Seeking Canada, Finding Africa: Unravelling the Identity Formations of continental African Christian immigrants in Canada

This paper examines the motivations underlying the rise and expansion of African Christian immigrant communities in Canada. It focuses on three churches, two Ghanaian and one Nigerian, situated in Toronto and Kingston, Ontario. The paper explores how these communities navigate intricate identities as ‘Canadian,’ ‘African,’ and ‘Christian,’ the implications of these identities on their integration into Canadian society, and their position within the global Christian landscape. This paper argues that African and more broadly, Black-initiated Christian communities in Canada continue to experience marginalization, existing on the periphery of the respectability enjoyed by the historic French Roman Catholic and English Protestant establishments. This marginalization is evident not only in the lack of public recognition but also in the relegation of their religious communities to the margins of Canadian scholarship. Despite this marginalization, African-initiated churches challenge stereotypes, assert multiple identities, and navigate the complexities of cultural preservation and religious expression with resilience.