The McGuinty government is marking the Bicentenary of the Abolition of the Slave Trade Act with projects to remember, educate and commemorate the history of the abolition of slavery in Ontario.

Canada’s early settlers brought African slaves to Upper Canada and slavery expanded rapidly after 1783, as British Loyalists brought their slaves with them. In 1793, under Lieutenant Governor John Graves Simcoe, Upper Canada, which is now Southern Ontario, became the first jurisdiction in the British Empire to limit slavery. The Abolition of the Slave Trade Act was passed by the British Parliament in 1807.  It outlawed the slave trade throughout the British Empire and made it illegal for British ships to be involved in the trade and transportation of slaves.

McGuinty Government Opens Exhibit To Commemorate Abolition Of The Slave Trade Act
Exhibit Educates And Informs On History Of Slavery In Ontario

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• Ontario Bicentenary Exhibit