Patterns of Ethnic Identification and the 'Canadian' Response

ABSTRACT/RESUME In this study, we use the 1993 National Census Test to examine patterns of ethnic identification in Canada particularly with respect to those reporting Canadian as an ethnic origin. We find that people reporting Canadian as an ethnic origin have very similar attributes to those who report either British or French but are not similar to those reporting origins other than British or French. Thus, despite the fact that there is a high proportion of people reporting Canadian, this reporting does not have a visible impact on the reporting of minority ethnic groups. Dans cette etude, nous analysons le profil de l'dentite ethnique au Canada, Particulierement chez les recenses qui repondent "canadien" a Ia question sur l'origine ethnique, en nous servant des resultats du Test du recensement national de 1993. Nous constatons que les personnes qui repondent "canadien" a la question sur I'origine ethnique ont des caracteristiques tres semblables a celles des personnes qui disent etre d'origine britannique ou francaise, mais differentes de celles des personnes qui declarent une origine ethnique autre que britannique ou francaise. II semble donc que meme si une proportion relativement elevee de gens disent etre d'origine canadienne, cette tendance n'influe pas sur les habitudes de declaration des membres de minorites ethniques. Purpose and Background There has been a great deal of discussion both in the popular press and the political arena regarding the validity of the ethnicity question and the reporting of Canadian as an ethnic origin. The purpose of this study is to understand the patterns of ethnic identification and assess the impact of an increased 'Canadian' response rate on the validity of the ethnicity question. Our central question is to determine the degree to which the reporting of Canadian as an ethnic origin distorts the reporting of other origins (i.e.: to what degree are people reporting Canadian at the expense of their other ethnic identifications). The impetus for this study stems from two sources. First, in the 1996 census, the format of the ethnicity question was changed substantially and Canadian was added to the list of examples. The new question format means that it will be very difficult, if not impossible, to compare data from previous census years. As well, it has been shown in previous National Census Tests that including Canadian as an example markedly increases the number of people who report Canadian as an ethnic origin. Second, presentations made by representatives from Statistics Canada suggested that Statistics Canada wishes to remove the question from the 2001 Census on the grounds that it is difficult and expensive to code, it imposes a response burden and is politically sensitive. Further, given that there is a marked increase in the proportion of respondents writing in Canadian as an ethnic origin, the interpretation of the results are seen as ambiguous. Because data from the 1996 Census were not available at the time of analysis, we used the National Census Test which was conducted in 1993. The National Census Test was administered to a representative sample of Canadian households and tests the 1996 Census questionnaire and methodology. It contains all the relevant information to undertake such an analysis. This paper is divided into two parts. Part one reviews the way in which ethnicity data is collected by the Census and the changes to the question between 1991 and 1996. Part two examines the responses to the ethnic origin question from the 1993 National Census Test, using descriptive and discriminant analysis in order to determine the degree to which people responding Canadian are similar or not similar to people reporting other origins. The Ethnic Origin Questions in the Census Ethnicity is a multifaceted concept. Criteria for membership in an ethnic group can include, among other things, self-categorization or identification, descent, specific cultural traits such as custom or language and a social organization for interaction both within the group and with people outside the group. …