The Diversity of SSP Canada: What's your ethnic origin?

[Acajack]

OK, I will go first.

I am very predominantly of French origin, although as far as I know most people I descend from had families already in Canada in the first part of the 1600s. On the French side I am a mix of Acadian and Quebec (New France) origins. More Acadian than Québécois though.

I also have according to official family trees a bit of Irish (19th century) and in the 20th century I have some more recent Middle Eastern origins from Syria.

Also, Mordecai Richler's brother who was my aunt's eye doctor in Nfld. for a time told her her eye shape was typically ''aboriginal'', so I guess I might have some of that too.

As many people know it is quite typical for French-speaking Canadians to have some aborigimal and Irish origins. Middle Eastern, not so much.

[FrAnKs]

On my father's side, my familly name is coming from Burgundy (France), around the city of Nevers ( Département de la Nièvre ), on my mother's side, it's from the city of Ambroise
(Département de l'Indre et loire ) in the Région Centre (France).

Finally there's the familly name of my grandma ''Reeves'', and I've never been sure where it's from. England? Scotland ? Wales? Ireland? Not sure. Could be nice if someone knew it.

So I'm mostly french, at least 90%. But who know before, what kind of mix we're all made from today.

[Doug]

1/2 German (Bavaria and Baden by way of Russia)
3/16 English (Lancashire by way of New Zealand)
1/8 Irish (Cork by way of Chicago and Washington State)
1/8 French (Paris by way of San Francisco and Washington State)
1/16 Maori

[Metro-One]

1/4 Italian
1/4 Swedish
1/4 British
1/4 Austrian

So that makes me 100% Canadian in my books!

I honestly have no attachment whatsoever to my "homelands" no relatives I know / contact, no stories of the old country, etc... my family has been in Canada (all 4 sides) since before 1900. My very first ancestors to arrive did so in BC in the 1860s.

[Boris2k7]

Ukrainian
French
Welsh
Irish
Prussian
Austrian
Belgian
English

In roughly that order.

If we exclude the French-Canadian strain of the family, which has been in Canada since the 17th century, then I'm overall a 4th Generation Canadian.

[MTLskyline]

My father's side is mostly Scottish origin (highlanders). There is some Irish and a bit of French mixed in as well.

My mother's side is a mix of Irish, French and Anglo-Norman.

Both sides of my family immigrated to Prince Edward Island in the early 19th century. Most of my aging (and shrinking) extended family still lives there.

[MexiQuebecois]

I'm always fascinated how Canadians can keep track of this. It's not uncommon that I hear "Well I'm 1/128925th Hungarian on my mom's side". All I know is that I'm Mexican. Maybe it's the "colonized" factor, but I can't trace any of my ancestry to some random town in Spain or some tribe in Mexico. It's all so mixed that I'm just "Mexican" I also happen to have the most common last name in my country.

[mike474]

German (west, around Frankfurt)
English (Bristol)
American (Wisconsin, Minnesota)

typical prairie immigrants, first decade 20th century

[leftimage]

Father: Marrocan Jew, migrated to Montreal in 1962 at age 22 from France (where he grew up)

Mother: half-Acadian/ quarter French Canadian/ quarter Irish...

Acadian grandma: LeBlanc family, from Shediac, Fringlish-chiac what have you, perfectly bilingual...

''Montrealer'' grandpa: Lalonde family, part-irish, part-French Canadian. Born in NDG, worked whole life in old port. Speaks french and english with native fluency...

[Xelebes]

I don't know what the splits are but I'm a descendent of the Harrison Political Family (William Henry Harrison, Benjamin Harrison IV) from the US, which is ultimately descended from Robert le Baron. I have a Scottish grandfather who had one uncle who engineered the Khyber Pass (Ebenezer Macalister), another who was the first missionary to venture into Livingstonia now Malawi (Rev. Donald Fraser), and another who was an architect for very minor things around Scotland. That is from my mother's side. Ultimately, some German (Bavarian, Saxon, Baden), Dutch, English, Scottish, Irish, Russian, Welsh and whatever is found in there. Yeah.

I know about the connection to the Harrison family because a book that was published around 1910 heralded (as part of a saga chronicling the development of the town of Delia) the arrival of a member of the family, who happened to be my great-great grandfather.

Many of them were settled in Washington, North Dakota and the sort in 1880. By 1890, most of them were in Alberta. My Scottish great-grandparents moved to Calgary in the 1910s and my Welsh grandmother moved to Paintearth Country in the 1920s.

Welsh (Phelps, Jones, Bowen)
Scottish (Fraser, Macalister)
Irish (Fitzsimmons)
German (Edinger, Siebold, Ault, Abelman)
English (Harrison)
Russian (Don't know)

[Nathan]

Pretty straight forward for me, and not all that uncommon here in Saskatchewan...

Mom's side: 100% Ukrainian (by way of the Ukrainian territory within the Austro-Hungarian Empire)
Dad's side: 100% German (by way of German settlements in Imperial Russia)

Great-grandparents were the ones that came over on both sides during the "opening of the west" stage in Canadian development; they came straight to Saskatchewan and that's where they remained.

[Xelebes]

I'm always fascinated how Canadians can keep track of this. It's not uncommon that I hear "Well I'm 1/128925th Hungarian on my mom's side". All I know is that I'm Mexican. Maybe it's the "colonized" factor, but I can't trace any of my ancestry to some random town in Spain or some tribe in Mexico. It's all so mixed that I'm just "Mexican" I also happen to have the most common last name in my country.

I blame the Mormons.

[Jarrod]

Scottish
Irish
Welsh
German
Cree

[cormiermax]

About two thirds Acadian, the rest is a mix of Irish, Scottish and English.

[Vertigo3000]

Dutch

[mike474]

Pretty straight forward for me, and not all that uncommon here in Saskatchewan...

Mom's side: 100% Ukrainian (by way of the Ukrainian territory within the Austro-Hungarian Empire)
Dad's side: 100% German (by way of German settlements in Imperial Russia)

Great-grandparents were the ones that came over on both sides during the "opening of the west" stage in Canadian development; they came straight to Saskatchewan and that's where they remained.

omg that is typical Saskatchewan, more typical than mine

[Darkoshvilli]

Russian Jewish(mom)/Georgian(dad)

[chrisallard5454]

1/3 Native American
1/3 Ukraine
1/3 Parisian French

[dennis]

1/2 Croat
1/2 Slovene

[Blader]

Mostly German - maybe a small amount of French
Fathers side:
Aachen Germany > Mildmay/Neustadt Ontario (1851) > N Dakota > Humboldt Sask (St Peters Colony) 1912

Mothers side:
Luxembourg, Alsace-Lorraine, Bavaria > Minnesota (1870) > Humboldt Sask (St Peters Colony) 1912

[MonctonRad]

I'm 100% PEIslander (although my mother was born in Rumford, Maine and my father was born in Truro, NS). :)

The families on both sides go back as far as the 1810's in PEI, so we have been here for 200 years. Sadly, no one in my immediate family still lives on PEI. This has only happened in the last 10-12 years. :(

As far as ethnic origins are concerned, although my surname is English (Devonshire), I am about 3/4 lowland Scottish.

[Acajack]

I'm always fascinated how Canadians can keep track of this. It's not uncommon that I hear "Well I'm 1/128925th Hungarian on my mom's side". All I know is that I'm Mexican. Maybe it's the "colonized" factor, but I can't trace any of my ancestry to some random town in Spain or some tribe in Mexico. It's all so mixed that I'm just "Mexican" I also happen to have the most common last name in my country.

I think you will find the explanation in many of the posts here- many Canadians are of a much more recent implantation than most Mexicans.

On the other hand, French Canadians are probably more like Mexicans in their historical implantation, although in this case the French branch of the Roman Catholic church was exceptionally good at keeping records of marriages and births, which means that many people can trace their ancestors quite far back. If they are interested.

I have a booklet somewhere in my house that traces my father's side of the family back to the 1300s in France.

[eemy]

I'm 100% Dutch ancestry (50% Frisian technically). My grandfather on my Mom's side was born in Canada (his parent's immigrated), but all my other grandparents immigrated after WWII.

[SignalHillHiker]

On Dad's side I'm English and Scottish. My grandfather and his ancestors are all English, but my grandmother is a war bride from northern Scotland (where they have no discernible accent. She sounds like a generic Canadian).

And on Mum's side I am well and fully Irish, though her family has been in Newfoundland for centuries and has no contemporary connection to Ireland. A great many things in St. John's and along the Irish Loop are named with the surnames that dominate my family tree on Mum's side.

So I suppose that makes me...

1/2 Irish, 1/4 English, 1/4 Scottish... right?

But I would describe myself, ethnically, as a Newfoundlander.

[north 42]

On my day's side - German and Austrian
On my mom's side - Danish
Since my mother was adopted, I grew up in a predominantly German speaking family, unfortunately much of my ability to speak German has been lost over the years.

[RammerDino]

1/2 Filipino (My mom was born in Manila, Dad was born in Quezon City)
1/6 Italian (mostly around Florence)
1/6 Malay (Kuala Lumpur)
1/6 British (London)
My family predominantly speaks Filipino, whereas me and my two younger brothers are still learning.

[Bigtime]

Dad's side: German and English
Mom's side: Italian (Abruzzo)

[bulliver]

Dad's side: Irish and English
Mom's side: Scottish and German

[cjbs1]

Father Marrocan Jew
Mother Bretons from France

[kwoldtimer]

100 % Scots on both sides and we have the square heads to prove it!

[drew]

Mom: German/Scottish

Dad: Austrian/French

Most of my family arrived in Canada during the mid to late 1800's.

