Estimates of the number of Underground Railroad refugees arriving in Canada during the mid-19th century, and in particular into what was then Upper Canada, have varied considerably. According to the latest research, of the more than 20,000 refugees who immigrated to Upper Canada, only about 20 percent returned to the United States during or immediately after the Civil War. A surprisingly high proportion, perhaps as many as one-third, had been born free. The 1861 Upper Canada census recorded people of colour in 312 townships and city wards, making them one of the most widely dispersed groups in the province at that time. The largest concentration was found in Kent and Essex counties, and there were more than 1,000 listed in the city of Toronto, most of whom came in this mid-19th century wave of Underground Railroad immigration.

These new settlers were a diverse group. A few came with some capital, education and marketable skills, but most arrived with little more than the clothes on their backs. Many immediately sought work in the villages and towns near crossing points at either end of Lake Erie, or on farms in these areas. In time, some of the wage earners moved to larger centres such as Toronto, where opportunities were more extensive, while others bought their own farms. In a few instances, schemes were mounted to create block settlements, where groups of refugees could help each other establish self-sufficient farms.

At no time, however, were their efforts at settlement considered merely as part of the ongoing process common to a settler society. The refugees remained

under the microscope of a Canadian society consumed by the often conflicting fears and aspirations of Abolitionists, pro-slavery supporters and politicians anxious to avoid the anger of fearful white voters. Additionally, they were regarded by many as a test of the ability of people of African descent to thrive outside the institution of slavery. Always aware that they represented more than merely individual immigrants, the fugitives struggled to establish themselves. Most quietly tried to integrate into the nascent urban centres of what is now southwestern Ontario. While the rural block settlements have come to be fairly well-known, only about 5 percent of the refugee population was involved in these separate communities.