Black on the Ballot
What is it like to be a Black politician in Canada? Drawing on archival research, a national survey, and in-depth interviews with Black candidates and legislators, this report documents their backgrounds, motivations, experiences, and political aspirations.
Key Findings
- Black Canadians are most likely to first run for office at the local level
- Black men and Black women are equally likely to run for office, but Black men are more likely to aspire to party leadership
- The majority of Black Canadians in politics are first- and second-generation Canadians
- Black Canadians are more likely than other politicians to enter politics from careers in the civil service or as political staff
- Money and volunteers are the most commonly cited challenges to elected office
- Most Black Canadians in politics have experienced some form of discrimination
The report concludes with several recommendation to inform the development of evidence-based tools to increase diversity, inclusion, and the number of Black Canadians in public life.
Participants
We are grateful to everyone who completed the survey, participated in an interview, and helped us gather the data that underpins this research. We could not have taken on this project without your generosity and cooperation. In many cases, this is invisible labour: the survey itself was anonymous and some interview participants asked to have their identities concealed.
Thanks to Kemi Akapo, Michael Akpata, Steven Anderson, Frank Baylis, Tyrone Benskin, Linday Blackett, Chloe Brown, Markus Chambers, Celina Caesar-Chavannes, Bernadette Clement, Kojo Damptey, Khadijah Haliru, Jessika Hepburn, Selwyn Hicks, Tony Ince, Marlene Jennings, Kwesi Johnson, Patrick Mayangi, Kathy McDonald, Catherine Meade, Kevin Modeste, Dominique Ollivier, Maedith Radlein, Ayo Owodunni, Chanté White, Stephen Wright, and everyone else who gave their time.
Project Leads
This study was led by Dr. Erin Tolley at Carleton University in partnership with Operation Black Vote Canada.
Funders
Funding for this research was generously provided by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (grant #892-2021-3065), the Canada Research Chairs Program (grant #950-2020-233146), Carleton University, and the University of Toronto Scarborough.
Date published:
January 2025
Suggested citation:
Erin Tolley, Britney Andrews, and Kaitlin Gallant. 2025. Black on the Ballot: What Black Canadians Told Us About Running for and Serving in Elected Office. Final report. Ottawa: Carleton University. https://blackcanadianpolitics.ca/report