[vanatox]

Edit: double post

[vanatox]

On the other hand, French Canadians are probably more like Mexicans in their historical implantation, although in this case the French branch of the Roman Catholic church was exceptionally good at keeping records of marriages and births, which means that many people can trace their ancestors quite far back. If they are interested.

I used the Ancestry website recently and it was really easy to trace my ancestors due to these records. I have been able to go as far a when my first ancestors on both sides came to North America, more than 350 years ago.

I'm 100% French ancestry

[SHOFEAR]

7/8 Edmontonian, 1/8 Albertan.

[VANRIDERFAN]

100% Canadian

End of story.

[Marty_Mcfly]

Mothers side: completely French
Fathers side: a healthy mix of Scottish and Native American.

We always joke that I have a little bit of everything for people to hate ;)

[le calmar]

Mother's side: My ancestors came from Dieppe, Normandy in the 1650's.

Father's side: They came from La Ventrouze around Tourouvre, also in Normandy and in the 1660's.

[isaidso]

My mother's side: Finnish father, Finnish-Swedish mother
My father's side: Portuguese father, Malay mother

I was born in London, England. Moved to Halifax, Nova Scotia at aged 11. After university I left Halifax and now live in Toronto.

http://www.flags.net/images/largeflags/CANA0001.GIF 100% Canuck :)

http://www.flags.net/images/smallflags/FINL0001.GIF 37.5% Finnish
http://www.flags.net/images/smallflags/PORT0001.GIF 25% Portuguese
http://www.flags.net/images/smallflags/MALS0001.GIF 25% Malay
http://www.flags.net/images/smallflags/SWDN0001.GIF 12.5% Swedish

[patm]

None of this faux-ethnic origin for me ;)

Im 100% Polish.
As far back as I know (Great, Great, Grandparents) everyone in my lineage is polish. In fact, My dads side apparently has some royal blood in it but it was pretty far down the line.

My Mom and Dad were born and raised there, moved to Germany in the mid 80's, had me in '89 and in '92 we moved to Canada with a big group of family friends.

Unless I find a Polish wife (:slob:) it looks like I'll be the first to break that chain. At least I'm fluent still... Hopefully I can pass that down. I'm the last male in my family. All my first cousins are girls and I only have a sister.

I always get a good chuckle when I hear Canadians claim their European roots. Really, unless you have relatives that you know and keep in touch with in your homeland, I wouldn't claim to be "european". It usually only happens during the Euro or World Cup.

[Ayreonaut]

Dad's side: German (but our last name is an anglicized version of an Irish surname, so probably some of that, too)
Mom's side: English and some Swedish

[isaidso]

None of this faux-ethnic origin for me ;)


How is it 'faux-ethnic' origin if that's where my parents/grand parents are from? :koko:

[patm]

How is it 'faux-ethnic' origin if that's where my parents/grand parents are from? :koko:

It was a joke.
I think it's pretty cool being able to trace your roots so far back.

Also, that joke was obviously directed at the "1/8th english, 1/8th german...etc" crowd, not those who are half whatever and half whatever.

Frankly, I'm pretty sure most people who have more then one nationality in their parents end up saying that they're just "Canadian" anyway.

[Acajack]

Frankly, I'm pretty sure most people who have more then one nationality in their parents end up saying that they're just "Canadian" anyway.


Or they simply pick the dominant one or the one they feel is most relevant.

There are quite a few people in my extended family who have the same ethnic origins as me (mostly French with smidgens of Irish, Middle Eastern and aboriginal), but I am pretty sure most check off "French" as ethnic origin in the census. Even those who actually have an Arab surname probably do as far as I know!

[MolsonExport]

Me: born in Montreal

Mother: born in London, England; moved to Canada at 4 years of age
Maternal Grandmother (British-born): 1/2 English, 1/4 Scottish, 1/4 Welsh
Maternal Grandfather (Belgian-born): 1/2 Flemish, 1/2 German

Father: born in Montreal, raised primarily in Eastern townships (with stints in Windsor, Ont.)
Paternal Grandmother (Canadian-born, of parents born in Canada and Ireland): 3/4 Irish, 1/8 English, 1/8 Scottish
Paternal Grandfather (Canadian-born): 6th generation United-Empire Loyalist (Eastern townships of Quebec, before that American; primarily English ethnicity)

Thus, British, Irish, German, Flemish


married to Korean (Canadian-born).

[JHikka]

Born in Saint John, the past three generations of my family have lived here.

Before Saint John was Burin Peninsula in Newfoundland, and before that was Ireland, England, and Germany. I take pride in my Newfoundland heritage more than anything else.

[freeweed]

As many people know it is quite typical for French-speaking Canadians to have some aborigimal and Irish origins. Middle Eastern, not so much.

*puts up hand*

We're still not sure of the exact aboriginal component but as with most many-generation Canadian families (especially Francophone), some certainly exists. Record-keeping in some demographic groups is not as good as others.

