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Scarborough Community Council · 2026-07-09 · 2026.SC33.22

Long-term care home named after Bernice Carnegie, pioneering Black nurse who faced systemic racism in Canada and US

Scarborough Community Council approved naming a long-term care facility after Bernice Carnegie, a Black nurse who overcame discrimination to practice nursing in Canada after initially being forced to train in the United States. The Carnegie and Redmond families are among Toronto's earliest Black residents and have made significant community contributions over generations.

amendedScarborough Community Council · Thu, Jul 9

From the floor

“Canada is not ready to accept black nurses in training here. She had to go to the US to do it. And when she went to the US, segregation was full-blown. So, she went from walking the streets in Toronto, but couldn't go to school to become a nurse. And then had to go to the US and she couldn't drink from the water fountains, and she couldn't go to the restrooms, and she couldn't go to restaurants.”Speaker not identified
“This is the legacy that I come from. I am so proud to stand here on behalf of her. I'm named after her, Bernice Carnegie. That name really resonates with me now. It means so much to me now because I carry her story forward.”Speaker not identified
“The Redmonds, if you don't know them, and the Carnegies are an incredible family. They were one of the first black families in Toronto. So, oftentimes when their family did something, they were the first black family to do X or Y.”Councillor Jamaal Myers (Ward 23)

Also in this item

• Bernice Carnegie was denied nursing training in Canada and forced to train in the United States, where she faced Jim Crow segregation; she required lawyers to practice nursing upon returning to Canada

• The Carnegie and Redmond families are among Toronto's earliest Black residents, arriving in 1912-1913 when the city's Black population was approximately 500 people; multiple family members have had public facilities named after them (Herb Carnegie rec center, Freeman Redmond Circle)

The journey

Thu, Jul 9 · Scarborough Community Council · amended

Decision

Approved naming of long-term care home at 4 Brooklawn Avenue after Bernice Carnegie

Watch it happen

Jump to this item in the meeting video

Why is this story here?
ContainedA facility naming is a bounded decision. It honours a historical figure and recognizes community contribution, but does not change institutional operations, budgets, or future councils' options. The naming itself is a genuine decision but reversal would not require substantial political or financial cost.Touches a narrow groupThis affects residents of the long-term care home and their families, plus those who value recognition of Black history in Toronto. The naming enhances cultural representation in a care setting serving a specific population, but does not change service delivery, access, or daily life for most residents. The historical significance is real but the present-week effect is symbolic rather than material.

Stories are ordered by how much weight a decision carries and how directly it reaches daily life. They rise as a decision date approaches and fall as they age.

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Official title: 4 Brooklawn Avenue - Application for Fence Exemption · meeting video