yes there was plenty of black hand activity going back to at least 1906, especially in Hamilton, the Niagara area, Toronto and Guelph Ontario involving mostly Calabrians. There was activity in many other areas but these are the main areas. the first major trial took place in 1909 in Hamilton involving joseph taglerino and several associates. Another big story around that time that made the black hand a major news story was the murder of Black Hander Frank Tarro in in 1911 in a poor immigrant section of Toronto known as The Ward. He was killed by one of his extortion targets. by the late teens and early 20s the black hand in southern Ontario was involved in a series of bombings and murders, particularly in Hamilton. in the decade between 1914 and 1924 there was at least 20 murders in the italian community mostly as a direct result of either the black hand or of italian criminal infighting over the local bootleg trade. Southern Ontario would be a major bootlegging and gambling area during prohibition and there was a lot of violence in the area. This is just a very brief summary. I can probably post more when I get a chance, maybe tomorrow after work.

There are some books that have plenty of info on the early days of OC in Canada. 'Iced: the story of organized crime in Canada' is a huge book with a ton of great info on all types of Canadian OC past and present. I highly recommend it. 'King of the Mob: Rocco Perri' is all about southern Ontario in prohibition times. I just started reading this one. 'Mob Rule: Inside the Canadian Mafia' is a great read, mainly about Paul Volpe and the Siderno Group but with some info on the early days and a special section on Rocco Perri at the end as well. "Deadly Silence: Canadian mafia murders' has some good stories in it covering both Montreal and southern Ontario. And I believe the Johnny Papalia book by Adrian Humphreys has some good info on the early days as well. Lots of info out there.