Maybe an enclave. Perhaps one of the escaped slaves who made it to Canada and prospers decides to share his good fortune with others in the new homeland he loves.
They already did:
'All this the slave knows before he starts--indeed, before he determines to start. Then, he occasionally receives a lecture on the bad climate and worse customs of Canada. All manner of bugbears are put before him, touching this country. Sometimes, however, they go too far in this direction. I have heard slaves say, "We knew Canada was a good country for us, because master was so anxious that we should not go there."' (from Samuel Ringgold Ward's
autobiography)
'The colored population of Upper Canada, was estimated in the First Report of the Anti-Slavery Society of Canada, in 1852, at thirty thousand. Of this large number, nearly all the adults, and many of the children, have been fugitive slaves from the United States; it is, therefore, natural that the citizens of this Republic should feel an interest in their fate and fortunes... it may relieve some minds from doubt and perplexity, to hear from the refugees themselves, their own opinions of their condition and their wants. These will be found among the narratives which occupy the greater part of the present volume.' (from
A North-Side View of Slavery. The Refugee: or the Narratives of Fugitive Slaves in Canada. Related by Themselves, with an Account of the History and Condition of the Colored Population of Upper Canada)
Names for the community? Northstar, Brownsville, Liberty.
There were at least three earlier foundations of all-black communities: Dawn (the home of Uncle Tom's Cabin), Wilberforce, and Buxton.
Settling large numbers of former slaves on between Winnipeg and Calagry would ensure that the Canadian west stays out of American hands, as the slaves would not be interested in returning to the United States.
Settling large numbers of escaped slaves on the land, before the abolition of slavery in the United States, would make sure they were interested in remaining British subjects. Settling large numbers of ex-slaves in Canada after the abolition of slavery, however, is a much more dicey proposition.
Canada basically shut itself off from Irish immigration in the Era
In what way? It doesn't seem to have been through
legislation, unless the 1869 immigration act reversed everything that had come before.