Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of
Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''Canadian''.
Canada is a multilingual and
multicultural society home to people of groups of many different ethnic, religious, and national origins, with the majority of the population made up of
Old World
The "Old World" is a term for Afro-Eurasia that originated in Europe , after Europeans became aware of the existence of the Americas. It is used to contrast the continents of Africa, Europe, and Asia, which were previously thought of by the ...
immigrants and their descendants. Following the initial period of
French
French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to France
** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents
** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...
and then the much larger
British colonization
The British Empire was composed of the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It began with the overseas possessions and trading posts esta ...
, different waves (or peaks) of immigration and settlement of non-indigenous peoples took place over the course of nearly two centuries and continue today. Elements of Indigenous, French, British, and more recent immigrant customs, languages, and religions have combined to form the
culture of Canada, and thus a
Canadian identity. Canada has also been strongly influenced by its linguistic, geographic, and economic neighbour—the United States.
Canadian independence from the United Kingdom grew gradually over the course of many years following the formation of the
Canadian Confederation in 1867.
World War I and
World War II in particular gave rise to a desire among Canadians to have their country recognized as a fully-fledged sovereign state with a distinct citizenship. Legislative independence was established with the passage of the
Statute of Westminster 1931
The Statute of Westminster 1931 is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that sets the basis for the relationship between the Commonwealth realms and the Crown.
Passed on 11 December 1931, the statute increased the sovereignty of the ...
, the
''Canadian Citizenship Act'', 1946 took effect on January 1, 1947, and full sovereignty was achieved with the
patriation of the constitution in 1982.
Canada's nationality law closely mirrored that of the United Kingdom. Legislation since the mid-20th century represents Canadians' commitment to
multilateralism and
socioeconomic development.
Population
As of 2010, Canadians make up only 0.5% of the
world's total population, having relied upon immigration for population growth and social development. Approximately 41% of current Canadians are first- or second-generation immigrants,
and 20% of Canadian residents in the 2000s were not born in the country.
Statistics Canada
Statistics Canada (StatCan; french: Statistique Canada), formed in 1971, is the agency of the Government of Canada commissioned with producing statistics to help better understand Canada, its population, resources, economy, society, and cultur ...
projects that, by 2031, nearly one-half of Canadians above the age of 15 will be
foreign-born
Foreign-born (also non-native) people are those born outside of their country of residence. Foreign born are often non-citizens, but many are naturalized citizens of the country in which they live, and others are citizens by descent, typically ...
or have one foreign-born parent.
Indigenous peoples, according to the
2016 Canadian census
The 2016 Canadian census was an enumeration of Canadian residents, which counted a population of 35,151,728, a change from its 2011 population of 33,476,688. The census, conducted by Statistics Canada, was Canada's seventh quinquennial census. ...
, numbered at 1,673,780 or 4.9% of the country's 35,151,728 population.
Immigration
While the first contact with Europeans and indigenous peoples in Canada had occurred a century or more before, the first group of permanent settlers were the
French
French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to France
** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents
** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...
, who founded the
New France settlements, in present-day
Quebec and
Ontario; and
Acadia, in present-day
Nova Scotia and
New Brunswick, during the early part of the 17th century.
Approximately 100
Irish-born families would settle the
Saint Lawrence Valley by 1700, assimilating into the ''Canadien'' population and culture. During the 18th and 19th century; immigration westward (to the area known as
Rupert's Land) was carried out by "
Voyageurs"; French settlers working for the
North West Company
The North West Company was a fur trading business headquartered in Montreal from 1779 to 1821. It competed with increasing success against the Hudson's Bay Company in what is present-day Western Canada and Northwestern Ontario. With great weal ...
; and by
British settlers (
English and
Scottish
Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including:
*Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland
*Scottish English
*Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...
) representing the
Hudson's Bay Company, coupled with independent entrepreneurial woodsman called
coureur des bois
A coureur des bois (; ) or coureur de bois (; plural: coureurs de(s) bois) was an independent entrepreneurial French-Canadian trader who travelled in New France and the interior of North America, usually to trade with First Nations peoples by e ...
