Keywords Ethnic Groups

There have been 3 major periods of West Indian immigration. From 1900 to 1960, Canada accepted about 21 500 West Indians, only 33% of whom were placed under the ethnic-origin heading of "black." The slight increase in West Indian immigration from 1945 to 1960 corresponds with postwar economic expansion and the West Indian Domestic Scheme (1955-60). The second period, from 1960 to 1971, corresponds with the "liberalization" of the Canadian Immigration Act. During this period Canada accepted about 64 000 West Indians.

The increased migration was part of an international movement in which Canada, in response to slow European emigration, began to depend increasingly on labour from the developing nations. The last period, which began in the early 1970s, coincided with the economic recession. Except for 1973 and 1974 (unusual years because of the Addressment of Status Program that helped many persons regularize their status), immigration from the West Indies has generally declined. West Indian immigration fell from 10% of total immigration in 1975 to 6% in 1979 and remained at 6% up to the present (1996). Before 1960, most immigrants came from the British colonies, especially from Barbados, Jamaica, Trinidad, and Bermuda. In the early 1990s, Jamaica provided 40% of the immigration, Trinidad 25% and Haiti 19%.

West Indians are concentrated overwhelmingly in the major urban centres of Québec and Ontario. Between 1973 and 1980, 96% of Haitian immigrants to Canada settled in Québec, and for the period of 1990-92, 88% of Haitians still chose Québec as their preferred destination. Of the English-speaking immigrants in the same period, 80% settled in Ontario, primarily in Toronto, but also in Kitchener, Waterloo and Windsor. Almost 11% from the same group settled in Montréal and 8.6% choose to establish themselves in the West, particularly in Alberta and BC. Today 86% of English-speaking immigrants settle in Ontario, while 6% choose Québec and 5% Alberta and BC.

Economic Life
From the early 1900s, West Indian immigrants have contributed to Canada's economic life by providing cheap labour. Between 1900 and 1945, they were employed primarily on farms or in mines and factories. They also worked as mechanics and domestics or as waiters, porters and clerks. In the 1960s, thousands of skilled workers came to fill a burgeoning job market, particularly in education, health services and office work. Between 1962 and 1966, almost 33% of immigrants sought work in the professional and technical categories. Because of the savings in labour-training costs and the productivity of the new arrivals, Canada was one of the beneficiaries of this developing world "brain drain."

In the late 1970s, there was a marked change in immigration eligibility categories (fewer independents, more sponsored applicants) and in labour qualifications (education and training). At the same time, employers continued to hire temporary workers in agriculture and in the services sector. West Indian immigrants have included a minority of family entrepreneurs and highly educated and qualified professionals who form a small, separate bourgeoisie, and a majority of taxi drivers, factory workers, building superintendents and domestics whose working conditions are unstable and difficult. Today, West Indian immigrants generally have a high level of skills, education and experience and are found in every occupational category.

Social and Cultural Life
The West Indian community is not homogeneous. Class distinctions cut across regional differences which stem as much from the identity of the European countries that divided up the West Indies in previous centuries as from each island's individual history. The principal cleavage, however, is linguistic. Haitians moved en masse to Québec (Montréal), whereas anglophone West Indians chose Ontario (Toronto). Where the 2 groups coexist, as in Montréal, they have relatively little contact with each other. Where the language is the same, other differences come into play, eg, religion and social class.

Caribana
Caribana is a celebration of the culture of the West Indians (Corel Professional Photos).

In the West Indian community the nuclear family is part of an extended family group spread over several major North American cities, and ties are often maintained with the country of origin. Aside from the family, the Protestant church plays an important role both in welcoming new arrivals and in helping persons in difficulty. Montréal's Haitians meet in masonic lodges, where they indulge in an original form of spirituality, some of which stems from Haiti's voodoo practices.

Jamaican immigrants introduced Rastafarianism to Canada. Originally (1933) a messianic movement in which Haile Selassie (who before he became emperor was called Ras Tafari) was believed to be the god of the blacks who comes to overthrow the white world (Babylon), Rastafarianism has since had considerable influence on the entire Jamaican society. Jamaicans also introduced "reggae" music, which originated in the ghettos of Kingston, Jamaica. A blend of African musical traditions and rhythm and blues, reggae was born during the 1960s and spread to England and America. Trinidadians introduced calypso and the carnival. Held each year at the beginning of the summer in Montréal and Toronto, the carnival has become a symbol of identity for the entire Canadian West Indian community.

Politics
The political battles of West Indians in Canada have been waged over improved working conditions, pervasive racism in employment, education and accommodation, the right to immigrate, and the right to participate in the political life of their mother country and of Canada. Anglophone West Indians have long fought through what is now the Order of Sleeping Car Porters, and have tried to affiliate this labour organization with the International Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters (AFC-CIO). Since the early 20th century, West Indians have fought on behalf of women's issues through the Coloured Women's Club. The National Congress of Black Women, a more recent organization, includes anglophone and francophone women from Canada, the West Indies and other countries.

To defend the interests of blacks and to fight racism at various levels, a number of organizations were established, uniting blacks of Canadian and West Indian origin. Among these was the Canadian League for the Advancement of Colored People, inspired by the large American organization. Between the 2 wars, the Universal Negro Improvement Association, founded by Marcus Garvey, a Jamaican and one of the great black American leaders, led a different black movement advocating a return to Africa and nonintegration. This association gave rise to a string of satellite organizations in Canada.

At the end of the 1960s, student and youth organizations mobilized against the existing school system. This movement was influenced by the Black Panther movement in the US, the national liberation struggles throughout the world and the incident at Sir George Williams University [ CONCORDIA U ], Montréal in 1968-69, when several black students, protesting against the racist grading system of a professor, attacked a computer. The Black United Front has been founded in Nova Scotia.

Haitian organizations in Québec have been active in the fight against the Duvalier regime in Haiti and the deportation of Haitians in 1974 and 1979, and have established information, emergency, literacy and other services. Haitians have also exerted enough pressure on the government that political refugee status is given more freely to Haitian and Latin American immigrants.

Author M. LABELLE, S. LAROSE, V. PICHÉ

Suggested Reading
K. Levitt, Canada-West Indies Economic Relations (1967) and The Canadian Family Tree (1979); R. Winks, The Blacks in Canada (1971); Micheline Labelle, Serge Larose and Victor Piche, "Politique d'immigration et immigration en provenance de la Caraibe anglophone au Canada et au Québec," Canadian Ethnic Studies X V2 (1983).

Links to Other Sites
Glossary: Multiculturalism
A glossary of terms relating to multiculturalism. From the website for the National Film Board of Canada.

The Metropolis Project
An international public policy research organization. Search this site for reports and data concerning immigration, settlement, and cultural diversity in Canadian urban centres.

Fact Sheet - Haiti
A concise compendium of facts about the nation of Haiti. From the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade.

Reconstructing Haiti
News and information about Canada's participation in the international effort to restore security and stability, and support long-term reform and reconstruction in Haiti. From Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada.