5.3.5 Canadian Identity Today

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5.3.5 Canadian Identity Today

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Don't forget the Aboriginal cultures already existed in North America before immigrants from France and Britain settled in Canada. However, into the 1920s and onward, many new immigrants arrived in Canada from cultures that were quite different from the existing Aboriginal, British, and French peoples.

With the original Aboriginal people, through the settlement of the British and the French, and immigration in the 1920s and onward, Canada's culture has become more multicultural and pluralistic.

The graph from Statistics Canada below shows the period from 1852 to 2014. Note how immigration numbers to Canada have fluctuated over the years. This fluctuation can be attributed to immigration policy changes, Canada's economic stability, and other significant world events. For example, the number of people entering Canada between 1914 to 1918 dropped dramatically due to World War I, whereas the resettlement of over 40 000 Syrian refugees due to conflict in Syria since 2015 has resulted in increases in immigration numbers.


Through the changing ethnic makeup of its citizens, Canada has developed a multicultural identity.