Almost six million individuals identified their ethnicity as “Canadian” in the census, according to Statistics Canada data..For years, census takers did not consider “Canadian” as a distinct ethnic group, which resulted in public protest.. People at a party .“We don’t choose the ethnic categories on the census,” Chief Statistician Anil Arora testified at 2020 hearings of the Commons Languages committee..“They reflect the responses from the previous census. The ethnic aspect is changing a lot as the years go by. The ‘Canadian’ category was one example we included in the census to reflect responses from the previous census.”.According to Blacklock’s Reporter, StatsCan released figures on responses to Question 23 on the last long-form census that asked, “What were the ethnic or cultural origins of this person’s ancestors?” .A total of 5,667,205 answered “Canadian,” the largest single ethnic group..According to the census, there were 5.3 million individuals who identified as English, 3.9 million as French, 4.4 million as Irish, 4.4 million as Scottish, 2.9 million as German, 1.7 million as Chinese, 1.5 million as Italian, 1.3 million as Ukrainian, and 1.3 million as Indian..Questionnaires also identified thousands of Canadians who tied ethnicity to their home province. The census counted:.981,640 who listed “Québecois” as their ethnic or cultural origin91,670 who answered “Newfoundlander”80,550 who answered “Ontarian”47,675 who answered “New Brunswicker”44,725 who answered “Nova Scotian”32,575 who answered “Albertan”24,325 who answered “British Columbian”15,785 who answered “Saskatchewanian”13,095 who answered “Manitoban”7,225 who answered “Prince Edward Islander”.The census also revealed that some individuals identified themselves ethnically as Acadian (305,175), Franco Ontarian (24,110), Pennsylvania Dutch (17,320), Gaspesian (15,650), Cape Bretoner (13,065), United Empire Loyalist (10,020), or African Nova Scotian (6,480)..“Often referred to as a person’s ancestral ‘roots,’ ethnic or cultural origins should not be confused with citizenship, nationality, language or place of birth,” said a StatsCan Ethnic or Cultural Origin Reference Guide..“Responses to the ethnic or cultural origins questions on the census reflect respondents’ perceptions of their background. As such many factors can influence changes in responses over time.”.After a public outcry over no national self-identification option in the 1991 census, StatsCan allowed individuals to identify their ethnicity as “Canadian.”.“How many generations do we have to go back before we’re Canadian?” Mel Hurtig, Edmonton publisher of the Canadian Encyclopedia, told reporters at the time.
