Canadian ethnicity

Canadian ethnicity refers to the self-identification of one's ethnic origin or ancestral roots as being Canadian.^{[note 1][2][3]} It was added as a possible response for an ethnic origin in the Canadian census in 1996. The majority of respondents are white Canadians from the eastern part of the country. The response is attributed to generational distance from European ancestors.^[4][5]

Canadians with ancestral origins in the British Isles and France are the most likely groups to identify ethnically as Canadian.^[2] As their languages, traditions, and cultural practices largely define Canadian society,^[6] many do not see themselves as linked to any other nation or ethnic group. Nonetheless, most English-speaking Old Stock Canadians still identify ethnically with their European ancestry, while French-speaking Old Stock Canadians are more likely to identify ethnically as Canadian or with other North American identities (such as Québécois or Acadian) than with European ones.^[3]

Indigenous Canadians do not identify ethnically as Canadian, identifying instead with their First Nation group, as Inuit, or as Métis.

"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.^[7]

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