So tell me who are the Canadians ah?"It
is a strength and not a weakness
that we are a permanently incomplete experiment built on a triangular
foundation - aboriginal, francophone and anglophone. What we continue
to create today, began 450 years ago as a political project, when the
French first met with the Aboriginal people. It is an old experiment,
complex and, in worldly terms, largely successful. Stumbling through
darkness and racing through light, we have persisted in the creation of
a Canadian civilization."
-Her
Excellency the Right
Honourable Adrienne Clarkson, October 7, 1999
Canada Population and Ethnicity Canada's 2006 census counted a total population of 31,612,897, an increase of 5.4% since 2001. Population growth is from immigration and, to a lesser extent, natural growth. About three-quarters of Canada's population live within 150 kilometers (90 mi) of the US border. A similar proportion live in urban areas concentrated in the Quebec City-Windsor Corridor (notably the Greater Golden Horseshoe including Toronto and area, Montreal, and Ottawa), the BC Lower Mainland (consisting of the region surrounding Vancouver), and the Calgary-Edmonton Corridor in Alberta. According to the 2006 census, there are 43 ethnic origins that at least one hundred thousand people in Canada claim in their background. The largest ethnic group is English (21%), followed by French (15.8%), Scottish (15.2%), Irish (13.9%), German (10.2%), Italian (5%), Chinese (4%), Ukrainian (3.6%), and First Nations (3.5%); Approximately, one third of respondents identified their ethnicity as "Canadian". Canada's aboriginal population is growing almost twice as fast as the Canadian average, and 3.8% of Canada's population claimed aboriginal identity in 2006. Also, 16.2% of the population belonged to non-aboriginal visible minorities.Immigration in Canada Canada has the highest per capita immigration rate in the world, driven by economic policy and family reunification; Canada also accepts large numbers of refugees. Newcomers settle mostly in the major urban areas of Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal. According to Statistics Canada's forecasts, the number of visible minorities in Canada is expected to double by 2017. A survey released in 2007 reveals that virtually 1 in 5 Canadians (19.8%) are foreign born.Nearly 60% of new immigrants hail from Asia (including the Middle East). References: 1. Book of Canada Heritage From Canada People to Canada Culture. From Canada People to Canada Mongolia Connection.
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