Lying nearly forgotten in a grove of trees at the back of a farmer’s field is an old cemetery, long abandoned and poorly maintained. The cemetery should hold a special importance to the people of Canfield, a small village in southern Ontario, as the last physical evidence of a significant community of freedom seekers who arrived there on the Underground Railroad in the mid-1800s. From places as disparate as Toronto, Hamilton, Washington State and the mountains of British Columbia, their descendants still feel a kinship with the Canfield area. When long-standing attempts to protect the cemetery are re-ignited, the descendants begin to take an active role in determining the ultimate fate of the final resting place of their ancestors.

Canfield Roots portrays the front-line efforts to preserve history before it’s lost and the emotional, human connections over the generations from our ancestors to the present day. The series shares some of the stories of the Black families who made Canfield their home.