The Slavery Abolition Act of 1833 proclaimed the end of slavery in the British Empire on August 1, 1834, and thus also in Canada.
This was about 50 years before the first newspaper in Alberta so there are no news reports of how it affected things in this province. At that time Alberta was part of Rupert's Land, a economic preserve of the Hudson's Bay Company. Rupert's Land was one of Britain possessions in North America, British North America. By that time some of the colonies of BNA had split off to form the early U.S. (Slaves there would be freed on April 16, 1862, during the early years of the U.S. Civil War.)
At that time, Fort Edmonton had just moved from Rossdale to the present grounds of the legislature. The fort and neighbouring community was multi-racial - Europeans, Natives, Metis. A prominent Edmonton area family that is still around today, the Callihoo family, is known to be in the area even back then. The founder of the family in Alberta -Louis Callihoo, a Mohawk-Iroquois - - came west in the 1790s. He and his family found homes among the Crees and Stonies already living in this place.
I don't off-hand know of blacks on the Prairies at this early period. One was not so far off - Sir James Douglas, the governor of the BC department of the HBC 1851-1864, was of mixed race - son of a Glaswegian Scot and a Barbadian Creole.
Prior to the Slavery Abolition Act, there were black slaves in Canada. It is difficult to imagine but early Halifax newspapers carried notices of rewards for recapture of escaped slaves. This was in the 1770s to 1830 period.
Thank you for reading.
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