. This arrival of newcomers led to the creation of the
Métis
The Métis ( ; Canadian ) are Indigenous peoples who inhabit Canada's three Prairie Provinces, as well as parts of British Columbia, the Northwest Territories, and the Northern United States. They have a shared history and culture which derives ...
, an ethnic group of mixed European and
First Nations parentage.
The British conquest of New France was preceded by a small number of
Germans and
Swedes
Swedes ( sv, svenskar) are a North Germanic ethnic group native to the Nordic region, primarily their nation state of Sweden, who share a common ancestry, culture, history and language. They mostly inhabit Sweden and the other Nordic countr ...
who settled alongside the Scottish in
Port Royal, Nova Scotia, while some
Irish immigrated to the
Newfoundland Colony. In the wake of the British
Conquest of New France in 1760 and the
Expulsion of the Acadians, many families from the British colonies in
New England moved over into Nova Scotia and other colonies in Canada, where the British made farmland available to British settlers on easy terms. More settlers arrived during and after the
American Revolutionary War, when approximately 60,000
United Empire Loyalists fled to
British North America, a large portion of whom settled in New Brunswick. After the
War of 1812, British (including British army regulars), Scottish, and Irish immigration was encouraged throughout Rupert's Land,
Upper Canada and
Lower Canada.
Between 1815 and 1850, some 800,000 immigrants came to the colonies of British North America, mainly from the
British Isles as part of the
Great Migration of Canada
The Great Migration of Canada (also known as the Great Migration from Britain or the second wave of immigration to Canada) was a period of high immigration to Canada from 1815 to 1850, which involved over 800,000 immigrants, mainly of British and ...
. These new arrivals included some
Gaelic-speaking Highland Scots displaced by the
Highland Clearances
The Highland Clearances ( gd, Fuadaichean nan Gàidheal , the "eviction of the Gaels") were the evictions of a significant number of tenants in the Scottish Highlands and Islands, mostly in two phases from 1750 to 1860.
The first phase resulte ...
to Nova Scotia. The
Great Famine of Ireland of the 1840s significantly increased the pace of Irish immigration to
Prince Edward Island and the
Province of Canada, with over 35,000 distressed individuals landing in
Toronto in 1847 and 1848. Descendants of Francophone and Anglophone northern Europeans who arrived in the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries are often referred to as
Old Stock Canadians.
Beginning in the late 1850s, the immigration of Chinese into the
Colony of Vancouver Island and
Colony of British Columbia peaked with the onset of the
Fraser Canyon Gold Rush. The ''
Chinese Immigration Act of 1885'' eventually placed a head tax on all Chinese immigrants, in hopes of discouraging Chinese immigration after completion of the
Canadian Pacific Railway
The Canadian Pacific Railway (french: Chemin de fer Canadien Pacifique) , also known simply as CPR or Canadian Pacific and formerly as CP Rail (1968–1996), is a Canadian Class I railway incorporated in 1881. The railway is owned by Canadi ...
. Additionally, growing
South Asian
South Asia is the southern Subregion#Asia, subregion of Asia, which is defined in both geography, geographical and culture, ethno-cultural terms. The region consists of the countries of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, ...
immigration into British Columbia during the early 1900s
[Singh, Hira, p]
94
Archive
. led to the
continuous journey regulation act of 1908 which indirectly halted
Indian immigration to Canada, as later evidenced by the infamous 1914
''Komagata Maru'' incident.
The
population of Canada has consistently risen, doubling approximately every 40 years, since the establishment of the
Canadian Confederation in 1867. In the mid-to-late 19th century, Canada had a policy of assisting
immigrants from Europe, including an estimated 100,000 unwanted "
Home Children
Home Children was the child migration scheme founded by Annie MacPherson in 1869, under which more than 100,000 children were sent from the United Kingdom to Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and South Africa. The programme was largely discontinu ...
