, and more.

We will continue to explore this story in upcoming articles.

Also see Toronto: Transformations in A City and its Region by Edward Relph