Canadian ethnicity

Canadian ethnicity refers to the self-identification of one's ethnic origin or ancestral roots as being Canadian. It was added as a possible response for an ethnic origin in the Canadian census in 1996. The identification is attributed primarily to White Canadians who do not identify with their ancestral ethnic origins due generational distance from European ancestors. The identification is more common in eastern parts of the country that were first settled by Europeans than in the rest of the country.

Canadians with ancestral roots in France and the British Isles are the most likely groups to identify or perceive their ethnic origin as Canadian. As their languages, traditions, and cultural practices largely define Canadian society, 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. Most English-speaking Canadians whose families have lived in Canada for multiple generations identify with their European ethnic ancestry, and Canadian ethnic identity among them is significantly less common than among French Canadians.

Indigenous Canadians generally do not perceive 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 ethnic groups are the First Nations groups, Inuit, and Métis. Canadians with non-European or Indigenous origins (referred to as "visible minorities") may choose "Canadian" to express a Canadian "ethno-cultural ancestry". In 2001, 8% of all visible minorities (including those mixed with non-visible minority groups) reported a "Canadian" response. 5.9% of the Black Canadian population (91,850 people) reported the response in 2021 (2.5% as a single origin).

"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.