European Canadians

European Canadians (French: les Canadiens Européens), also known as Euro-Canadians, are Canadians with ancestry from Europe.^[2][3][4] They form the largest panethnic group within Canada.

The French were the first Europeans to establish a continuous presence in what is now Canada. Hélène Desportes is considered the first white child born in New France. She was born circa 1620, to Pierre Desportes (born Lisieux, Normandie, France) and Françoise Langlois.^[5]

In the 2016 census, the largest European ancestry groups originated from the British Isles (11,211,850 including 6,320,085 English, 4,799,005 Scottish and 4,627,000 Irish), French (4,680,820), German (3,322,405), Italian (1,587,965).^[6] However, the country’s largest self-reported ethnic origin is “Canadian” (accounting for 11,135,965 of the population). Since 1996, “Canadian” as an ethnic group has been added to census questionnaires for possible ancestry, which likely caused English Canadians, British Canadians and French Canadians to become severely underrepresented. The grouping is similar to that of “American” in neighbouring United States and is most commonly espoused by European Canadians whose ancestors have been some of the earliest European settlers of what is now Canada, to the point where they no longer feel a connection to their countries of origin.^[7] In the 2011 National Household Survey Profile, 10,563,805 people (32.1%) chose “Canadian” as their ethnic group, making it the single largest group in the country.^[8]

Number of European Canadians[edit]

The table shows the European-Canadian population showing a gradual increase from the 1871 Census, however, their proportion of the total Canadian population has been decreasing gradually since the mid-twentieth century to the most recent census in 2016. Canada enumerated its population by race between 1871 and 1971 and ethnic origins.

Today[edit]

European Canadians are still the largest ethnic group in Canada. Elements of Aboriginal, French, British and more recent immigrant customs, languages and religions have combined to form the culture of Canada and thus a Canadian identity. Canada has also been strongly influenced by its linguistic, geographic and economic neighbour, the United States.

The top ten cities as per population of European Canadians (not members of a visible minority and no Aboriginal status) are as follows (2016 Census):

1. Toronto 1,282,750
2. Montreal 1,082,615
3. Calgary 744,625
4. Ottawa 652,650
5. Edmonton 524,265
6. Quebec City 475,720
7. Hamilton 415,740
8. Winnipeg 412,645
9. Halifax 336,375
10. Mississauga 302,375

The top ten such Census Metropolitan Areas (CMAs) are as follows:

1. Montreal 3,070,210
2. Toronto 2,804,630
3. Vancouver 1,179,100
4. Ottawa – Gatineau 981,630
5. Calgary 869,555
6. Edmonton 857,085
7. Quebec City 729,310
8. Hamilton 590,310
9. Winnipeg 473,360
10. Kitchener – Cambridge – Waterloo 407,460

Culture[edit]

European Canadians celebrating Canada Day.

The culture of the Canadians of European descent, European-Canadian culture, is the main culture of Canada. From their earliest presence in North America, European Canadians have contributed literature, art, architecture, cinema and theater, religion and philosophy, ethics, agricultural skills, foods, medicine, science and technology, fashion and clothing styles, music, language, business, economics, legal system, political system, and social and technological innovation to Canadian culture. European-Canadian culture derived its earliest influences from English, French, Scottish, Welsh, and Irish settlers and is quantitatively the largest proportion of Canadian culture. The overall Canadian culture reflects European-Canadian culture, also known as White Canadian culture. The culture has been developing since long before Canada formed a separate country. Much of Canadian culture shows influences from English culture, with later periphery influence, due to 19th-century immigration, from different regions of Europe, such as the customs of Eastern European Canadians. Colonial ties to Great Britain spread the English language, legal system and other cultural attributes.

Canadian flag[edit]

George Stanley designer of the current Canadian flag.

• Canadian flag – In 1964, Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson formed a committee to resolve the issue, sparking a serious debate about a flag change to replace the Union Flag. Out of three choices, the maple leaf design by George Stanley,^[20] based on the flag of the Royal Military College of Canada, was selected. The flag made its first official appearance on February 15, 1965.

Music[edit]

Scottish-Canadian Robert Stanley Weir wrote the lyrics to O Canada.

