Understanding Quebec’s Toponymy Decision: History, Slavery, and the Black Presence

​In September 2015, Quebec's Toponymy Commission (Commission de toponymie du Québec) issued an order to officially rename 11 geographic sites across the province that contained racial slurs—specifically six containing the N-word in English and five containing the French term nègre.

​While the decision was praised as a vital step toward dignity, it also brought renewed attention to a lesser-known chapter of Canadian history: the historical presence, settlements, and struggles of Black populations in 18th- and 19th-century Quebec.

​The Catalyst for Change

​The official move to rename these sites was sparked by a public campaign and petition led by Rachel Zellars, then a PhD researcher at McGill University. The Toponymy Commission acknowledged that while many of these place names originated from real historical events or descriptors, the terminology had become deeply offensive and pejorative.

Were These Sites Black Settlements?

​The sites were generally not incorporated, formal towns. Instead, they represented scattered agricultural communities, historical burial sites, and locations linked to specific historic events or individuals.

​1. Underground Railroad Corridors

​The Niger River (Sherbrooke / Eastern Townships): Situated near the U.S. border, this river region saw a notable influx of Black Americans in the early 1800s. Many were freedom seekers escaping enslavement in the United States via the Underground Railroad, settling in small farmsteads along the riverways.

​2. Burial Grounds of Enslaved People

​Rocher du Nègre / "Nigger Rock" (Saint-Armand): Located on a hill 50 kilometers south of Montreal, this site was used as a burial ground for enslaved Black individuals from roughly 1794 until the total abolition of slavery in the British Empire in 1833. Local historians long advocated for its preservation as one of the few surviving historical cemeteries for enslaved Africans in Quebec.

​3. Individual Historic Incidents

​Nigger Rapids (Gatineau River): Named following a tragic drowning incident in 1912 involving an unnamed Black couple traveling through or living in the area. During the renaming movement, activists pushed to research and restore the couple's actual names to honor their memory.

​4. Informal Descriptors across the Landscape

​Lac du Nègre, Ruisseau du Nègre, and Rivière du Nègre: Found across western Quebec, the Laurentians, and Drummondville, these names were often informal descriptors given by European-descended settlers to creeks, lakes, or hills where Black workers, loggers, or families lived and cleared land.

​Preserving History While Removing Slurs

​In early Canadian history, cartographers and local settlers routinely used racial descriptors to identify geographic features associated with non-white residents rather than recording their proper names.

​The 2015 renaming decision aimed to correct this injustice—removing derogatory language from official maps while creating opportunities to honor the true contributions, individuals, and history of Black communities in Quebec.