Canadian as National Ethnic Origin: Trends and Implications

This paper examines the emergence of "Canadian" as a national ethnic origin by conducting: (i) a trend analysis on identifying as "Canadian" using microdata from the 1991, 1996, and 2001 Censuses of Canada; and (ii) descriptive and multivariate analyses to examine characteristics associated with identifying as "Canadian." The trend analysis reveals large and statistically significant increases in identification as "Canadian." Several factors, including birth in Canada, French language background, Quebec residence, lower education, younger age, and non-metropolitan residence are associated with identifying as "Canadian." Estimating logistic regression models for three language groups-Anglophones, Francophones, and English and French bilinguals-for each census show similar (e.g., education, age) and different (e.g., religion, province) effects of explanatory variables for language groups and over time, and also confirm the important role of a French language background. By 2001, for example, Francophones were more than three times as likely as Anglophones to identify as "Canadian." We discuss possible explanations for the findings, including "Canadian" ethnic identification as a reaction to increased immigration and different meanings of "Canadian" ethnicity for Anglophones and Francophones; several areas for future research; and implications of new national ethnic identities such as "Canadian" for studying ethnicity.