" from Britain.
Block settlement communities were established throughout
Western Canada between the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Some were planned and others were spontaneously created by the settlers themselves. Canada was now receiving a large number of European immigrants, predominantly
Italians, Germans,
Scandinavians,
Dutch,
Poles
Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, are a West Slavic nation and ethnic group, who share a common history, culture, the Polish language and are identified with the country of Poland in Ce ...
, and
Ukrainians.
Legislative restrictions on immigration (such as the continuous journey regulation and ''
Chinese Immigration Act, 1923'') that had favoured British and other European immigrants were amended in the 1960s, opening the doors to immigrants from all parts of the world. While the 1950s had still seen high levels of immigration by Europeans, by the 1970s immigrants were increasingly Chinese, Indian,
Vietnamese,
Jamaican, and
Haiti
Haiti (; ht, Ayiti ; French: ), officially the Republic of Haiti (); ) and formerly known as Hayti, is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and ...
an.
During the late 1960s and early 1970s, Canada received many
American Vietnam War draft dissenters. Throughout the late 1980s and 1990s, Canada's growing Pacific trade brought with it a large influx of South Asians, who tended to settle in
British Columbia. Immigrants of all backgrounds tend to settle in the
major urban centres. The Canadian public, as well as the major political parties, are tolerant of immigrants.
The majority of
illegal immigrants come from the
southern provinces of the People's Republic of China, with Asia as a whole,
Eastern Europe,
Caribbean
The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...
,
Africa, and the
Middle East. Estimates of numbers of illegal immigrants range between 35,000 and 120,000.
Citizenship and diaspora
Canadian citizenship
Canadian nationality law details the conditions in which a person is a national of Canada. With few exceptions, almost all individuals born in the country are automatically citizens at birth. Foreign nationals may naturalize after living in Ca ...
is typically obtained by birth in Canada or by birth or adoption abroad when at least one biological parent or adoptive parent is a Canadian citizen who was born in Canada or naturalized in Canada (and did not receive citizenship by being born outside of Canada to a Canadian citizen).
It can also be granted to a
permanent resident who lives in Canada for three out of four years and meets specific requirements.
Canada
established its own nationality law in 1946, with the enactment of the ''
Canadian Citizenship Act
The ''Canadian Citizenship Act'' (french: Loi sur la citoyenneté canadienne) was a statute passed by the Parliament of Canada in 1946 which created the legal status of Canadian citizenship. The Act defined who were Canadian citizens, separat ...
'' which took effect on January 1, 1947. The ''
Immigration and Refugee Protection Act'' was passed by the
Parliament of Canada
The Parliament of Canada (french: Parlement du Canada) is the federal legislature of Canada, seated at Parliament Hill in Ottawa, and is composed of three parts: the King, the Senate, and the House of Commons. By constitutional convention, the ...
in 2001 as Bill C-11, which replaced the ''
Immigration Act, 1976
Canadian immigration and refugee law concerns the area of law related to the admission of foreign nationals into Canada, their rights and responsibilities once admitted, and the conditions of their removal. The primary law on these matters is ...
'' as the primary federal legislation regulating immigration. Prior to the conferring of legal status on Canadian citizenship, Canada's naturalization laws consisted of a multitude of Acts beginning with the ''Immigration Act'' of 1910.
According to
Citizenship and Immigration Canada, there are three main classifications for immigrants: ''family class'' (persons closely related to Canadian residents), ''economic class'' (admitted on the basis of a point system that accounts for age, health and labour-market skills required for cost effectively inducting the immigrants into Canada's labour market) and ''refugee class'' (those seeking protection by applying to remain in the country by way of the
Canadian immigration and refugee law). In 2008, there were 65,567 immigrants in the family class, 21,860 refugees, and 149,072 economic immigrants amongst the 247,243 total immigrants to the country.
Canada resettles over one in 10 of the world's
refugee
A refugee, conventionally speaking, is a displaced person who has crossed national borders and who cannot or is unwilling to return home due to well-founded fear of persecution. s and has one of the highest per-capita immigration rates in the world.