Which leads to my next post...

[SignalHillHiker]

Born in Saint John, the past three generations of my family have lived here.

Before Saint John was Burin Peninsula in Newfoundland, and before that was Ireland, England, and Germany. I take pride in my Newfoundland heritage more than anything else.

My father's family settled on the Burin Peninsula as well - he was even born there (as were most of his siblings, though the first few were born in Scotland before my grandfather could bring my grandmother back to Newfoundland). You'd definitely recognize my surname, as I do yours. In fact, the information in this thread alone would probably be enough for your oldest relatives in the region, if you have any left here, to tell you exactly who I am, ha!

(And also, CHEERS! Glad to hear you're closest to Newfoundlander, ha!)

[JHikka]

My father's family settled on the Burin Peninsula as well - he was even born there (as were most of his siblings, though the first few were born in Scotland before my grandfather could bring my grandmother back to Newfoundland). You'd definitely recognize my surname, as I do yours. In fact, the information in this thread alone would probably be enough for your oldest relatives in the region, if you have any left here, to tell you exactly who I am, ha!

Yeah, i'm well aware of what weight my last name carries in Eastern Newfoundland. It's like homecoming visiting Burin. :haha: I'm sure if you told me your surname we'd have to :cheers: shortly thereafter.

[freeweed]

I'm always fascinated how Canadians can keep track of this. It's not uncommon that I hear "Well I'm 1/128925th Hungarian on my mom's side". All I know is that I'm Mexican. Maybe it's the "colonized" factor, but I can't trace any of my ancestry to some random town in Spain or some tribe in Mexico. It's all so mixed that I'm just "Mexican" I also happen to have the most common last name in my country.

I've noticed that it's extremely rare for a Mexican person to know much about their heritage, unless there is some recent "unusual" blood in the mix - like say 1/4 Italian or something.

Canadians (and to a lesser degree, Americans) are infamous for keeping up with this. Part of it is our more recent history (more records exist). Part of it is the fact that Canada is such a mongrel nation going back almost a couple of centuries (so we're minorly obsessed with it). Part of it is that we've simply kept better records of ancestry - Canada has never had a large war or any sort of action that would cause a loss of these sorts of records.

But a big part of it is our Anglo/Franco influence. These cultures were at various times obsessed with ancestry and this obsession remains to this day. In the UK you might pay attention to a 47th cousin 8 times removed, but they're still "British" - well, in Canada we don't have that but we do have 16 ethnicities in the average person so we keep track of that instead. :P

Mexico's history was very different and while ancestry/family is in many ways MORE important - people don't sit there and tabulate back 10 generations in the ways that we do. And I can't even figure out if people pay MORE or LESS attention depending on how much Indio appears in the bloodline. Seems to be random. :shrug:

[RyeJay]

Born in Truro, Nova Scotia.
My home, where I graduated from high school, is Moncton, New Brunswick.

My adoptive family is Acadian -- but my ethnic background is much whiter than that :)

Though unconfirmed by myself, I have been told that my roots are Welsh. My risk of sunburn would lead me to believe what I've been told.

[SignalHillHiker]

In the UK you might pay attention to a 47th cousin 8 times removed, but they're still "British" - well, in Canada we don't have that but we do have 16 ethnicities in the average person so we keep track of that instead. :P

Great post and I agree.

However, we do have a little of the above in Canada. We certainly keep track of extended relatives in my father's family (we have LOTS of records on that side).

But I believe we do it incorrectly. For example, say my first cousin has a child, I would call that child my second cousin, even though, I believe, it's supposed to be "first cousin, once removed", yes?

As an aside: we don't have accurate ancestry records for my mother's family because they settled so early, at a time when Irish settlement in Newfoundland was illegal and they were expected to return to Ireland after the fishing season. The earliest record we have is from the 1690s (a notice that one of her relatives was hanged) and they were already here then.

[patm]

I thought first cousin is parents siblings children, second cousins are the children of parents that shared grandparents...etc.

no?

[freeweed]

But I believe we do it incorrectly. For example, say my first cousin has a child, I would call that child my second cousin, even though, I believe, it's supposed to be "first cousin, once removed", yes?


I don't know what it's "supposed" to be, because I don't really stand on formal etiquette, but... I can definitely confirm that that is how I was raised. My cousin's kids are what I call my "second cousins".

Or at least used to, before I started saying "my cousin's kids".

[Dirt_Devil]

I am 100% french origin.

I am 11th generation in north america (most of us lived in Quebec City and Montreal). first ancestor came to new france in 1646 from Normandel (northwestern france).

edit: just found out some notable descendants from my first NA ancestor are: Shania Twain, Angelina Jolie and Louis St.-Laurent

[floobie]

Mostly German. Dad's side is entirely German (Baden-Württemberg). Mom's side is mostly German (Nidersachsen, Hessen), tiny bit of Danish, even tinier bit of French.

