Close
Return
Return to Map
Return to previous page
  • A page of the Canadian Negro Newspaper with black and white photos and major headline reading:
  • A woman in a white top smiles and looks at a man who is writing on a white piece of paper atop a desk. Both are seated.
  • Artist depiction of Jean Augustine: she wears a space visor and metallic grey space suit.

Front page, Canadian Negro Newspaper, Vol. 2, No. 3, 1954. Courtesy of the City of Toronto Archives Fonds 431, File 10, Item 1

Donald Moore advising a new arrival to Canada via the West Indian Domestic Scheme. Undated. Image: City of Toronto Archives, Fonds 431, File 15, Item 3

The Honourable Jean Augustine. September 2005. Image by Althea Thauberger. Courtesy of Library and Archives Canada.

Portrait of Jean Augustine, 2021. Image by Danilo Deluxo. Courtesy of BSAM Canada

  • Jean Augustine

    Teaching and Advocacy

    After spending several years as a domestic worker, Augustine wanted to return to a career in education. She enrolled in Toronto’s Teacher’s College to re-certify, earning her teaching certificate in 1963. Working as a schoolteacher in Toronto in the 1960s and 1970s, Augustine was often the only Black person on staff. She introduced her students to cultures from around the world using songs and readings. Augustine was promoted to Vice-Principal and then Principal at St. Anthony Catholic School before being appointed chair of the Metro Toronto Housing Authority in 1988.

    While teaching, Augustine also volunteered with grassroots organizations focused on immigrant and women’s rights. She worked with government leaders in the development and launch of Canada’s first multiculturalism policy and developed teacher training modules about women’s empowerment, equity, and diversity.


    2 / 5  (use arrows at bottom right to navigate)

  • Jean Augustine

    Political Work

    In April 1973, the first National Congress of Black Women in Canada was held, chaired by Kay Livingstone. Augustine attended the Congress and was inspired to found the Toronto chapter later that year; she would also serve as Toronto chapter president in 1987.

    Augustine entered politics in 1993: She was approached to run as a Liberal candidate for Etobicoke-Lakeshore and became the first Black woman to be elected to the House of Commons in Canada. While she was a Member of Parliament, Augustine supported community issues on the federal level. She organized collaborative parliamentary groups, chaired the National Liberal Women’s Caucus, and was eventually appointed Minister of State for Multiculturalism and the Status of Women. She was re-elected in 1997, 2000, 2002, and 2004.


    3 / 5  (use arrows at bottom right to navigate)

  • Jean Augustine

    Fairness Commissioner

    Augustine stepped down from her seat in the House of Commons in 2005. Two years later, she was appointed as the first-ever Fairness Commissioner for Ontario. The post, the first of its kind in Canada, was created to ensure that workers with credentials earned outside Canada would have equal access to professions and trades in the province.

    Augustine brought her own experience of needing to re-certify to work as a teacher when she arrived in Canada in 1960 to the role, coupled with her years working in the political sector. As Commissioner, she helped introduce new licensing procedures that posed fewer barriers to workers with foreign credentials. Her work inspired similar positions to be created in Quebec, Manitoba, and Nova Scotia. After eight years in the role, Augustine retired in 2015.


    4 / 5  (use arrows at bottom right to navigate)

  • Jean Augustine

    The Honourable Visionary

    Danilo Deluxo’s portrait of Jean Augustine, entitled “The Honourable Visionary,” forms part of BSAM Canada’s “Unveiling the Heroes of the Block” project.

    He describes the inspiration for his work: “The image is layered with stylized African wax prints that make up Dr. Jean Augustine’s honourable spacesuit. The cosmic suit is decorated with gemstones acknowledging her majestic legacy. A large jewel of light placed in the centre of the suit, represents the knowledge and light that wisdom provides through illumination. And a design of our sacred Sankofa Bird (represented through a Heron bird) dresses her spacesuit – representing the integral contributions to our African Canadian history and heritage she has made.”


    5 / 5  (use arrows at bottom right to navigate)
Next Slide Previous Slide
Next Slide Previous Slide
Top of Page

Stay informed.

Our What’s On newsletter, issued every month, highlights the latest in heritage news and events.

Heritage Toronto

Historic St. Lawrence Hall
157 King Street East, 3rd Floor
Toronto, Ontario
M5C 1G9

416-338-0684

Heritage Toronto is a charitable agency of the City of Toronto

Registered charity
#119266609RR0001

Presenting Sponsors

Logo of City of Toronto
Logo of TD Bank and their program The Ready Commitment

© 2020 Heritage Toronto

Privacy Policy