As of a 2010 report by the
Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada, there were 2.8 million
Canadian citizens abroad. This represents about 8% of the total Canadian population. Of those living abroad, the United States, Hong Kong, the United Kingdom, Taiwan, China, Lebanon, United Arab Emirates, and Australia have the largest Canadian diaspora. Canadians in the United States constitute the greatest single expatriate community at over 1 million in 2009, representing 35.8% of all Canadians abroad. Under current
Canadian law, Canada does not restrict
dual citizenship, but
Passport Canada
Passport Canada was an independent, special operating agency of the Government of Canada with bureaucratic oversight provided through Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada. Formerly known as the Passport Office prior to June 2006, Passpo ...
encourages its citizens to travel abroad on their
Canadian passport
A Canadian passport (french: passeport canadien) is the passport issued to citizens of Canada. It enables the bearer to enter or re-enter Canada freely; travel to and from other countries in accordance with visa requirements; facilitates the p ...
so that they can access Canadian
consular services
Consular assistance is help and advice provided by the diplomatic agents of a country to citizens of that country who are living or traveling overseas.
The diplomats may be honorary consuls, or members of the country's diplomatic service.
Such ...
.
Ethnic ancestry
According to the
2021 Canadian census
The 2021 Canadian census was a detailed enumeration of the Canadian population with a reference date of May 11, 2021. It follows the 2016 Canadian census, which recorded a population of 35,151,728. The overall response rate was 98%, which is sl ...
, over 450 "
ethnic or cultural origins" were self-reported by Canadians.
The major
panethnic
Panethnicity is a political neologism used to group various ethnic groups together based on their related cultural origins; geographic, linguistic, religious, or 'racial' (i.e. phenotypic) similarities are often used alone or in combination to dr ...
origin groups in Canada are:
European (),
North American (),
Asian (),
North American Indigenous (),
African (),
Latin, Central and South American (),
Caribbean
The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...
(),
Oceanian (), and Other ().
Statistics Canada reports that 35.5% of the population reported multiple ethnic origins, thus the overall total is greater than 100%.
The country's ten largest self-reported specific ethnic or cultural origins in 2021 were Canadian (accounting for 15.6 percent of the population), followed by
English (14.7 percent),
Irish (12.1 percent),
Scottish
Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including:
*Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland
*Scottish English
*Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...
(12.1 percent),
French
French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to France
** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents
** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...
(11.0 percent),
German (8.1 percent),
Chinese (4.7 percent),
Italian (4.3 percent),
Indian (3.7 percent), and
Ukrainian (3.5 percent).
Of the 36.3 million people enumerated in 2021 approximately 25.4 million reported being "
white", representing 69.8 percent of the population.
The indigenous population representing 5 percent or 1.8 million individuals, grew by 9.4 percent compared to the non-Indigenous population, which grew by 5.3 percent from 2016 to 2021.
One out of every four Canadians or 26.5 percent of the population belonged to a non-White and non-Indigenous
visible minority,
the largest of which in 2021 were
South Asian
South Asia is the southern Subregion#Asia, subregion of Asia, which is defined in both geography, geographical and culture, ethno-cultural terms. The region consists of the countries of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, ...
(2.6 million people; 7.1 percent), Chinese (1.7 million; 4.7 percent) and
Black (1.5 million; 4.3 percent).
Between 2011 and 2016, the visible minority population rose by 18.4 percent.
In 1961, less than two percent of Canada's population (about 300,000 people) were members of visible minority groups. The 2021 Census indicated that
8.3 million people, or almost one-quarter (23.0 percent) of the population reported themselves as being or having been a
landed immigrant or permanent resident in Canada—above the
1921 Census previous record of 22.3 percent.
In 2021 India, China, and the Philippines were the top three countries of origin for immigrants moving to Canada.