Parents met in Germany (though my dad was born in Winnipeg and grew up mainly in Germany and Malta), lived in England for a while, moved to Edmonton, then to Calgary (enter me). Oddly enough, most of my dad's side of the family has moved to Canada... Calgary, Vancouver, the Okanagan, Mississauga. Also have a great aunt in San Francisco. Mom's side still lives entirely in Germany, save for one great aunt who lives in Toronto.

Yeah :)

[freeweed]

I am 100% french origin.

I am 11th generation in north america (most of us lived in Quebec City and Montreal). first ancestor came to new france in 1646 from Normandel (northwestern france).

edit: just found out some notable descendants from my first NA ancestor are: Shania Twain, Angelina Jolie and Louis St.-Laurent

Wow, your family has kids at an old age, on average. Especially for good Catholics. ;)

And hey, some famous 9th or 10th cousins!

[floobie]

I thought first cousin is parents siblings children, second cousins are the children of parents that shared grandparents...etc.

no?

As I understand it:

My cousins are the children of my parent's siblings.

My second cousins are the children of my parent's cousins.

And so on...

[alps]

Scottish/Chinese

I think the "Scottish" half is a little more complicated than that – had a great grandmother named Arsenault – but I haven't investigated really.

[logan5]

1/4 Italian
1/4 Swedish
1/4 British
1/4 Austrian

So that makes me 100% Canadian in my books!

I honestly have no attachment whatsoever to my "homelands" no relatives I know / contact, no stories of the old country, etc... my family has been in Canada (all 4 sides) since before 1900. My very first ancestors to arrive did so in BC in the 1860s.

All this time I thought you were Japanese!

[Dirt_Devil]

Wow, your family has kids at an old age, on average. Especially for good Catholics. ;)

And hey, some famous 9th or 10th cousins!


haha right on ;)

back in those days, he had 11 kids... so yes, mother was probably getting old when giving birth to the 11th ;)

[Dmajackson]

Since I have family across NS, NB, and PEI I consider myself;

100% Maritimer
100% Canadian

Looking at my direct ancestry via the online family tree. I can state I am;

34.38% Scottish (up to my great-grandmother a warbride from World War I)
30.86% Maritimer (up to me and my siblings)^
14.06% Quebecois (up to 1898)^
*8.20% Irish (up to 1864)
*6.25% American (up to 1859)
*3.71% German (up to 1754)
*1.56% Ontarian (up to my grandfather in the 1920's)^
**.59% French (up to 1763)
**.39% English (up to 1840)

= 100% Canadian (three generations without international-born descendants)

My ancestors have been born in other places but their ancestors could be traced back to another area (hence why they are not shown).

^For the Canadian percentages we don't know the ancestry country for sure. As far back as I can go;

1820's in Ontatio (moved away in 1920's, <5 generations)
1760's in Quebec (moved away in 1870/90's, <4 generations)
1744 in Nova Scotia (ongoing, <9 generations).

Amazingly the 1744 ancestor from Nova Scotia was born in Prospect Bay which is part of Greater Halifax. So my family has inhabited what is now Halifax continuously since before the city was originally founded (in 1749). That's a whopping 268 YEARS OF POPULATING HALIFAX! We also have at least 200 years of continuously inhabiting Cumberland County (NS).

:cheers:

- DJ

[vanman]

Half breeds represent!! Haha.

I'm 1/2 Hatian, 1/4 Dutch and a 1/4 French, English, Scottish.

[freeweed]

Random observation:

I find it interesting that we'll get comments from people from many parts of the world (Mexican so far, but I've heard it from many) about how Canadians obsess about ethnicity in this way. And then we'll get comments (usually from Canadians) that "Canadian" is not and can never be an ethnicity.

Quite the contrast.

Take Mexico - quite clearly, their ethnicity is Spanish/Amerindian, with a very small mix of "other". Yet no one bats an eye when they say "Mexican" on an ethnicity survey. Try that in Canada and it generates serious controversy in some circles.

So - do we refuse to acknowledge "Canadian" BECAUSE we obsess about our ethnicity, to the point where we always know our "real" background? Or do we obsess about it because we're denied "Canadian" as an ethnicity?

And then of course you get weird people like me (and many here). I self-identify as both. I know my ancestry going back centuries, and if asked, I am first and foremost "Canadian". It's only to Canadians that I've ever bothered getting into "well, of French/Irish descent". I actually accidentally mentioned this in Mexico once and the people were ... perplexed that I would talk this way.

[BIMBAM]

1/2 Punjabi, 1/2 Dutch, cultural identity is Anglophone Quebecois.

[SignalHillHiker]

Random observation:

I find it interesting that we'll get comments from people from many parts of the world (Mexican so far, but I've heard it from many) about how Canadians obsess about ethnicity in this way. And then we'll get comments (usually from Canadians) that "Canadian" is not and can never be an ethnicity.

Quite the contrast.

