 Canadian ethnic identity in each census division in 2021 | |
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| 5,677,205 15.6% of Canada's population (2021) | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Quebec andAtlantic Canada | |
| Languages | |
| Religion | |
| PredominantlyChristianity (Catholicism andProtestantism) | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| French Canadians,English Canadians,Scottish Canadians,Irish Canadians |
Canadian ethnicity refers to the self-identification of one'sethnic origin or ancestral roots as being Canadian.[1][2][a] It was added as a possible response for an ethnic origin in theCanadian census in 1996.[4] The identification is attributed toWhite Canadians who do not identify with their ancestral ethnic origins due to generational distance from European ancestors and long term history in Canada.[5][6] The identification is more common ineastern 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 theBritish Isles are the most likely groups to identify or perceive their ethnic origin as Canadian.[1] As their languages, traditions, and cultural practices largely defineCanadian society,[8] many do not see themselves as linked to any othernation or ethnic group. French-speaking Canadianswith settler roots are more likely to perceive their ethnic origin as Canadian than as French. Canadian ethnic identification among English-speaking Canadians exists, however is significantly less common than among French Canadians, and most English-speaking Canadians whose families have lived in Canada for multiple generations identify with their European ethnic ancestry.[2]
Indigenous Canadians do not perceive their ethnic origin as Canadian, asCanadian identity originated with European settlers and does not reflectIndigenous nations which possess their own languages, cultures, and identities. Indigenous ethnic groups are theFirst Nations groups,Inuit, andMétis.
"Canadian" was the most common ethnic or cultural origin reported in the2021 census, reported alone or in combination with other origins by 5.67 million people or 15.6% of the total population.[9]
There exists a contrast in the understanding of ethnicity betweenEnglish- andFrench-speaking Canadians. Social scientistRhoda Howard-Hassmann has stated that among English-speaking Canadians, ethnic identity is frequently misunderstood as meaning biological ancestry, "so that everyone'strue identity is presumed to be rooted somewhere else".[10] French-speaking Canadians more frequently perceive their ethnic origin as rooted incultural heritage rather than biological ancestry.
Canadian identity emerged separately in English and in French, and tends to have different undertones or meanings to speakers of these languages.[11] Beginning in the 1600s, the identityCanadien was originally used exclusively by the French settlers of theFrench colony of Canada. AfterNew France ceased to exist and settlement from France completely stopped,Canadian identity became adopted by British and English-speaking settlers, following the arrival ofUnited Empire Loyalists toBritish North America. The English identityCanadian was considered equivalent to the French identityCanadien for the first known time in 1792.[12] Descendants of the settlers of the French colony of Canada began using "French Canadian" and, since theQuiet Revolution of the 1960s, "Québécois" to distinguish themselves from other Canadians.[13]
The1996 census was the first where Statistics Canada allowed "Canadian" as a valid ethnic origin response. It immediately became the most common origin reported and was correlated with a significant decline in English and French origin responses. People with Scottish or Irish origins were likely to list these origins along with "Canadian" and the number of responses for them did not significantly change. By 2001, English and French responses had each declined by more than 3 million from 1986.[1]
Of the 5.67 million people who identified their ethnic origin as Canadian in the 2021 census, 4.18 million reported it as a single origin and 1.49 million reported it in combination with other origins.[14][15]
Across all provinces, people living in non-metropolitan areas are significantly more likely to identify Canadian ethnicity than metropolitan residents.[2]
Compared to other countries settled by Europeans, 5.3% of the U.S. population reported"American" ancestry in the 2022American Community Survey[16] and 29.9% of respondents reported "Australian" ancestry in the2021 Australian census.[17][b]
| Year | Total | Percent of population |
|---|---|---|
| 1996[18] | 8,806,275 | 30.9% |
| 2001[19] | 11,682,680 | 39.4% |
| 2006[20] | 10,066,290 | 32.2% |
| 2011[21] | 10,563,805 | 32.2% |
| 2016[22] | 11,135,965 | 32.3% |
| 2021[9] | 5,677,205 | 15.6% |
The decline in Canadian ethnic origin responses in 2021 is largely due to changes in the format of the ethnic origin question in the census. Each census questionnaire between 1996 and 2016 included a list of examples of ethnic origins to enter, all with "Canadian" as the first example listed, except in 1996 when it was the fifth example. The 2021 census did not list any examples, negatively affecting a respondent's likelihood of entering "Canadian" as an origin.[23] Additionally, prior to the 2021 census, a respondent answering "French Canadian" would be counted once for French and once for Canadian. New ethnic categories were created for the 2021 census, including "French Canadian" as a single ethnic origin, reported by 906,000 people.[9] Because of these changes, Statistics Canada has stated that "2021 census data on ethnic or cultural origins are not comparable to data from previous censuses."[23]
Between 2016 and 2021, there was a significant increase in other non-Indigenous North American origins. Responses for "Québécois" increased from 195,000 to 982,000[23] and "Acadian" from 192,000 to 305,000.[22][9] Between these years, the number of people responding "Canadian" declined less significantly as a single origin (from 6.43 million to 4.18 million) than when including responses with other origins (from 11.13 million to 5.67 million).[14][24]
For the 2006 census, Statistics Canada stated "ethnic origin responses in the census are a reflection of each respondent's perception of their ethnic ancestry".[25] For the 2021 census, Statistics Canada stated "ethnic or cultural origins refers to the ethnic or cultural origins of the person's ancestors. Ancestors may have Indigenous origins, or origins that refer to different countries, or other origins that may not refer to different countries."[26]
Canadian ethnic identification is most prevalent inQuebec andAtlantic Canada, which were the first parts of the country to be settled by Europeans.[7] Identification is particularly high in Quebec among the majority French Canadian population, who trace their ancestry to colonists who arrived at the French colony of Canada from theKingdom of France beginning in 1608 and ending with theConquest of New France in 1760. Approximately 33,500 colonists arrived from France during this period, though only about 8,500 did not die early due to harsh winters or return to France and had at least one child in the colony.[27] Throughhistorically high birth rates, there are about seven million French Canadians today descended almost entirely from these original 8,500 settlers.[28][29]
For the most part,Western Canada was populated by large numbers of Europeans starting in the early 1900s, considerably later than Quebec and the Atlantic provinces. Its later settlement has led to the comparatively lower number of people in Western provinces who consider their ancestral origin Canadian.[1] The first Europeans to populate Western Canada were generally considered immigrants and not settlers, in contrast to the first Europeans to populateEastern Canada.
