| Total population | |
|---|---|
| 5,677,205 15.6% of Canada's population (2021) | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Quebec and Atlantic Canada | |
| Languages | |
| Religion | |
| Predominantly Christianity (Catholicism and Protestantism) | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| French Canadians, English Canadians, Scottish Canadians, Irish Canadians |
Canadian ethnicity refers to the self-identification of one's ethnic origin or ancestral roots as being Canadian.[1][2][a] It was added as a possible response for an ethnic origin in the Canadian census in 1996.[4] The identification is attributed to White Canadians who do not identify with their ancestral ethnic origins due to generational distance from European ancestors.[5][6] The identification is more common in eastern parts of the country that were first settled by Europeans than in the rest of the country.[7]
Canadians with ancestral roots in France and the British Isles are the most likely groups to identify their ethnic origin as Canadian.[1] As their languages, traditions, and cultural practices largely define Canadian society,[8] many do not see themselves as linked to any other nation or ethnic group. French-speaking Canadians with settler roots are more likely to perceive their ethnic origin as Canadian than as French, while most English-speaking Canadians whose families have lived in Canada for multiple generations identify with their European ethnic ancestry.[2]
Indigenous Canadians do not identify their ethnic origin as Canadian, as Canadian identity originated with European settlers and does not reflect Indigenous nations which possess their own languages, cultures, and identities. Indigenous peoples identify their ethnicity with their First Nations group, as Inuit, or as Métis.
"Canadian" was the most common ethnic or cultural origin reported in the 2021 census, reported alone or in combination with other origins by 5.67 million people or 15.6% of the total population.[9]
- ^ a b Derrick Thomas (2005). ""I am Canadian"" (PDF). Statistics Canada. Retrieved 20 June 2023.
- ^ a b Lee, Sharon M.; Edmonston, Barry (January 2010). ""Canadian" as National Ethnic Origin: Trends and Implications". Canadian Ethnic Studies. 41 (3): 77–108. doi:10.1353/ces.2010.0040. Retrieved 5 June 2024.
- ^ "Ethnic or Cultural Origin Reference Guide, Census of Population, 2021". Statistics Canada. March 30, 2022. Retrieved 13 August 2024.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
1996 handbookwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Bezanson, Kate; Webber, Michelle (2016). Rethinking Society in the 21st Century (4th ed.). Canadian Scholars' Press. pp. 455–456. ISBN 978-1-55130-936-1.
- ^ Edmonston, Barry; Fong, Eric (2011). The Changing Canadian Population. McGill-Queen's University Press. pp. 294–296. ISBN 978-0-7735-3793-4.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
Canada's ethnocultural portraitwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ "Discover Canada - Who We Are". www.canada.ca. Government of Canada. 2015-10-26. Retrieved 8 September 2023.
Canadian society today stems largely from the English-speaking and French-speaking Christian civilizations that were brought here from Europe by settlers. English and French define the reality of day-to-day life for most people and are the country's official languages.
- ^ "Census Profile, 2021 Census of Population". www12.statcan.gc.ca. Statistics Canada. 1 February 2023. Retrieved 9 September 2023.
Cite error: There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or {{efn}} templates on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}} template or {{notelist}} template (see the help page).