Take Mexico - quite clearly, their ethnicity is Spanish/Amerindian, with a very small mix of "other". Yet no one bats an eye when they say "Mexican" on an ethnicity survey. Try that in Canada and it generates serious controversy in some circles.

So - do we refuse to acknowledge "Canadian" BECAUSE we obsess about our ethnicity, to the point where we always know our "real" background? Or do we obsess about it because we're denied "Canadian" as an ethnicity?

And then of course you get weird people like me (and many here). I self-identify as both. I know my ancestry going back centuries, and if asked, I am first and foremost "Canadian". It's only to Canadians that I've ever bothered getting into "well, of French/Irish descent". I actually accidentally mentioned this in Mexico once and the people were ... perplexed that I would talk this way.

I think this is the case for several reasons.

1. Canada is a young country. It hasn't had time to develop a sense of belonging strong enough to bridge the divide between nationality and ethnicity in most people's minds. But that's starting to change.

2. Canada doesn't have a universal culture. Being "Canadian" doesn't mean the same thing in the different regions of our country. That prevents the bridging of nationality and ethnicity as well. It's also why you see areas with the most fully-formed, distinct cultures (such as Quebec and Newfoundland) even less inclined to consider Canadian an ethnicity, or their core identity.

3. We've traditionally supported the mosaic, rather than the American-style melting pot. Canadians of every background, even recent immigrants, are encouraged to hold onto as much of their previous or historic ethnic identity as tolerable and possible. We treat Canadian as the combination of all of these things, but not as something that exists simply as itself.

[someone123]

So - do we refuse to acknowledge "Canadian" BECAUSE we obsess about our ethnicity, to the point where we always know our "real" background? Or do we obsess about it because we're denied "Canadian" as an ethnicity?

"Canadian" is actually the most frequently declared ethnicity in Canada.

In Quebec, about 60% of people declare themselves as "Canadian". In Atlantic Canada, it's about 50%. In Ontario and the West it's more like 20%.

I suppose you could ask why Ontarians and Westerners tend not to consider themselves ethnically Canadian. I suspect the answer is that a lot of them have recent relatives who were not born in Canada.

[freeweed]

Insightful comments, thanks guys. I don't really have much to say beyond that because you've summed up even more of my thoughts better than I could have.

[canarob]

"Canadian" is actually the most frequently declared ethnicity in Canada.

In Quebec, about 60% of people declare themselves as "Canadian". In Atlantic Canada, it's about 50%. In Ontario and the West it's more like 20%.

I suppose you could ask why Ontarians and Westerners tend not to consider themselves ethnically Canadian. I suspect the answer is that a lot of them have recent relatives who were not born in Canada.

When I lived in the Maritimes, we rarely talked about people's backgrounds unless they were only second generation Canadian. Otherwise, you were just a plain old white or black person or aboriginal. In Ontario, people ask me what my background is all the time and don't really accept "Canadian" as an answer (that's what I fill out on the census, etc.).

My father's family has been in North America since the 1600s, so I would imagine that I have a wide range of European blood in me. My mother's maternal family were from Britain, but had originated from France much earlier, and her father was Irish. There's been so much mixing over the years that I don't think I could claim to be more than than 25% of anything, and even that's probably a stretch.

[go_leafs_go02]

Dutch with a touch of Jewish in between.

[vid]

I made this last time we had this discussion, which wasn't long ago; The file was created May 2011.

http://i.imgur.com/k4QXQ.png

My mom's ancestry is very extensively mapped (basically as far back as possible), as is my dad's dad's ancestry. My grandmother only recently learned that she has some French Huguenot in her. When comparing the two, we found a marriage between my dad's dad's Norwegian ancestors and my mom's dad's Swedish ancestors. But I'm not descended from that.

I identify as Canadian, but if someone insists one something else, I'll say "Scandinavian" and leave it at that.

1/3 Native American
1/3 Ukraine
1/3 Parisian French

You have three biological parents? :)

[Andrewjm3D]

100% English, born in London raised in Canada.

[matt602]

I was born in Toronto, as were both my parents however my grand parents on my mom's side came over from Estonia during WW2. My dad's side is either Polish or German, not too sure. I think it's the latter. Never been able to go back farther than grandparents but I'm sure it's a mishmash of different Baltic and European countries.

[MonkeyRonin]

Mom's family came to Toronto from Italy (Friuli) in the 1950s.

Dad's ancestors came to Toronto from Ireland in the 1830s. Probably mixed in with some other ethnicities, but as far as I'm aware, its just Irish.

Coincidentally, both sides settled in the Junction (neighbourhood in TO).

[Canadian Mind]

3/8th Scottish
1/4th Irish
1/8th English
1/16th French
1/16th German
1/16th Russian
1/16th Native (Blackfoot)

[Vaillant]

1/3 French
1/3 Scottish
1/3 Native

considering myself Québécois

[Smevo]

Lets see if I can remember all this. With two retired relatives constantly working on family trees, it changes slightly every time I go home...

