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 5,340 but exact population estimates are most likely far greater, because many would have simply identified as Nigerian or Beninese only. The earliest Yoruba settlers in Canada were descendants of slaves transported 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.By 2015, the number of self identifying Yoruba-Canadians had risen to 9,590 persons.