Slavery in Canada

Although less important economically than in the U.S., slavery in Canada existed the U.K. outlawed slavery almost throughout the British Empire via the Slavery Abolition Act of 1834, which also paid for losses incurred by slave owners.

A form of slavery, of captives taken during raids, was practiced by warring Native Americans. Settlers in French occupied territories acquired some of these native American slaves, who were known as Panis, a corruption of the name of the Pawnee. These native American slaves were usually children or youths, not adults. They were usually employed as domestics, and their life expectancies were short, because they lacked resistance to European diseases.

In 1629, a British force of privateers briefly occupied Quebec City, and it was during this occupation that the first African slave was sold in what would become Canada.