Culture
Canadian culture is primarily a
Western culture, with influences by First Nations and other cultures. It is a product of its
ethnicities,
languages
Language is a structured system of communication. The structure of a language is its grammar and the free components are its vocabulary. Languages are the primary means by which humans communicate, and may be conveyed through a variety of met ...
,
religions
Religion is usually defined as a social-cultural system of designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relates humanity to supernatural, tran ...
,
political, and
legal system
The contemporary national legal systems are generally based on one of four basic systems: civil law, common law, statutory law, religious law or combinations of these. However, the legal system of each country is shaped by its unique history an ...
(s). Canada has been shaped by waves of migration that have combined to form a unique blend of
art,
cuisine
A cuisine is a style of cooking characterized by distinctive ingredients, techniques and dishes, and usually associated with a specific culture or geographic region. Regional food preparation techniques, customs, and ingredients combine to ...
,
literature,
humour, and
music. Today, Canada has a diverse makeup of nationalities and constitutional protection for policies that promote
multiculturalism rather than
cultural assimilation. In Quebec, cultural identity is strong, and many French-speaking commentators speak of a
Quebec culture distinct from English Canadian culture. However, as a whole, Canada is a
cultural mosaic: a collection of several regional, indigenous, and ethnic subcultures.
Canadian government policies such as
official bilingualism;
publicly funded health care
Publicly funded healthcare is a form of health care financing designed to meet the cost of all or most healthcare needs from a publicly managed fund. Usually this is under some form of democratic accountability, the right of access to which are se ...
;
higher and more progressive taxation; outlawing
capital punishment; strong efforts to eliminate
poverty
Poverty is the state of having few material possessions or little income. Poverty can have diverse social, economic, and political causes and effects. When evaluating poverty in ...
; strict
gun control
Gun control, or firearms regulation, is the set of laws or policies that regulate the manufacture, sale, transfer, possession, modification, or use of firearms by civilians.
Most countries have a restrictive firearm guiding policy, with on ...
; the legalizing of
same-sex marriage,
pregnancy terminations,
euthanasia
Euthanasia (from el, εὐθανασία 'good death': εὖ, ''eu'' 'well, good' + θάνατος, ''thanatos'' 'death') is the practice of intentionally ending life to eliminate pain and suffering.
Different countries have different eut ...
and
cannabis are social indicators of Canada's political and
cultural values
In ethics and social sciences, value denotes the degree of importance of something or action, with the aim of determining which actions are best to do or what way is best to live (normative ethics in ethics), or to describe the significance of ...
.
American media and entertainment are popular, if not dominant, in English Canada; conversely, many Canadian cultural products and entertainers are successful in the United States and worldwide. The
Government of Canada has also influenced culture with programs, laws, and institutions. It has created
Crown corporations to promote Canadian culture through media, and has also tried to
protect Canadian culture by setting legal minimums on
Canadian content.
Canadian culture has historically been influenced by
European culture and traditions, especially
British and
French
French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to France
** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents
** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...
, and by its own
indigenous cultures. Most of Canada's territory was inhabited and developed later than other European colonies in the Americas, with the result that themes and symbols of pioneers, trappers, and traders were important in the early development of the
Canadian identity.
First Nations played a critical part in the development of
European colonies in Canada, particularly for their role in assisting exploration of the continent during the
North American fur trade
The North American fur trade is the commercial trade in furs in North America. Various Indigenous peoples of the Americas traded furs with other tribes during the pre-Columbian era. Europeans started their participation in the North American fur ...
. The British conquest of New France in the mid-1700s brought a large
Francophone
French became an international language in the Middle Ages, when the power of the Kingdom of France made it the second international language, alongside Latin. This status continued to grow into the 18th century, by which time French was the l ...
population under
British Imperial rule, creating a need for compromise and accommodation. The new British rulers left alone much of the religious, political, and social culture of the French-speaking ', guaranteeing through the ''
Quebec Act'' of 1774 the right of the ''Canadiens'' to practise the Catholic faith and to use
French civil law (now
Quebec law).
