Black History Month 2024... by the numbers: Sociodemographic diversity

In 2021, Canada's Black population reached 1.5 million, accounting for 4.3% of the total population and 16.1% of the racialized population¹.
The Black population continues to grow and is expected to reach more than 3.0 million by 2041, according to population projections from Statistics Canada.
In 2021, over 40.9% of the Black population was Canadian-born—this includes individuals with multi-generational Canadian roots as well as children of immigrants.
Among the Black population in Canada that was born outside of the country, 55.3% was born in Africa—Nigeria (12%), Ethiopia (4.7%), and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (4.1%) were the leading places of birth.
Additionally, 35.6% of the Black population born outside Canada was born in the Caribbean and Bermuda, primarily in Jamaica (14.9%) and Haiti (12.1%).
The Black population in Canada identified with more than 300 ethnic or cultural origins in the 2021 Census.
Diverse religious affiliations were reported by the Black population in 2021—25.9% reported being Christian without further indication of a specific denomination, 18.1% Catholicism, 11.9% Islam, 8.0% Pentecostalism, and 18.0% indicated they had no religious affiliation.
Over the 2015-to-2018 period, 2.1% of the Black population aged 15 years and older reported being lesbian, gay, or bisexual (LGB), with 0.6% identifying as gay or lesbian.
Among Canadians aged 15 years and older with a disability, 2.2% are members of the Black population. In 2017, this represented about 136,600 Black individuals with disabilities, accounting for 15.8% of the Black population in this age group.

Definition

¹ The concept of "racialized group" is derived directly from the concept of "visible minority." The Employment Equity Act defines visible minorities as "persons, other than Aboriginal peoples, who are non-Caucasian in race or non-white in colour."