Racial separate schools (Canada) facts for kids

Imagine a time when kids couldn't go to the same school just because of their race. That's what racial separate schools were. These schools existed in parts of Canada from the mid-1800s to the mid-1900s. They were created by specific laws, not by the main rules of the country (the Constitution).

Separate Schools for Indigenous Children

The Canadian government made a rule in 1894 that all First Nations children had to go to school. This rule led to the creation of residential schools. These schools often separated Indigenous children from their families and cultures.

Separate Schools in British Columbia

In 1914, the city council in Vancouver decided that children of Chinese background should not be allowed in public schools. This was a form of segregation.

Later, in July 1922, the school board in Victoria made a similar rule. They decided that Chinese students, who were already separated until grade 4, would now be kept separate all the way to grade 7. This made the Chinese community in Victoria very upset. They protested by having a year-long school strike, where students refused to go to school.

Separate Schools in New Brunswick

In the years 1842 and 1843, the province of New Brunswick passed laws that allowed for "Black schools." This was a way to keep Black students and white students in separate schools.

Separate Schools in Nova Scotia

Starting in 1836, Nova Scotia had laws that allowed separate schools for "Blacks or People of Colour." In 1870, the city of Halifax made a rule to keep students of African descent out of the regular public schools.

Black students in Halifax County were not allowed to attend public schools until the 1960s. Even as late as 1959, school buses would not pick up students from Black neighbourhoods. By 1960, there were still seven official Black school districts and three other schools just for Black students in Nova Scotia. The very last separate schools for Black students in Nova Scotia closed in 1983.

Separate Schools in Ontario

In 1850, in a part of Canada then called Upper Canada (which is now Ontario), laws were made to allow separate schools for the Black community. In 1886, Ontario made its law clearer. It said that a separate school could only be started if at least five Black families in the area asked for it.

Separate schools for Black students in Ontario closed at different times:

• In Chatham, they closed in 1891.
• In Sandwich, they closed in 1893.
• In Harrow, they closed in 1907.
• In Amherstburg, they closed in 1917.
• In North Colchester and Essex, they closed in 1965.

The laws in Ontario that allowed these separate schools for Black students were not removed until the mid-1960s. The very last segregated schools to close in Ontario were in Merlin, Ontario in 1965.

See also

• Racism in Canada