The Encyclopedia of Global Human Migration, Edited by Immanuel Ness. © 2013 Blackwell Publishing Ltd. Published 2013 by Blackwell Publishing Ltd. DOI: 10.1002/9781444351071.wbeghm093 Caribbean migration to Canada Karen Flynn Migration has long been a feature of Caribbean societies. Created irst as a result of the Atlantic slave trade, and later due to other involuntary forms of migration such as that produced by indentured servitude from India, Caribbean territories such as Trinidad & Tobago, Guyana, Jamaica, Barbados, and Haiti are generally viewed as migration-oriented societies. Eman- cipation and independence from colonial powers did little to transform the economic and social reality of these societies. In response, Caribbean people began to move internally to ind employment. With the agricultural expan- sion of fruit company production in Central America, Caribbean people found work on banana plantations in Costa Rica. Others moved to Panama, where their labor was criti- cal in the construction of the Panama Canal and railways in the early 20th century. Caribbean migration Following the World War II, thousands of Car- ibbean people, most of whom were British sub- jects, migrated to the United Kingdom. When Britain implemented immigration policies to curtail migration from its former colonies, Caribbean migrants (especially those from the English-speaking Caribbean) turned to the United States and Canada. Notwithstanding that the United States has remained the primary destination for Caribbean migrants since the mid-20th century, Canada has also attracted its fair share of migrants from the English regions in particular. Haitian migration The rationale for Caribbean migration has been fairly consistent. Uneven development and high levels of unemployment and underem- ployment have been the main impetus. While Caribbean migration is often associated with the desire to improve opportunities for social and economic mobility, these are not the only reasons. Some people view migration as form of adventure; others migrate for educational purposes, family reuniication, or recruitment by foreign employers (Walker 1984; Flynn 2004; Jones 2008). Haitian migrants tend to have a different migration trajectory from, for example, Barbadians. Fleeing the Duvalier dictatorships of Papa Doc and Baby Doc, who were in power from 1957 through to the early 1970s, Haitians entered Canada as political and economic refugees. Unlike other Caribbean migrants, Haitian migration to Canada was precipitated by polit- ical and economic crisis (Simmons et al. 2005). As of 2006, there are more than half a million people of Caribbean descent living in major Canadian cities with the largest population from Jamaica, followed by Guyana, Trinidad & Tobago, and Haiti (M’Baye et al. 2009). Yet the presence of Caribbean people on Canadian soil dates back to the 19th century and from then on has been inextricably linked to labor demands which relect race, gender, and class dimensions. Caribbean slavery and the Maroons While slavery did not develop in Canada on a major scale similar to the United States, the irst group of Caribbean people on Canadian soil consisted of enslaved men and women who were brought to Halifax, Nova Scotia in 1688. Given the harsh Canadian climate, the enslaved were deployed on farms part of the year, and were hired out by their owners to work as skilled and unskilled labor. Another group – much larger than the slave population – was the Maroons who were brought to Canada in 1796. A rebellious group from Jamaica who