Chapter 3 of 11
Who We Are
Official sourceDiscover Canada — the Government of Canada study guide
Chapter 3 of 11
Official sourceDiscover Canada — the Government of Canada study guide
Canadians are bound together by a shared commitment to the rule of law and to the institutions of parliamentary democracy. Canada's three founding peoples are Aboriginal, French, and British. The country is also a land of immigrants and a multicultural society.
Canada has two official languages: English and French. About 18 million people speak English as their first language (Anglophones) and about 7 million speak French (Francophones). The federal government must provide services in both official languages. New Brunswick is the only officially bilingual province. The majority of Francophones live in Quebec, where more than three-quarters of the population speaks French as a first language.
The Constitution of Canada recognizes three groups of Aboriginal peoples:
Aboriginal and treaty rights are protected in the Canadian Constitution. The Royal Proclamation of 1763, issued by King George III, established the framework for how the British Crown dealt with Aboriginal lands and is considered a key document in Aboriginal rights.
From the 1800s to the 1980s, Indian residential schools separated Aboriginal children from their families to assimilate them into mainstream culture. The schools caused great suffering. In 2008, the Government of Canada formally apologized to former students of residential schools.
The are descendants of French colonists who settled in what are now the Maritime provinces beginning in 1604. During the of , the British deported more than two-thirds of the Acadians from their homeland during the long war with France. Despite this ordeal, the Acadians survived and maintained their distinct identity. Today they live mainly in New Brunswick and parts of Nova Scotia, and their culture is an important part of Canada's heritage.
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The majority of Francophones live in the province of Quebec. Quebecers are the descendants of French settlers from the 1600s and 1700s. English-speaking Quebecers (sometimes called Anglo-Quebecers) have a long history in Quebec, with roots going back more than 200 years. They have their own distinct institutions, including schools, hospitals, and community organizations.
The majority of Canadians identify as Christian. Roman Catholics form the largest single group, followed by various Protestant denominations. There are also growing communities of Muslims, Jews, Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, and people who claim no religion.
Canadians come from a wide range of ethnic backgrounds. The largest groups include English, French, Scottish, Irish, German, Italian, Chinese, Ukrainian, Dutch, South Asian, and Scandinavian. Since the 1970s, most newcomers have come from Asian countries.