I__. - International Military Testing Association

s record populations fewer than 10,000 members, with a considerable number
Of grcJUps registering 3 , 0 0 0 Or less. In terms of large groups, there are
only 11 which register more than 250,000 members excluding persons of
British or French origins (Multiculturalism and Citizenship Canada, 1990).
Canada's ethnic composition has changed substantially since the end
of World War II. Duri.ng the earliest period of Canadian immigration
history, immigrants arrived largely from Britain and France. After 1945,
they came increasingly from other countries in Western and Eastern Europe
and from the United States. More recently, immigrants to Canada have come
primarily from Asia, Africa, the Caribbean, and Central and South America
- although between 1973 and 1980, Europe was still the single largest
source of immigrants. Immigration levels have fluctuated between 30,000
in 1945 to a peak of 282,000 in 1957. Current immigration projections for
the 1990s are between 150,000 and 175,000 per year.
The composition of ethnic populations varies from province to
province. While people with British origins make up the largest
proportion of the population in all provinces except Quebec, the size of
this proportion varies from 90% in Newfoundland to 30% in Manitoba and
Saskatchewan. Persons horn outside of Canada currently comprise a larger
part of the Canadian population than at any other time. This foreign born
m-w, the majority (80%) of whom are Canadian citizens, now represents
approximately 15% of the Canadian population. Most immigrants (53%) live
in three cities: Toronto (32%), Montreal (12%) and Vancouver (lo%),
although the specific ethnic mixes for each of these cities is different
(Multiculturalism and Citizenship Canada, 1990).
The main source of information about ethnic populations has heen
the Canadian Census. In the past, census data have used such narrow
indicators of ethnic origin as language spoken at home, mother tongue,
Paternal ancestry, and country of origin. The 1986 Statistics Canada
definition of ethnicity is based upon ethnic origin as it refers to one's
cultural ancestral roots, and may therefore reflect ancestry, nationality,
race, language or religion, hut should not he confused with citizenship or
nationality in the strictest sense (Statistics Canada, 1988). In 1986,
for the first time, the census recorded both single and multiple ethnic
origins in order to establish a more accurate picture of the ethnic
make-up of Canada's population. As a result, a substantial proportion
(282) of Canadians jndicated multiple origins in their ancestry. Given
the multiplicity and changing nature of the definition of ethnicity and
the increasing numbers of multiple origin members, caution should be
exercised not to use Canadian ethnic origins in any ahsolute way-
Canada's largest ethnic origin groups are; 8.4 million British
only, 6.1 million exclusively French origins, and 1.2 million both British
and French. Almost 9.4 million Canadians indicated at least one ethnic
origin other than British or French, and more than 6 million Canadians
reported having non-British and non-French ethnic roots (Multiculturalism
and Citizenship Canada, 1990). Table 1 is based on 1986 census data and
shows the ten largest ethnic groups in Canada. The CF is dominated by
members of British and French origin. The under-representation of most
other ethnic groups is apparent by examining Table 2 census data
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