The ''
Constitution Act, 1867'' was designed to meet the growing calls of Canadians for autonomy from British rule, while avoiding the overly strong decentralization that contributed to the
Civil War in the United States.
The compromises made by the
Fathers of Confederation set Canadians on a path to
bilingualism
Multilingualism is the use of more than one language, either by an individual speaker or by a group of speakers. It is believed that multilingual speakers outnumber monolingual speakers in the world's population. More than half of all E ...
, and this in turn contributed to an acceptance of diversity.
The
Canadian Armed Forces
}
The Canadian Armed Forces (CAF; french: Forces armées canadiennes, ''FAC'') are the unified military forces of Canada, including sea, land, and air elements referred to as the Royal Canadian Navy, Canadian Army, and Royal Canadian Air Force.
...
and overall civilian participation in the
First World War and
Second World War helped to foster
Canadian nationalism
Canadian nationalism seeks to promote the unity, independence, and well-being of Canada and the Canadian people. Canadian nationalism has been a significant political force since the 19th century and has typically manifested itself as seeking t ...
,
however, in 1917 and 1944,
conscription crisis' highlighted the considerable rift along ethnic lines between Anglophones and Francophones. As a result of the First and Second World Wars, the Government of Canada became more assertive and less deferential to British authority. With the gradual loosening of political ties to the United Kingdom and the modernization of Canadian immigration policies, 20th-century immigrants with
African, Caribbean and
Asian nationalities have added to the Canadian identity and its culture. The multiple-origins immigration pattern continues today, with the arrival of large numbers of immigrants from non-British or non-French backgrounds.
Multiculturalism in Canada was adopted as the official policy of the government during the premiership of
Pierre Trudeau
Joseph Philippe Pierre Yves Elliott Trudeau ( , ; October 18, 1919 – September 28, 2000), also referred to by his initials PET, was a Canadian lawyer and politician who served as the 15th prime minister of Canada
The prime mini ...
in the 1970s and 1980s. The Canadian government has often been described as the instigator of multicultural ideology, because of its public emphasis on the
social importance of immigration. Multiculturalism is administered by the
Department of Citizenship and Immigration and reflected in the law through the ''
Canadian Multiculturalism Act'' and
section 27 of the ''Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms''.
Religion
Canada as a nation is religiously diverse, encompassing a wide range of groups, beliefs and customs. The
preamble to the ''Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms'' references "God", and the
monarch carries the title of "
Defender of the Faith
Defender of the Faith ( la, Fidei Defensor or, specifically feminine, '; french: Défenseur de la Foi) is a phrase that has been used as part of the full style of many English, Scottish, and later British monarchs since the early 16th century. It ...
". However, Canada has no
official religion, and support for
religious pluralism (
Freedom of religion in Canada) is an important part of
Canada's political culture. With the role of
Christianity in decline, it having once been central and integral to Canadian culture and daily life, commentators have suggested that Canada has come to enter a
post-Christian period in a
secular state, with
irreligion on the rise. The majority of Canadians consider religion to be unimportant in their daily lives, but still believe in God. The practice of religion is now generally considered a private matter throughout society and within the state.
The
2011 Canadian census reported that 67.3% of Canadians identify as being
Christians; of this number,
Catholics
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
make up the largest group, accounting for 38.7 percent of the population.
The largest Protestant denomination is the
United Church of Canada (accounting for 6.1% of Canadians); followed by
Anglicans (5.0%), and
Baptists
Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only ( believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul compe ...
(1.9%).
About 23.9% of Canadians declare
no religious affiliation, including
agnostics,
atheists,
humanists, and other groups.
The remaining are affiliated with non-Christian religions, the largest of which is
Islam
Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...
(3.2%), followed by
Hinduism (1.5%),
Sikhism (1.4%),
Buddhism (1.1%), and
Judaism (1.0%).
