Country of Birth of Parents and Ethnic Origins-A Comparison of Reporting Patterns in the 2001 Census

ABSTRACT/RESUME The 2001 Census of Canada has questions on the "Country of Birth of Parents" as well as the more traditional "Ethnic Origin. " It has been suggested that, given the ambiguities in the ethnic origins data, they could be replaced by the country of birth of parents data. It is argued in this paper that such a decision would effectively create two classes of Canadians--True Canadians, who are primarily of Western European descent, and Immigrant Canadians, who are primarily from Southern Europe and the Third World. Specifically, the paper examines the historical continuity in the 1996--2001 ethnic origins data, the extent to which specific ethnic origins were reported by persons whose parents were born in Canada, the countries of birth of fathers and mothers, and the extent to which reported ethnic origins are associated with specific countries. Alternative data sources for some of the ethnic origins data from the Census are explored. The paper concludes with some of the ramifications for the Department of Canadian Heritage if country of birth of parents were to replace ethnic origin. Le recensement canadien de 2001 contient une question sur le pays de naissance des parents et une question plus traditionnelle sur l'origine ethnique. On a propose que, compte tenu de l'ambiguite des donnees sur l'origine ethnique, elles pourraient etre remplacees par les donnees sur le pays de naissance des parents. L'auteur de ce document soutient qu'une telle decision creerait en fait deux types de Canadiens : les vrais Canadiens, qui sont principalement originaires d'Europe occidentale, et les Canadiens immigrants, qui viennent surtout d'Europe du Sud et des pays du Tiers Monde. Plus precisement, le document examine la continuite historique des donnees sur l'origine ethnique entre 1996 et 2001, la mesure dans laquelle une origine ethnique precise a ete declaree par les personnes dont les parents sont nes au Canada, le pays de naissance du pere et de la mere et la mesure dans laquelle l'origine ethnique declaree est liee a un pays precis. D'autres sources de donnees sont suggerees pour les donnees sur l'origine ethnique tirees du recensement. Le document conclut en mentionnant certaines repercussions, pour le ministere du Patrimoine canadien, si la question sur le pays de naissance des parents devait remplacer la question sur l'origine ethnique. INTRODUCTION Immigration has been and continues to be a major component of the growth of the Canadian population. According to the 2001 Census, 2 in 5 Canadian residents aged 15 and above are either born outside Canada themselves, or one or both of their parents were born outside Canada. It is therefore not surprising that there is considerable interest in the immigrant component of the population, both among the general public and among those responsible for public policy. This interest is reflected in the Canadian census by the inclusion of questions on: - languages other than English and French; - ethnic origins and visible minority status; - country of birth of respondent and country of birth of each of the respondent's parents; - the year of first immigration; period of first immigration, and age at first immigration; - religion. This paper focuses on the "Country of Birth of Parents" data and their relationship to the "Ethnic Origin" data. (1) Ethnic origin, and its predecessor, "race" or "racial" origin, has been asked in some form or other in every census since 1871. Up to and including the 1971 census, only one racial origin or ethnic origin was to be reported, and only one origin was retained for analysis, even if the respondent had more than one cultural or ethnic or racial origin. The criteria to force the reporting of only one origin gradually evolved to the reporting of only the origin of the paternal ancestor. In response to a need for data on Metis (an origin deemed to be impossible to trace using paternal ancestry as the paternal ancestor would be either Aboriginal or European), and to remove some of the known inconsistencies in the data, respondents were allowed to report more than one ethnic origin in 1981, a practice which has been continued in subsequent censuses. …