Practise this chapter
This chapter of Discover Canada asks a simple question: who are Canadians? The answer begins with three founding peoples — Aboriginal, French and British — and continues with newcomers from every part of the world. On the citizenship test, expect questions on the three Aboriginal groups, the two official languages, the Acadians and Quebecers, and Canada’s cultural and religious diversity.
Aboriginal peoples
The ancestors of Aboriginal peoples are believed to have migrated from Asia many thousands of years ago, long before European explorers reached North America. Today the term covers three separate groups:
| Group | Key facts |
|---|---|
| First Nations | Aboriginal people who are neither Inuit nor Métis. The name came into use in the 1970s; the older legal term is “Indian.” Many live on reserves, and most of the rest live in cities. The largest of the three groups. |
| Inuit | The name means “the people” in Inuktitut, their language. They live in small communities scattered across the Arctic, relying on deep knowledge of the land, sea and wildlife. The smallest of the three groups. |
| Métis | A distinct people of mixed Aboriginal and European ancestry. Most live in the Prairie provinces. They speak their own language, Michif, and have French- and English-speaking roots. |
Rights and a painful chapter
- The Royal Proclamation of 1763, issued by King George III after Britain took control of New France, was the first guarantee of Aboriginal territorial rights and became the basis for treaty negotiations.
- Canada’s Constitution protects both Aboriginal rights and treaty rights, even though treaties were not always honoured in the past.
- From the 1800s until the 1980s, the federal government placed many Aboriginal children in residential schools to assimilate them. Their languages and traditions were mostly forbidden, the schools were poorly funded, and many students suffered hardship and abuse. Ottawa formally apologized in 2008.
English and French
English and French are Canada’s two official languages, so federal government services are available in both across the country. A Francophone is someone whose first language is French; an Anglophone is someone whose first language is English. Most Francophones live in Quebec, with large communities in Ontario, New Brunswick and Manitoba. New Brunswick is the only officially bilingual province.
Acadians
Acadians descend from French colonists who began settling in today’s Maritime provinces in 1604. During the war between Britain and France, more than two-thirds of them were driven from their homeland between 1755 and 1763 — the Great Upheaval. Acadian identity survived, and the culture is vibrant today.
Quebecers
Quebecers are the people of Quebec. Most speak French and descend from about 8,500 French settlers who arrived in the 1600s and 1700s. In 2006 the House of Commons recognized that Quebecers form a nation within a united Canada — a recognition, not independence.
English Canadians
From the 1600s into the 20th century, English, Welsh, Scottish and Irish settlers, soldiers and migrants shaped life in the English-speaking parts of Canada. The British North America Act of 1867 speaks of “peace, order and good government,” a phrase that sums up this heritage.
A diverse society
- Canada is called a land of immigrants, yet most Canadians have been born in Canada since the 1800s.
- Since the 1970s, most newcomers have come from Asian countries; earlier waves came mostly from Europe.
- John Buchan, Lord Tweedsmuir (Governor General 1935–1940), held that newcomers could keep their own identity while sharing a common loyalty to Canada.
- Most Canadians are Christians, and Catholics are the largest religious group. The numbers of Muslims, Jews, Hindus, Sikhs and people of other faiths are growing, and many people have no religion.
- Governments have long partnered with faith communities in education, health care, social welfare and refugee resettlement.
- Gay and lesbian Canadians are fully protected and treated equally under the law, including the right to civil marriage.
- Newcomers are expected to embrace democratic values such as the rule of law; conflicts and hatreds from elsewhere have no place in Canada.
Common mix-ups
- Acadians vs Quebecers vs Métis. Acadians are descendants of French colonists in the Maritimes; Quebecers are the people of Quebec; Métis are a mixed Aboriginal–European people, mostly on the Prairies.
- The only officially bilingual province is New Brunswick, not Quebec — Quebec’s official language is French.
- 2006 vs 1980 and 1995. 2006 is the recognition of Quebecers as a nation; 1980 and 1995 are Quebec’s two referendums on separation.
- 2008 vs 1982. 2008 is the residential schools apology; 1982 is the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
- 1604, 1608, 1755. Acadian settlement begins; Champlain founds Quebec City; the deportation of the Acadians begins.
- Great Upheaval vs Quiet Revolution. The first is the Acadian deportation (1755–1763); the second is the change that swept Quebec in the 1960s.
- “Largest” questions. First Nations are the largest Aboriginal group and Inuit the smallest; Catholics, not Protestants, are the largest religious group.
- Cree and Haida are individual First Nations, not a fourth group. Aboriginal languages such as Cree and Inuktitut are important but are not national official languages.