Who Are the "Canadians"?: Changing Census Responses, 1986-1996

ABSTRACT/RESUME At the close of the twentieth century, "Canadian" has become the fastest growing ethnic origin group, up from 0.5 percent in 1986 to nearly 4 percent in 1991 and to 31 percent in the 1996 census of Canada. From what groups did this "indigenous" label draw in the five years between the 1986-1991 and the 1991-1996 censuses? Using unpublished tabulations from the 1986, 1991 and 1996 Canadian censuses, this paper traces temporal shifts for a cohort of the Canadian-born age 25-44 in 1986 (and age 34-54 by 1996). We find that most of the increases between 1986 and 1991 in "Canadian" ethnic origin responses are accompanied by intercensal losses in British origin responses. Between 1991 and 1996, increasing Canadian responses went hand in hand with dramatic losses in both the British and French ethnic origin counts. In some provinces, notably the Prairie provinces of Alberta, Manitoba, and Saskatchewan, shifts also occurred out of other ethnic groups. A la fin du [XX.sup. c] siecle, les [much less than] Canadiens [much greater than] sont devenus le [much less than] nouveau [much greater than] groupe d'origine ethnique dont la croissance a ete la plus forte, leur pourcentage passant de 0,5 % en 1986 pres de 4% en 1991 pour atteindre 31 % dans le recensement du Canada de 1996. Quels groupes ont commence a afficher cette etiquette de [much less than] Canadien [much greater than] entre les recensements de 1986-1991 et de 1991-1996? A partir de tableaux inedits des recensements du Canada de 1986, 1991 et 1996, le present document degage les tendances dans le temps pour une cohorte de Canadiens de naissance ages de 25 a 44 ans en 1986 (et de 34 54 ans en 1996). La plupart des augmentations entre 1986 et 1991 dans les reponses indiquant [much less than]Canadien [much greater than] comme origine ethnique s'accompagnent de fortes reductions dans les reponses indiquant une origine britannique. Entre 1991 et 1996, la progression des reponses revelant une origine cana dienne est allee de pair avec de fortes chutes dans le nombre de personnes se disant d'origine britannique ou d'origine francaise. Dans certaines provinces, notamment les provinces des Prairies (Alberta, Manitoba, et Saskatchewan), des reductions ont aussi ete enregistree par d'autres groupes ethniques. INTRODUCTION During the past two decades, North American survey and census questions on ancestry or ethnic origins increasingly obtain responses that invoke "indigenous" labels rather than labels external to the country (Lieberson, 1985; Lieberson and Waters, 1988; Pryor, et. al., 1992). This is especially evident in Canada. "Canadian" single and multiple responses to the census question on ethnic origins increased from 0.5 percent in 1986 to nearly 4 percent in 1991, and escalated to 31 percent in the 1996 census. Canadian became the largest ethnic group, exceeding even the two charter groups of British -- English, Irish, Scottish and/or Welsh -- and French (Renaud and Norris, 1999; Statistics Canada, 1998). Why the change? Conducted between 1972 and 1991, a number of surveys have probed the ethnic affiliations of various groups living in Canada. The resulting analyses have produced three generalizations that are useful for understanding the increasing selection of "Canadian" ethnicity by census respondents. First, the selection of a "Canadian" label was never that unusual for survey respondents during the late twentieth century although response levels did vary with the concept studied (identity versus origins), question wording, and/or the existence of an explicit reference to the term. Second, the percentages of survey respondents who declare "Canadian" varied by metropolitan, provincial, and regional locations. The 1974 and 1991 national surveys on ethnic and multicultural attitudes found that respondents outside Quebec were most likely to reply "Canadian" with those residing in Quebec answering "French-Canadian" in 1974 and "provincial" (Quebecois) in 1991. …