At least 100 people marched in downtown Toronto to celebrate Emancipation Day and to call for an end to anti-Black racism in government institutions in Canada.

Emancipation Day, marked every year on Aug. 1, commemorates the abolition of slavery across the British Empire.

Marchers called for an end to anti-Black racism in such areas as child welfare, policing, the criminal justice system, arts and culture, education and health care.

Yvette Blackburn, a spokesperson for the Global Jamaica Diaspora Council, said people marched to celebrate freedom but also to demand that real change take place to improve the lives of Black people.

"What is freedom? Freedom comes at a cost. And right now, it's the cost of the lives and the interactions that we, as Black people, have to deal with every day in society," Blackburn told reporters.

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"With the push of anti-Black racism and the recognition of our value and our work, we must be here to walk on this day to say that changes have to be implemented so that we get rid of anti-Black racism and the institutional discrimination that has been happening."