Ontario's Priceville was a small, thriving Black community — until it wasn't

Carolynn and Sylvia Wilson have been on the front lines of preserving and keeping alive Black history in Canada for a good part of their lives.

Born and raised in Collingwood, Ont., where they still live, the sisters are active members of the Heritage Community Church, established 152 years ago in the historically Black working-class district of the southwestern Ontario town.

“We’ve become a place of refuge,” Sylvia said. “A lot of people of colour from different cultures or countries have arrived in Collingwood, and people will say, ‘Have you been to the little coloured church?’ Well, we’re not just a