Before the arrival of European colonists and explorers, First Nations followed a wide array of mostly
animistic religions. During the colonial period, the French settled along the shores of the
Saint Lawrence River, specifically
Latin Rite Roman Catholics, including a number of
Jesuits dedicated to converting indigenous peoples; an effort that eventually proved successful. The first large
Protestant communities were formed in the
Maritimes
The Maritimes, also called the Maritime provinces, is a region of Eastern Canada consisting of three provinces: New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island. The Maritimes had a population of 1,899,324 in 2021, which makes up 5.1% of Ca ...
after the British conquest of New France, followed by American Protestant settlers displaced by the American Revolution. The late nineteenth century saw the beginning of a substantive shift in Canadian immigration patterns. Large numbers of Irish and southern European immigrants were creating new Roman Catholic communities in English Canada. The settlement of the west brought significant
Eastern Orthodox immigrants from Eastern Europe and
Mormon and
Pentecostal immigrants from the United States.
The earliest documentation of
Jewish presence in Canada occurs in the 1754 British Army records from the
French and Indian War. In 1760, General
Jeffrey Amherst, 1st Baron Amherst attacked and won
Montreal for the British. In his regiment there were several Jews, including four among his officer corps, most notably Lieutenant
Aaron Hart who is considered the father of Canadian Jewry. The
Islamic
Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God (or '' Allah'') as it was revealed to Muhammad, the mai ...
,
Jains,
Sikh
Sikhs ( or ; pa, ਸਿੱਖ, ' ) are people who adhere to Sikhism, Sikhism (Sikhi), a Monotheism, monotheistic religion that originated in the late 15th century in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, based on the revelation of Gu ...
,
Hindu
Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism.Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...
, and
Buddhist communities—although small—are as old as the nation itself. The 1871 Canadian Census (
first "Canadian" national census) indicated thirteen Muslims among the populace, while the Sikh population stood at approximately 5,000 by 1908. The first Canadian
mosque was constructed in
Edmonton, in 1938, when there were approximately 700 Muslims in Canada. Buddhism first arrived in Canada when Japanese immigrated during the late 19th century. The first Japanese Buddhist temple in Canada was built in
Vancouver in 1905. The influx of immigrants in the late 20th century, with
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...
n,
Japanese,
Indian and Southeast Asian customs, has contributed to the recent expansion of the Jain, Sikh, Hindu, and Buddhist communities.
Languages
A multitude of languages are used by Canadians, with
English and
French
French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to France
** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents
** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...
(the
official languages) being the
mother tongues of approximately 56% and 21% of Canadians, respectively.
As of the 2016 Census, just over 7.3 million Canadians listed a non-official language as their mother tongue. Some of the most common non-official first languages include Chinese (1,227,680 first-language speakers),
Punjabi
Punjabi, or Panjabi, most often refers to:
* Something of, from, or related to Punjab, a region in India and Pakistan
* Punjabi language
* Punjabi people
* Punjabi dialects and languages
Punjabi may also refer to:
* Punjabi (horse), a British Th ...
(501,680), Spanish (458,850),
Tagalog
Tagalog may refer to:
Language
* Tagalog language, a language spoken in the Philippines
** Old Tagalog, an archaic form of the language
** Batangas Tagalog, a dialect of the language
* Tagalog script, the writing system historically used for Tagal ...
(431,385), Arabic (419,895), German (384,040), and Italian (375,645).
[ Less than one percent of Canadians (just over 250,000 individuals) can speak an ]indigenous language
An indigenous language, or autochthonous language, is a language that is native to a region and spoken by indigenous peoples. This language is from a linguistically distinct community that originated in the area. Indigenous languages are not neces ...
. About half this number (129,865) reported using an indigenous language on a daily basis. Additionally, Canadians speak several sign languages; the number of speakers is unknown of the most spoken ones, American Sign Language
American Sign Language (ASL) is a natural language that serves as the predominant sign language of Deaf communities in the United States of America and most of Anglophone Canadians, Anglophone Canada. ASL is a complete and organized visual lang ...
