Do you want to know when or how your ancestor your first arrived in in Canada? If so, our website is a great place to begin your research. Here you will find a page dedicated to genealogical research on Black heritage. This page provides you with historical information, archival documents and published material from the Library and Archives Canada collection, as well as links to other websites and institutions.

After the American Revolution, the British gave passage to over 3,000 slaves and free Blacks who had remained loyal to the Crown. These Black loyalists joined the many other United Empire Loyalists in settlements across the Maritime Provinces of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Prince Edward Island. Other Black slaves joined their Loyalist slave owners when they migrated to Canada. Names of those Black Loyalists can be found in the Port Roseway Associates, Muster Book of Free Blacks, Settlement of Birchtown, 1784 and Ward Chipman, Muster Master’s Office (1777–1785) databases.