The African Canadian Social Development Council was created in October 2002 following a Continental African Canadian community-wide engagement process in 2001 in which over 100 community organizations met to consider the establishment of a body that would:
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Enable the community to achieve a unified voice and presence in the Canadian public arena;
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Ensure that the needs of Continental African Canadians would be more specifically identified and addressed through proactive and collaborative action; and
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Support the capacity development of the community’s organizations and service-providing agencies, so that more and better services could be developed and delivered to improve the life circumstances of the community’s members.
After a review of various operational models, the community decided on a membership-based social development council as suitable for the pursuit of the community’s goals and interests.
The African Canadian community is rapidly growing. According to the 2001 census, there were close to 120,000 Continental African Canadians in the Toronto Census Metropolitan Area alone.
It is one of the youngest communities in Canada and Ontario, in terms of history of significant immigration. Most of the community’s members arrived here mainly after the late 1980’s. However, the most recent, comprehensive social-economic study shows that Continental African Canadians are the most impoverished community, when compared to all other communities. For example:
“The (2001) census reveals that 40 per cent of African ethno-racial group members lived below the poverty line in 2001, compared to about 30 per cent of the members of the Arab and East Asian groups, and 20 per cent of the Aboriginal, South Asian, East Asian, Caribbean, and South and Central American groups. By comparison, only 10 per cent of European group members were below the poverty line, and for some European groups the figure was only about five per cent.” (Ornstein Report, Institute of Social Research/York Univ. Media Release, March 9, 2006).
Despite the available settlement and integration programs, African Canadian immigrants continue to encounter serious settlement and adjustment challenges. In addition, African Canadians are hardly noticed in the public realm, including government and public sector appointments and decision-making processes.
It was to help address these challenges that the community established the Council. The Council aims to work with all stakeholders and partners to improve the welfare of African Canadians.