As we mark Emancipation Day on August 1, we commemorate the abolition of chattel slavery in the British Empire and reaffirm our commitment to justice for Black people in Canada.
The Slavery Abolition Act of 1833 came into force on this day in 1834, legally freeing enslaved people across British colonies, including what is now Canada. Yet the fact that our modern-day Parliament only recognized August 1 as National Emancipation Day in 2021 underscores a long-standing reluctance to confront the history of enslavement in this country.
Our nation was deeply complicit in the trafficking and enslavement of Africans. That legacy is not confined to the past. It persists today in systemic racism, entrenched wage gaps, over-policing, and deep-seated inequities that disproportionately affect Black communities. True emancipation requires us to acknowledge this history and dismantle the structures that sustain its consequences.
The struggle to eradicate these deep-rooted injustices irrevocably links the fight for emancipation and the fight for workers’ rights. Trade unionism is founded in resistance and demands for economic justice, political space and recognition of human dignity, all of which speak to the goals and values of Emancipation Day.
Our work to tackle anti-Black racism in and outside our union is integral to our commitment to equity and inclusion. We value and celebrate the contributions that Black people have made to our country, our province and union, even as we acknowledge the progress we still need to make to ensure Black people have the opportunities and recognition they deserve in our union and society.
The persistence of racism and systemic discrimination is evident in outrages like the AI programs used in Ontario’s jails putting disproportionate numbers of Black prisoners in higher-security facilities; and decades of systemic anti-Black racism and discriminatory hiring practices in country’s public service, now the subject of a Black class action suit supported by the Public Service Alliance of Canada.
CUPE Ontario will continue to stand with Black workers by promoting the work of our Racial Justice Committee. That work includes taking part in the joyful celebration of resistance that is Carnival; building on the progress achieved by our union’s Anti-Racism Organizational Action Plan (AROAP); and continuing the mentor-based WILD (Women in Leadership Development) program for Indigenous, Black and racialized women. These projects underpin the critical work we undertake to tackle underrepresentation and exclusion of Black, racialized, and Indigenous members of our union.
This commitment to justice and inclusion is also the reason our union unequivocally endorses the national campaign launched by the Coalition of Black Trade Unionists—Canada (CBTU-Canada), which is demanding a federal apology for Canada’s role in the trafficking of enslaved Africans.
Canada’s record in this matter is less than honourable. In March 2026, the United Nations General Assembly passed a resolution declaring this trafficking a crime against humanity. While 123 nations voted in favor, Canada chose to abstain, citing concerns over the resolution’s wording and alleged implications for state liability—a justification designed to evade this pressing historical responsibility.
Despite repeated petitions, the federal government has declined to formally acknowledge Canada’s role or issue an apology to the 1.5 million Black Canadians who deserve this recognition.
CUPE Ontario is proud to join CBTU-Canada in urging the federal government to publicly explain its UN abstention; formally acknowledge Canada’s participation in the slave trade; and issue a full federal apology. We also urge CUPE Ontario locals and members and other allies to promote CBTU-Canada’s efforts to make progress toward these goals.
Such recognition would be part of the reconciliation we must foster if we are going to confront the foundational violence upon which this country was built.
We will also support CBTU-Canada’s campaign by reaffirming that emancipation demands an ongoing and collective response. We will not stop until justice is served, both for the ancestors who were stolen and for the communities still fighting for equity today.
CUPE Ontario locals and members can live the spirt of Emancipation Day all year long by using our union’s resources to going fight to eradicate anti-Black racism:
- Read The Color of Privatization, a CUPE report on the impacts of privatized and for-profit services on Indigenous, Black and racialized workers
- Learn about Black enslavement in Canada
- Read Temporary foreign workers in our union, a guide to help locals support members who are temporary foreign workers in the workplace.
- Bargain to include Emancipation Day as a day off with pay.
- Use the guide Employment equity: Building a representative workforce, to help create a more equitable workplace.
