Black Continental African Identities in Canada: Exploring the Intersections of Identity Formation and Immigrant Transnationalism

Abstract

Notwithstanding the role of immigrants’ transnationalism and identity formation in shaping their settlement and integration process, the burgeoning literature on Canadian immigration has paid only a perfunctory attention to this area of study. Similarly, despite the enormous diversity among Blacks in Canada, portrayals of Blacks as a homogenous group abound in Canadian public discourse and academic writings. It is with this conjoint lacuna in mind that the present study examines how the identities and diasporic consciousness of Black continental African immigrants in Canada are influenced by their transnational activities, highlighting the challenges involved in the definition of this ethnoracial group, as well as the changes its members have undergone as a result of living in Canada.