Canada's Ethnocultural Mosaic, 2006 Census: National picture

The population's ethnocultural make-up by generational status

Census data also allows for the analysis of the nation's population aged 15 years and over on the basis of generational status. Generational status indicates for how many generations a person and their family have been in Canada.

People who are first generation are themselves foreign-born. The second generation refers to those who are Canadian-born and have at least one parent who was born outside Canada. The third generation or more are people who are Canadian-born and whose parents and possibly grandparents were Canadian-born. For more details on generation status, please refer to the Definitions.

A majority of the population aged 15 and over was third generation or more, that is, their family went back at least three generations in the country. The 2006 Census enumerated an estimated 15.5 million such people, or 60.5% of the total population aged 15 and over.

The highest proportion of the third generation or more reported Canadian as their ethnic origin. Close to one-half (46.6%) of the 15.5 million of the third generation reported Canadian as their origin, either alone or in combination with other origins. Furthermore, 42.4% of individuals who were at least third generation in Canada reported British Isles origins, either alone or in combination with other origins. About 23.8% reported European origins; 23.0%, French origins; and 7.0%, Aboriginal ancestries.

The 2006 Census enumerated about 4.0 million second generation individuals who were born inside Canada and had at least one parent who was born outside Canada. They accounted for 15.6% of the population aged 15 and over.

The largest proportion of the second generation (53.9%) reported European origins either as their only ethnic origin or in combination with other origins. The most common European origins were German (13.1%), Italian (11.0%), Dutch (6.3%) and Ukrainian (5.3%). These were groups that first immigrated to Canada in relatively large numbers in the early part of the 1900s.

Slightly over four in 10 (41.1%) second generation individuals reported British Isles origins, reflecting long-standing immigration from the British Isles. Another 15.3% reported Canadian origin and 1.8% reported Aboriginal ancestries.

The 2006 Census enumerated 6.1 million individuals who were born outside Canada and comprised the first generation in the country. They accounted for 23.9% of the population aged 15 and over.

The ethnic composition of the first generation reflected the more recent sources of immigration to Canada. Nearly one-quarter (24.0%) of the first generation reported East and Southeast Asian origins, either alone or with other origins, and about one in 7 (13.8%) reported South Asian origins.

The most common groups among these origins of the first generation were Chinese, who accounted for 15.0% of the first generation; East Indian, who accounted for 10.0%; Filipino (4.7%); and Vietnamese (1.9%).

People of European origins made up slightly over one-third (34.3%) of the first generation population. The leading groups were Italian, comprising 6% of all the first generation population, followed by German (5.8%), Polish (3.5%) and Portuguese (3.2%).

An additional 14.2% of the first generation aged 15 and over reported British Isles origins, either alone or with other origins.

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