Canadian citizenship test · Discover Canada chapter 2 · 5 min read

Canada's three founding peoples, the First Nations, Inuit and Metis, English and French Canada, the Acadians and Quebecers, and the diversity of Canada today. Study notes for the Canadian citizenship test.

Why this chapter matters

This section explains the groups that shaped Canada. Questions often ask you to match a people to a description: who the Metis are, what the word Inuit means, where the Acadians came from, or which province is officially bilingual.

A strong and free country

• Canada has the oldest continuous constitutional tradition in the world and is the only constitutional monarchy in North America.
• Its institutions are committed to Peace, Order and Good Government, a key phrase from the British North America Act of 1867, Canada's original constitutional document.
• Canada has three founding peoples: Aboriginal, French and British.

Aboriginal peoples

• Their ancestors are believed to have come from Asia many thousands of years ago, long before European explorers arrived.
• Aboriginal and treaty rights are written into the Constitution. Territorial rights were first guaranteed by the Royal Proclamation of 1763 issued by King George III, which became the basis for treaties with newcomers, though those treaties were not always honoured in full.
• For well over a century, until the 1980s, Ottawa sent many Aboriginal children to residential schools meant to assimilate them. The schools were poorly funded, students suffered hardship and some were abused, and Aboriginal languages and customs were mostly banned. In 2008 Ottawa formally apologized to former students.

The term Aboriginal peoples covers three distinct groups:

First Nations are the largest of the three groups and the Inuit the smallest. (The guide gives shares of about 65%, 30% and 4% from the census of its day; census figures change, so learn the order rather than the numbers.)

English and French

• Canadian society grew largely out of the English-speaking and French-speaking Christian civilizations brought from Europe.
• English and French are the official languages. By law the federal government must offer services across Canada in both.
• Anglophones speak English as a first language; Francophones speak French as a first language. Most Francophones live in Quebec, but about one million live in Ontario, New Brunswick and Manitoba.
• New Brunswick is the only officially bilingual province.

Acadians

• Descendants of French colonists who began settling in today's Maritime provinces in 1604.
• Between 1755 and 1763, during war between Britain and France, more than two-thirds were deported. This is called the Great Upheaval.
• They survived it, and Acadian culture remains a lively part of French-speaking Canada.

Quebecers

• Most are descendants of about 8,500 French settlers of the 1600s and 1700s.
• In 2006 the House of Commons recognized that the Quebecois form a nation within a united Canada.
• About one million Anglo-Quebecers have a heritage there going back 250 years.

English-speaking Canada

English, Welsh, Scottish and Irish settlers, soldiers and migrants set the basic way of life in English-speaking areas from the 1600s to the 20th century. That is why Anglophones are generally called English Canadians.

Diversity in Canada

• Most Canadians were born in Canada, and this has been true since the 1800s, yet Canada is often called a land of immigrants.
• Among the largest ethnic groups the guide lists are the English, French, Scottish and Irish, together with Chinese, Italian, German, Aboriginal, Ukrainian, Dutch, South Asian and Scandinavian Canadians. Most immigrants since the 1970s have come from Asian countries.
• In Vancouver and Toronto, two of the biggest cities, Chinese languages come second only to English as languages spoken at home.
• Most Canadians identify as Christians; the largest group is Catholic, followed by various Protestant churches. Other faiths, and people with no religion, are growing in number.
• Gay and lesbian Canadians have full protection and equal treatment under the law, including access to civil marriage.
• Newcomers are expected to accept democratic values such as the rule of law. Conflicts people lived through elsewhere are no excuse for bringing violent or hateful prejudice to Canada.

Check yourself

1. Which founding people was here first, and which two came from Europe?
2. Which language do many Metis speak?
3. What was the Great Upheaval?
4. Which province is officially bilingual?
5. Since which decade have most immigrants come from Asia?