(ASL) and Quebec Sign Language (LSQ), as it is of Maritime Sign Language
Maritime Sign Language (MSL) is a sign language used in Canada's Atlantic provinces.
Maritime Sign Language is descended from British Sign Language through the convergence of deaf communities from the Northeastern United States and the United K ...
and Plains Sign Talk. There are only 47 speakers of the Inuit sign language Inuktitut
Inuktitut (; , syllabics ; from , "person" + , "like", "in the manner of"), also Eastern Canadian Inuktitut, is one of the principal Inuit languages of Canada. It is spoken in all areas north of the tree line, including parts of the provinces o ...
.
English and French are recognized by the Constitution of Canada as official languages. All federal government laws are thus enacted in both English and French, with government services available in both languages.[ Two of Canada's territories give official status to indigenous languages. In ]Nunavut
Nunavut ( , ; iu, ᓄᓇᕗᑦ , ; ) is the largest and northernmost Provinces and territories of Canada#Territories, territory of Canada. It was separated officially from the Northwest Territories on April 1, 1999, via the ''Nunavut Act'' ...
, Inuktitut
Inuktitut (; , syllabics ; from , "person" + , "like", "in the manner of"), also Eastern Canadian Inuktitut, is one of the principal Inuit languages of Canada. It is spoken in all areas north of the tree line, including parts of the provinces o ...
and Inuinnaqtun are official languages, alongside the national languages of English and French, and Inuktitut is a common vehicular language in territorial government. In the Northwest Territories
The Northwest Territories (abbreviated ''NT'' or ''NWT''; french: Territoires du Nord-Ouest, formerly ''North-Western Territory'' and ''North-West Territories'' and namely shortened as ''Northwest Territory'') is a federal territory of Canada. ...
, the '' Official Languages Act'' declares that there are eleven different languages: Chipewyan, Cree
The Cree ( cr, néhinaw, script=Latn, , etc.; french: link=no, Cri) are a Indigenous peoples of the Americas, North American Indigenous people. They live primarily in Canada, where they form one of the country's largest First Nations in Canada ...
, English, French, Gwich'in, Inuinnaqtun, Inuktitut, Inuvialuktun
Inuvialuktun (part of ''Western Canadian Inuit/Inuktitut/Inuktut/Inuktun'') comprises several Inuit language varieties spoken in the northern Northwest Territories by Canadian Inuit who call themselves ''Inuvialuit''. Some dialects and sub-dialec ...
, North Slavey, South Slavey, and Tłįchǫ. Multicultural media are widely accessible across the country and offer specialty television channels, newspapers, and other publications in many minority languages.
In Canada, as elsewhere in the world of European colonies, the frontier of European exploration and settlement tended to be a linguistically diverse and fluid place, as cultures using different languages met and interacted. The need for a common means of communication between the indigenous inhabitants and new arrivals for the purposes of trade, and (in some cases) intermarriage, led to the development of Mixed language
A mixed language is a language that arises among a bilingual group combining aspects of two or more languages but not clearly deriving primarily from any single language. It differs from a creole language, creole or pidgin, pidgin language in that ...
s. Languages like Michif, Chinook Jargon, and Bungi creole tended to be highly localized and were often spoken by only a small number of individuals who were frequently capable of speaking another language. Plains Sign Talk—which functioned originally as a trade language used to communicate internationally and across linguistic borders—reached across Canada, the United States, and into Mexico.
See also
* Canuck
* List of Canadians
* Persons of National Historic Significance
* List of prime ministers of Canada
Notes
References
Bibliography
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
Further reading
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
External links
Canada Year Book 2010
- Statistics Canada
Canada: A People's History - Teacher Resources
- Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
Persons of National Historic Significance in Canada
- Parks Canada
Multicultural Canada
- Department of Canadian Heritage
- Library and Archives Canada
– Library and Archives Canada
– Library and Archives Canada
{{Authority control
Ethnic groups in Canada
North American people
Nansen Refugee Award laureates