| Province/territory | Percent | Total |
|---|---|---|
 Quebec | 29.0% | 2,412,040 |
 Newfoundland and Labrador | 24.9% | 125,120 |
 New Brunswick | 23.0% | 174,910 |
 Nova Scotia | 15.8% | 151,300 |
 Prince Edward Island | 15.2% | 22,825 |
 Yukon | 11.8% | 4,680 |
 Alberta | 11.6% | 484,655 |
 Ontario | 11.6% | 1,621,655 |
 Saskatchewan | 9.7% | 107,095 |
 British Columbia | 9.3% | 459,320 |
 Northwest Territories | 8.4% | 3,380 |
 Manitoba | 8.4% | 109,195 |
 Nunavut | 2.8% | 1,025 |
 Canada | 15.6% | 5,677,205 |
| Religion | 2001[31] | 2021[32] | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | Percent | Total | Percent | |
| Christianity | 9,892,025 | 84.67% | 3,356,160 | 59.12% |
| Catholic | 6,648,200 | 56.91% | 2,294,495 | 40.42% |
| Protestant | 2,998,725 | 25.67% | 646,445 | 11.39% |
| Other Christian | 245,780 | 2.1% | 415,220 | 7.31% |
| Irreligion | 1,665,410 | 14.26% | 2,169,870 | 38.22% |
| Other | 125,245 | 1.07% | 151,175 | 2.66% |
| Total | 11,682,680 | 100% | 5,677,205 | 100% |
In theNew Zealand census, "Canadian" is an ethnicity in the "European" category. In2023, it was reported by 8,910 respondents.[33] It is listed at the end of the European category, along with "American", "Afrikaner", and other groups descended from Europeans, instead of alphabetically like the rest of the European groups.
In theUnited States census, "Canadian" and "French Canadian" are ancestral origins in the "Other White" category.[34] In the 2020 American Community Survey, more than 640,000 people had Canadian ancestry and more than 1.9 million had French Canadian ancestry.[35] The highest concentration of respondents for both ancestries is inNew England.
Prior to 1996, "Canadian" as a response for an ethnic origin was explicitly discouraged in the census. Respondents were instructed to enter onlyOld World or Indigenous ethnic origins, and were allowed to record Canadian "only if the respondent insisted".[1] In 1986, 112,830 people reported Canadian as their ethnic origin.[36]
A campaign named "Count Me Canadian" was organized in 1990 with theToronto Sun encouraging the entry of "Canadian" to the 1991 census ethnic origin question. The campaign was initiated by the belief that ethnic differences were the cause of the "national unity crisis" amid the rise of theQuebec sovereignty movement several years before the1995 Quebec independence referendum.[37][38] Over one million respondents (two-thirds fromOntario) entered "Canadian" as their ethnic origin, making it the fifth most common origin response.[7] This led to changes to the following 1996 census ethnic origin question. It became open-ended, prompting respondents to write-in their answer rather than checking a box from a list, with "Canadian" listed fifth alongside other examples of responses.[4]
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.
However, to consider "Canadien" and "Canadian" as equivalent in their meanings and symbolic undertones is akin to calling the "Montreal Canadiens" the "Montreal Canadians." "Canadien" carries a different resonance than "Canadian." The early history of Canadian colonisation by European powers was initially a history of French settlement. [...] Within this context, the term "Canadien" is not equivalent to "Canadian."
Quebecers are the people of Quebec, the vast majority French-speaking. Most are descendants of 8,500 French settlers from the 1600s and 1700s and maintain a unique identity, culture and language.