The earliest Latin music musician who gained fame in Canada was Ferdinand Morton , who toured throughout Canada beginning in the 1910s and popularized Latin jazz in the country . Veteran musicians who later formed the Afro-Cuban All Stars in 1996 , gained a following in Canada and brought Cuban salsa music to the country as early as the 1940s . Other tropical music recording artists such as the Company Segundo , Cubanismo ! , Rubén González , and Los Mocosos , had also became popular Latin acts in Canada . Female salsa singers were not popular in Canada until the 1980s and 1990s , when the male-dominated salsa genre saw the rise of women playing the role as singers rather than dancers or listeners . Celia Cruz became a popular salsa singer in Canada along with her male counterparts Tito Puente and Willie Colon . Cuban pop singer Gloria Estefan also established her popularity in the country as well as Julio Iglesias during the 1980s . Filmmaker Anthony Azzopardi documented the growing popularity of Latin music in Canada and released his findings in 1992 's docu-film '' Latin Nights '' . The earliest recorded history of Tejano music being played in Canada was from Lydia Mendoza , who performed at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival in 1971 in Montreal . Mendoza continued to perform in Canada , where in 1985 she played in front of large crowds at theaters and music halls . After Mendoza , Selena — who began dominating the Tejano music scene in America — was on the verge of crossing over into the American pop market and gained a following in Canada after her 1994 '' Amor Prohibido '' album was released . The singer was shot and killed by her friend and former manager of her boutiques on March 31 , 1995 . Her posthumously released album '' Dreaming of You '' ( 1995 ) , peaked at number seventeen on the Canadian '' RPM '' Top Albums chart , and was certified gold by Music Canada that December
shot and killed
Murder of Selena
Latin music in Canada