Yoruba Canadians are Canadians of Yoruba descent. The Yoruba people are an ethnic group of southwestern Nigeria and southern Benin in West Africa. According to the 2006 Census by Statistics Canada, people of Yoruba origin or descent numbered approximately 1,875 but exact population estimates are most likely far greater. The earliest Yoruba settlers in Canada were descendants of slaves imported to North America, Latin America and the Caribbean through the Atlantic slave trade. This resulted in a sizable proportion of Yoruba Canadians descending from African American slaves while recent migrants come directly from West Africa.