Acadian
Irish
Spanish
Welsh
Mi'kmaq
English
Scottish

It's also suspected that some of the Irish roots came from Norway thanks to the Vikings.

My wife is 1/2 Hindu (New Delhi) and 1/2 Punjabi (Amritsar) born in Fredericton, NB. So when we do have kids, they'll be even more genuine muts than I.

Since my relatives are still working on the family trees for their respective sides, I won't bother working out percentages, but the list is in roughly descending order.

[manny_santos]

11th generation Canadian. We've been in what is now Canada since the 1600s. We were from France originally and were among the early European settlers to Quebec.

[hexrae]

Without getting too much into details, I identify as a Native Canadian (Cree from Northern Manitoba). Although my surname/1 branch of family tree can be traced back to Scotland a number of generations back.

[ssiguy]

WASP.............I'm from London Ontario what did you expect?

[PhilippeMtl]

Father side:
French- Nord (Caron,Goyer, Rochon) , Irish ( Lawlor and Brady) English ( Murray)

Mother Side:
French- St pierre et Miquelon ( Briand) , England ( Rogers), french- Dordogne (LaGarde) , French -Normandie ( Cuyen),

Cuyen patronym was translate to Quinn in English. So most of people in North America with Quinn surname can be Irish ( from O'Cuinn ) or french ( from Cuyen)

[patm]

Mwahahaha look like I'm one of the few pure bloods :P

I am a little jealous that I don't have any cool family lineage though... I wish I had a Great Great Uncle from Nepal or something.

[Acajack]

Mwahahaha look like I'm one of the few pure bloods :P

I am a little jealous that I don't have any cool family lineage though... I wish I had a Great Great Uncle from Nepal or something.

I think you probably suspected this already, but all of these diverse origins sound a lot more exotic and exciting than they really are. Ultimately after a few generations most people meld into the local (human) geography of where they live and there isn't much left (if anything at all) of the previous generations' culture.

My family for example has quite a bit of relatively recent (20th century) Middle Eastern blood and the name still subsists for a lot of family members but people know zilch about that.

I learned more about the Middle East living in an area with lots of Lebanese people here in Gatineau than I ever did from my own family members.

There is nothing culturally Syrian at all about anyone in my family. Depending on where they live they would be considered typical Québécois, Acadians, Franco-Ontarians or English Canadians. Indistinguishable from the rest of the mainstream society.

[freeweed]

I think you probably suspected this already, but all of these diverse origins sound a lot more exotic and exciting than they really are. Ultimately after a few generations most people meld into the local (human) geography of where they live and there isn't much left (if anything at all) of the previous generations' culture.

My family for example has quite a bit of relatively recent (20th century) Middle Eastern blood and the name still subsists for a lot of family members but people know zilch about that.

I learned more about the Middle East living in an area with lots of Lebanese people here in Gatineau than I ever did from my own family members.

There is nothing culturally Syrian at all about anyone in my family. Depending on where they live they would be considered typical Québécois, Acadians, Franco-Ontarians or English Canadians. Indistinguishable from the rest of the mainstream society.

Bingo. Who your parents and grand-parents were really has little to do with defining a person these days. If you're interested in a non-local culture - well, the cool thing about Canada is that you can easily experience this in most places. And with our modern communications and whatnot, you can likely learn far more than you'd ever pick up from your parents.

Canada may not officially want to think of itself as a melting pot, but after a few generations we certainly are. The only reason we don't seem to have quite as homogenous a culture as some other places is that we keep letting plenty of new immigrants in. If we shut the borders tomorrow, within a few decades we'd be much the same.

[ciudad_del_norte]

1/2 African American (Alabama)
1/4 Ukranian
1/4 Some mix of British thing (Cape Breton)

Realistically though, the family that I grew up with was predominantly in Edmonton or Kalyna Country. So although most people don't think it by looking at me, I would identify most strongly with Ukranian Canadian. Although really I would generally just say Canadian...save for conversations like this.

In some cases actual ancestral history can be really irrelevant. One of my very good friends has a very complicated mix of almost all things European (strangely no Ukranian). She grew up east of Edmonton though, so she usually says she feels like she was 'raised Ukranian' and feels much more connected to that than to anything in her family tree.

[Acajack]

Bingo. Who your parents and grand-parents were really has little to do with defining a person these days. If you're interested in a non-local culture - well, the cool thing about Canada is that you can easily experience this in most places. And with our modern communications and whatnot, you can likely learn far more than you'd ever pick up from your parents.

Canada may not officially want to think of itself as a melting pot, but after a few generations we certainly are. The only reason we don't seem to have quite as homogenous a culture as some other places is that we keep letting plenty of new immigrants in. If we shut the borders tomorrow, within a few decades we'd be much the same.

This is true to a point. And it depends on the 'disconnect" between the old and the new identity that we were talking about one day in another thread.

