On August 6, 1962, Jamaica gained its independence from Great Britain. The Jamaican community in Toronto organized a banquet and party for that date to  celebrate the historic occasion. In the following weeks, the Jamaican Canadian Association (JCA) was born, holding its inaugural meeting on September 23, 1962.

Over the past 50 years, the JCA has provided a variety of social, cultural and community services to Jamaicans in the Toronto area.

Library and Archives Canada (LAC) is proud to hold the historical records of the Jamaican Canadian Association, which document its history and development. LAC also holds the records of Jamaican-Canadian and civil rights advocate, Stanley Grizzle *, who began his career as a Sleeping Car Porter with the Canadian Pacific Railway, and retired as a Canadian citizenship judge.

You can explore these two fonds in LAC’s online Archives Search database to find out more about the history of Jamaicans in Canada. Although the contents of the fonds are not digitized, the Archives Search database will provide you with a  general overview of what they contain.

(*) Access to the Stanley G. Grizzle fonds is restricted. Therefore, researchers must first agree to sign the Application for Access form before they can  consult the records. By signing this form the researcher agrees to respect the Canadian Copyright Act and the right to privacy of living persons.

For information about the possibility of gaining access to these records, ask us a question.

Please remember that not all of our material is available online; however, it is possible to order archival material through our online Request for Retrieval of Documents Form. Archival material can be consulted on site at 395 Wellington Street, Ottawa.

Questions or comments? We would love to hear from you!