Letter to the Prime Minister: Call for federal acknowledgement and apology for Canada’s role in the trafficking of enslaved Africans

Dear Prime Minister,

On behalf of the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC), which represents over three million workers across Canada, I am writing to you today about a matter of historical and moral importance.

On March 25, 2026, the United Nations General Assembly passed a resolution declaring the Trafficking of Enslaved Africans a crime against humanity. Canada abstained. At least four resolutions have been presented in the last six years regarding a federal apology for Canada’s role in chattel slavery.

Overwhelming historical evidence documenting the trafficking of enslaved Africans has demonstrated the gravity and enduring consequences of these systems. Africans were enslaved in colonial Canada for over 200 years. The Atlantic provinces, as well as Upper and Lower Canada (now Ontario and Quebec), built prosperity as a direct result of the trafficking of enslaved Africans.

International recognition is not merely symbolic; it preserves an accurate historical record and acknowledges both the global suffering caused by such a profound crime against humanity, and its deeply negative generational impacts.

The data on said impacts on Black communities here in Canada is clear. Per Statistics Canada:

• Black Canadians earn 75.6 cents per dollar compared to non-racialized workers.
• Black youth face unemployment rates more than double the national average.
• Black families present in Canada for three generations or more still experience poverty rates double those of non-racialized neighbours.

These outcomes are the measurable legacies of systems that have never been fully acknowledged. The CLC joins the Coalition of Black Trade Unionists (CBTU) and other members of Black communities across Canada in calling on the federal government to:

• Provide a full public explanation for Canada’s abstention from the March 25, 2026, UN resolution.
• Formally acknowledge Canada’s historical role in the Trafficking of Enslaved Africans.
• Issue a federal apology to Black Canadians.
• Work in genuine partnership with Black communities to address enduring inequalities.

These actions reinforce and affirm Canada’s stated commitments to human rights, both domestically and internationally, and provide a meaningful path to righting historical wrongs.

Sincerely,

Bea Bruske
President