page_title: Scottish Canadians
section_title: Ontario
hierarchical_section_title: Scottish Canadians / Cultural influence / Ontario
caption_attribution_description: English: Last Spike of the CPR - Craigellachie, British Columbia, Canada. Donald Alexander Smith driving the last spike of the Canadian Pacific Railway. Also in the photo are (generally left to right) Albert Bowman Rogers (Surveyor), Michael Haney (Contractor), William Cornelius Van Horne (CPR Manager), Sir Sandford Fleming, Edward Mallandaine (teenager), Henry Cambie (engineer), John Egan (General Superintendent), Sam Steele (NorthWest Mounted Police), James Ross (engineer). The man at the rear of the photo, just right of centre, with a white cowboy hat and moustache, is reputed to be Tom Wilson, guide &amp; outfitter &amp; the first white man to see Lake Louise.
context_page_description: Scottish Canadians are people of Scottish descent or heritage living in Canada. As the third-largest ethnic group in Canada and amongst the first Europeans to settle in the country, Scottish people have made a large impact on Canadian culture since colonial times. According to the 2016 Census of Canada, the number of Canadians claiming full or partial Scottish descent is 4,799,010, or 13.93% of the nation's total population. Prince Edward Island has the highest population of Scottish descendants at 41%.
  The Scots-Irish Canadians are a similar ethnic group. They descended from Lowland Scots people via Ulster and observe many of the same traditions as Scots.
context_section_description: Glengarry County in modern day-Ontario is a historic region with much Scottish background. This is because it is the site of where many Scottish Highlanders settled after the Highland Clearances. Scottish Gaelic / Canadian Gaelic is a spoken language in the county, but the number of speakers has declined to a great degree. Maxville Public School in Maxville, Glengarry still offers the language. Also known in the region are the Glengarry Highland Games where many Scottish competitions are held to celebrate Scottish Culture. The chief Scottish town in Glengarry was Cornwall, located in modern-day Ontario. It was reinforced in 1786 when The McDonald arrived at Quebec from Greenock with 520 new pioneers. Soon immigrants came from all parts of Scotland to make it one of the most important Scots-Canadian communities. The Glengarry clansmen managed to get away from their homelands before the British Government's embargo during the war with Napoleon. Many other retired officials from the Hudson's Bay Company joined the Glengarry Settlements.
  Another famous Scottish area that came to exert great influence in Ontario was the Perth Settlement, another region of Scottish and military origin. Unemployment and suffering following the end of the Napoleonic Wars caused the British government to reverse its former policies and actively encourage emigration. In 1815, three loaded transports set sail from Greenock for Upper Canada: the Atlas, the Baptiste Merchant and the Borothy. After the War of 1812 ended, many soldiers from the disbanded regiments joined them. In 1816, some Scots-Irish from Ulster arrived in the area. Many Perth families became prominent in both provincial and national governments.
  An educational institution of Scottish origin is Queen's University in Kingston "the Aberdeen of Canada", founded largely through the efforts of noted scholar George Munroe Grant. Numerous educational institutions have Scottish influence, one being Sir John A. Macdonald Collegiate Institute, a secondary school located in Toronto, Ontario. The crest contains a map of Canada and the symbols of the Macdonald clan: a white coronet, a mailed fist, and crossed crosslets. Red, Royal Purple, and White, which predominate in the tartan of Sir John's family clan, Clanranald.
caption: Lord Strathcona drives the last spike of the Canadian Pacific Railway at Craigellachie, November 7, 1885.
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