Because my kids still speak the (modern Canadian variant of) the language of their forebears in France, they have a connection that those who have made a language break do not.

Believe it or not, my kids can sing songs and nursery rhymes and read folk tales and legends that kids their age would have been familiar with in the 1600s in France, or even earlier. Their distant cousins who are anglophones living in southern Ontario or Western Canada cannot do this.

I assume that this is probably true for many English-speaking Canadians of British origins as well - that they have firmer linkages to ''old stuff'' from the land of their forebears.

Language continuity does make for less of a disconnect.

[Surrealplaces]

Put me into the 'Club whitey' column. 1/2 English and 1/4 German, and 1/4 Norwegian. ....although my German ancestors apparently came from Italy originally......so not sure where that puts me.....part Club Whitey and part Club Med :)

[davidivivid]

11th generation Canadian. We've been in what is now Canada since the 1600s. We were from France originally and were among the early European settlers to Quebec.

Same here: 11th generation of french settlers on both my mother's and father's side. I looked a bit further into it: 5 minutes after I began searching for more information about my family's origin, I found all the land transactions as well as the size of said lands in details going back to 1662... Catholics were very good bureaucrats!!

[Bankview]

Let's see:

German - 50%
Ukrainian - 25%
English - 15%
French - 9%
Milk - 1%

:notacrook:

[Gresto]

100% German, including by birth, but I consider myself Canadian through-and-through.

I'm surprised to see so many Krauts here.

[Nathan]

100% German, including by birth, but I consider myself Canadian through-and-through.

I'm surprised to see so many Krauts here.

German is the largest ethnicity in Saskatchewan and definitely one of the more common across Canada, so I'm not really that surprised.

[patm]

100% German, including by birth, but I consider myself Canadian through-and-through.

I'm surprised to see so many Krauts here.

Do you speak German?
Thats pretty strange. Most direct discendents (with strong ties to homeland) I know (including myself) consider themselves at least half and half. Usually leaning more to the side of their origins.

It's funny though because although I consider myself Polish in ethnicity (obviously), if I was outside of Canada and someone where to ask me where I was from I would never answer "Poland" or "I'm Polish". It's only within Canada that I feel the need to identify myself as something other then Canadian, even though I don't have a drop of anything resembling Canadian blood in me.

I guess that means I value Nationality over Ethnicity.

[Acajack]

Do you speak German?
Thats pretty strange. Most direct discendents (with strong ties to homeland) I know (including myself) consider themselves at least half and half. Usually leaning more to the side of their origins.

It's funny though because although I consider myself Polish in ethnicity (obviously), if I was outside of Canada and someone where to ask me where I was from I would never answer "Poland" or "I'm Polish". It's only within Canada that I feel the need to identify myself as something other then Canadian, even though I don't have a drop of anything resembling Canadian blood in me.

I guess that means I value Nationality over Ethnicity.

I don't think anybody can really define what Canadian blood would be anyway.

[SignalHillHiker]

http://i45.tinypic.com/b5fqiw.jpg

An interesting map of the languages we replaced.

[Blader]

An interesting map of the languages we replaced.
Nice map - notice that the map shows Apache and Chipewyan with the same purple colour - same language group - the Apache call themselves 'Deni' the same as the Chipewyans call themselves. Despite the vast distance there was a major connection. They share, to some extent, a common lore as well.

[Gresto]

Do you speak German?
Thats pretty strange. Most direct discendents (with strong ties to homeland) I know (including myself) consider themselves at least half and half. Usually leaning more to the side of their origins.
Yes, I speak German fluently. Although I was born there, my parents returned when I still was an infant. My dad was on sabbatical and the family travelled to Germany, where I was born.
I've lived here my entire life and feel much more kinship with this country.

[Vaillant]

the first member of my family arrived from France (Paris) in 1608 in Quebec City with Samuel de Champlain

[renthefinn]

Dad: Finnish (Karjalainen Finn from Viipuri in Karjala, which was ceded to the Soviet Union in WWII, father was a refugee as a baby)

Mother: Finnish (from Kiukainen near Pori on the West coast of Finland

[Medicineline]

Father from good German/Mennonite stock, mother a fiery Ukrainian. God rest their souls. I was born and raised in Winnipeg's north end. Little more needs to be said, the rest is just an assortment of sperm and egg cells scattered about Europe.

[The_Architect]

Looks like I'm late to the party, but I'm pretty much a melting pot of European background.

1/2 Scottish
1/2 English, Irish, Dutch, German, French

Though I can trace my one side to some of the first (non-Aboriginal) settlers in Southern Ontario.

[viajero]

My Dad's side of the family are all of Irish Catholic descent (but my family are all atheists or agnostics haha), but have been in Canada for generations, originally settling in PEI in the mid 1800's
My Mom's is of mixed Norwegian and Cree descent. I can actually claim Metis status thanks to this.