Our Lives, Our Heritage

Imagine leaving all you know to come to a country where the majority of people are a different colour from you and have a different culture from yours. You aspire to create a better life for yourself and your family, but you are told you can’t work without “Canadian experience.” While some people accept and even welcome you, others refuse to sit next to you on the bus. Would you stay?

Some of the 38 seniors featured in Our Lives, Our Heritage were part of a small wave of Caribbean immigrants who arrived in Canada in the late 50s and 60s under the West Indian Domestic Scheme. Others were able to immigrate to Canada when a family member sponsored them. Some came as visitors, stayed, and faced a life in the shadows until they became legal immigrants. Yet no matter how they arrived, all chose to stay in Canada. Here, they survived, thrived, and helped to build the communities they joined. Their stories are an important piece of Canada’s social history and serve as a reminder that immigrants have and still do build and strengthen our country.