For razing a black community in the 1960s, the Canadian city of Halifax, Nova Scotia, has formally apologized and offered a $3 million settlement.

The (Halifax) Chronicle-Herald reported on Thursday that Mayor Peter Kelly made the apology at a community meeting Wednesday to former residents and descendants of what was called Africville on the city's northern side.

The QMI agency said that the community began growing in the 1840s as former slaves in the United States migrated north. It largely had no electricity, water or sewage up to the time the city began bulldozing in the late 1960s, although residents paid city taxes.

The report further added that Kelly said the park would be renamed Africville and the city, province and federal government would pay $3 million towards rebuilding a church and a community center.

The Chronicle-Herald said that none of the compensation will be paid to individuals. (With Input from Agencies)