Another area of cultural influence are Canadian Patriotic songs:

• Canadian National Anthem – Two Canadians of French descent Adolphe-Basile Routhier wrote the lyrics and Calixa Lavallée composed the music in 1880.^[21][22] The English lyrics which is the official and most popular version were written in 1908 by Scottish-Canadian Robert Stanley Weir.^[23]
• The Maple Leaf Forever – is an older but unofficial national anthem written by Scotsman Alexander Muir in 1867.^[24] It was in consideration for official national anthem, however, as no French version was ever written, it was never popular with Francophones.^[25]

Sport[edit]

• Ice Hockey – British soldiers and immigrants to Canada and the United States brought their stick-and-ball games with them and played them on the ice and snow of winter. Ice hockey was first played in Canada during the early nineteenth century, based on similar sports such as field hockey that were played in Europe.^[26] The sport was originally played with a stick and ball, but in 1860 a group of English veterans from the Royal Canadian Rifle Regiment played a game in Kingston, Ontario, utilising a puck for what is believed to be the first time. This match, played on the frozen harbour by the city, is sometimes considered to be the birth of modern ice hockey.^[27]

European ethnic origins table[edit]

Origins	18711	%	19513	%	2006	%	20114	%	Change 2006-2011
Albanian	–	–	–	–	22,395	–	28,270	–	–
Austrian	–	–	32,231	–	194,255	–	197,990	–	–
Belgian	–	–	35,148	–	168,910	–	176,615	–	–
Bosnian	–	–	–	–	21,045		22,920
British Isles	–	–	–	–	403,915		576,030
Other British	7,773	0.2%	92,236
Bulgarian	–	–	–	–	27,255		30,485
Canadian	–	–	–	–	10,066,290	32.22%	10,563,805	32.1%
Croatian	–	–	–	–	110,880		114,880
Czech	–	–	–	–	98,090		94,805
Czech and Slovak	–	–	63,959
Danish	–	–	42,671		200,035		203,080
Dutch	29,662	0.85%	264,267		1,035,965	3.32%	1,067,245	3.2%
English	706,369	20.3%	3,630,344	25.9%	6,570,015	21.03%	6,509,500	19.8%
Estonian	–	–	–	–	23,930		23,180
Finnish	–	–	43,745		131,040		236,215
French (incl. Acadian)	1,082,940	31.07%	4,319,167	30.83%	4,941,210	15.82%	5,077,215	15.4%
German	202,991	5.82%	619,995		3,179,425	10.18%	3,203,330	9.7%
Greek	39	0.0%	13,966		242,685		252,960
Hungarian	–	–	60,460		315,510		316,765
Icelandic	–	–	23,307		88,875		94,205
Irish	846,414	24.3%	1,439,635		4,354,155	13.94%	4,544,870	13.8%
Italian	1,035	0.03%	152,245		1,445,335	4.63%	1,488,425	4.5%
Latvian	–	–	–	–	27,870		27,355
Liechtensteiner	–	–	–	–
Lithuanian	–	–	16,224		46,690		49,130
Luxembourger	–	–	–	–	3,160		3,790
Macedonian	–	–	–	–	37,055		36,985
Maltese	–	–	–	–	37,120		38,780
Moldovan	–	–	–	–			8,050
Monégasque	–	–	–	–
Montenegrin	–	–	–	–	2,370		2,970
Norwegian	–	–	119,266		432,515		452,705
Polish	–	–	219,845		984,565	3.15%	1,010,705
Portuguese	–	–	–	–	410,850	1.25%	429,850	1.28%
Romanian	–	–	23,601		192,170		204,625
Russian	607	0.02%	91,279		500,600	1.60%	550,520
Scandinavian2	1,623	0.0%	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
Scottish	549,946	15.8%	1,547,470		4,719,850	15.11%	4,714,970	14.3%
Serbian	–	–	–	–	72,690		80,320
Slovak	–	–	–	–	64,145		66,545
Slovene	–	–	–	–	35,935		37,170
Sammarinese	–	–	–	–
Spanish	–	–	–	–	325,730	1.04%	368,305
Swedish	–	–	97,780		334,765	1.07%	341,845
Swiss	2,962	0.1%			137,775		146,830
Ukrainian	–	–	395,043		1,209,085	3.87%	1,251,170	3.8%
Welsh					440,965	1.41%	458,705
Yugoslav	–	–	21,404		65,305		48,320
Other European	3,791	0.0%	35,616		35,795		48,760
Total British	2,110,502	60.6%	6,709,685	47.89%
Canada	3,433,315	98.49%	13,582,574	96.83%			20,157,9654	N/A
^1 First census of the Canadian federation.[12] The figures for 1871 are for the four original provinces only. ^2 Includes Danish, Icelandic, Norwegian and Swedish.^3 Canada 1951 Census[28][29]2006 Canada Census[30] ^4 Canada 2011 Census National Household Survey: Data tables[31] An extra 32% or 10,563,805 people identified as “Canadian” as their ethnic group, many are of European origins.

Prime Ministers[edit]

Most of the heritage that all twenty-three Canadian Prime Ministers come from (or in some combination thereof): is British (English, Scottish, Ulster Scot or Welsh) ancestry. Later Canadian Prime Ministers’ ancestry can often be traced to ancestors from multiple nations in Europe.

See also[edit]

• European diaspora
• Métis people (Canada)
• Ethnic origins of people in Canada
• Eastern European Canadians
• European Americans
• Demographics of Canada