Ancestry by census division

[Docere]

Compiling a list of the census divisions (counties) for ancestry/ethnic origin as a % of the population.

Haven't yet done "charter groups" or First Nations. For the list, I've used 30% as a cutoff for German origin, 20% for Ukrainian and 10% for others.

German

Division No. 3, MB (Pembina Valley) 44.9%
Division No. 13, SK (Kindersley) 42.5%
Division No. 1, AB (Medicine Hat) 41%
Division No. 2, MB (Steinbach Area) 38.4%
Division No. 8, SK (Swift Current) 38.3%
Division No. 2, SK (Weyburn) 35.5%
Division No. 4, AB (Hanna) 34.1%
Lunenburg County, NS 32.1%
Division No. 4, SK (Maple Creek) 31.7%
Division No. 6, SK (Regina) 31.5%
Division No. 11, SK (Saskatoon) 30.8%
Division No. 7, SK (Moose Jaw) 30.4%
Division No. 7, AB (Wainwright) 30.3%
Perth County, ON 30%

Ukrainian

Division No. 9, SK (Yorkton) 38.2%
Division No. 17, MB (Dauphin) 31.5%
Division No. 13, MB (Selkirk Area) 31%
Division No. 12, MB (Beasuejour Area) 27%
Division No. 20, MB (Swan River) 26.7%
Division No. 10, SK (Wynyard) 23.5%
Division No. 1, MB (Eastern Manitoba) 20.4%

Chinese

Greater Vancouver Regional District, BC 18%
York Region, ON 17.7%
Toronto, ON 10.8%

Dutch

Oxford County, ON 13.8%
Huron County, ON 13.1%
Elgin County, ON 10.9%
Fraser Valley Regional District, BC 10.9%
Perth County, ON 10.7%
Chatham-Kent, ON 10.5%
Haldimand-Norfolk, ON 10.5%
Lambton County, ON 10.3%

East Indian

Peel Region, ON 20.9%
Fraser Valley Regional District, BC 11.1%

Finnish

Thunder Bay District, ON 11.1%

Icelandic

Division No. 18, MB (North Interlake Area) 15.4%

Italian

Algoma District, ON 15.7%
York Region, ON 15.6%
Niagara Region, ON 12.2%
Hamilton, ON 11.9%
Thunder Bay District, ON 11.7%
Kootenay-Boundary Regional District, BC 10.5%

Norwegian

Division No. 14, SK (Melfort) 13.8%
Division No. 4, SK (Maple Creek) 13.3%
Division No. 2, SK (Weyburn) 12.8%
Division No. 8, SK (Swift Current) 11.8%
Division No. 3, SK (Assiniboia) 10.8%
Division No. 7, AB (Wainwright) 10.7%

Polish

Division No. 13, MB (Selkirk Area) 14.9%
Division No. 17, MB (Dauphin) 10.4%
Renfrew County, ON 10.1%

[Chadillaccc]

Haha that's awesome! It basically corresponds to my lineage...

My maternal grandmother is Ukrainian with a bit of Polish, from Dauphin MB
My maternal grandfather was Norwegian, from Melfort SK

My paternal grandfather was Finnish, from Nipigon ON (Thunder Bay region)
and then my paternal grandmother was Portuguese from the Nipigon area, don't know how that happened :P

Super interesting! Thanks for the post.

[Docere]

It's interesting that Saskatchewan has some "continuity" with North Dakota and eastern Montana: Norwegians and German Catholics from Russia. And northern Ontario, like Minnesota's Iron Range and Michigan's Upper Peninsula, has a large Finnish population. Manitoba, in contrast, is the demographic oddball. Most of the Germans were Mennonites (and hardly any Catholic) and the Scandinavians were Icelandic rather than Norwegian, as was the case across the border.

[vid]

Lots of Portuguese people around Thunder Bay. I don't know why, but there is. We also have a decent amount of Filipinos.

[Docere]

Thunder Bay also has (I believe) the highest Ukrainian % of any non-Prairie census division. It's the only one where Italians and Ukrainians are more than 10% of the population, which is fitting for a "transition zone" from East to West.

[vid]

The Italian, Finnish and Ukrainian communities have a very strong influence on local culture here. A quarter of our city council is Italian, two of them were born there.

[Acajack]

This is a really cool idea.

[Docere]

The Italian, Finnish and Ukrainian communities have a very strong influence on local culture here. A quarter of our city council is Italian, two of them were born there.

Italians have quite an affinity for politics and their numbers as elected officials greatly exceed their share of the population. I think pretty much every major city in Ontario has had an Italian mayor by now except for Toronto.

Fort William mayor Hubert Badanai was one of the first Italian Canadian mayors, I think he was elected in the 1940s.

[Andy6]

It's interesting that Saskatchewan has some "continuity" with North Dakota and eastern Montana: Norwegians and German Catholics from Russia. And northern Ontario, like Minnesota's Iron Range and Michigan's Upper Peninsula, has a large Finnish population. Manitoba, in contrast, is the demographic oddball. Most of the Germans were Mennonites (and hardly any Catholic) and the Scandinavians were Icelandic rather than Norwegian, as was the case across the border.

There were lots of Swedes in Manitoba but they disappeared quickly as a distinct ethnic group, as Icelanders are doing now. There were still quite a few kids of unmixed Icelandic descent when I was going to school in the 1970s; I doubt that any of their children (or perhaps even grandchildren by now) would be. The Icelanders in Manitoba also trickled into North Dakota.

I expect that Norwegians in Saskatchewan would have come mainly from the U.S. I have a large postcard collection from the Prairies and one of the things I have noticed is a number of cards written by arrivals in Saskatchewan back "home" to Minnesota in Norwegian or Swedish. As for Manitoba, by the time the wave of U.S. immigration into the Prairies began, Manitoba was already relatively heavily settled, so you see the U.S. groups (even smaller ones like the blacks who came up from Oklahoma) in large numbers in Saskatchewan or Alberta but not so much in Manitoba.

[Andy6]

Italians have quite an affinity for politics and their numbers as elected officials greatly exceed their share of the population. I think pretty much every major city in Ontario has had an Italian mayor by now except for Toronto.

Fort William mayor Hubert Badanai was one of the first Italian Canadian mayors, I think he was elected in the 1940s.

Italians are very numerous in Sault Ste. Marie (and also Sudbury and the Lakehead) and have been since the 1920s. People don't realize that (Toronto thinks it invented Italian-Canadians in the 1950s) but those statistics bear it out.

[Architype]

How come there aren't any English, Irish or Scottish?

[Acajack]

How come there aren't any English, Irish or Scottish?

They'll be there but a lot of them are also in the ''Canadian" ethnic origin category. A lot of French Canadians will be in that category too.

[vid]

Thunder Bay and Sudbury also had many people from the Balkans and Austro-Hungarian regions, especially Slovaks and Croatians. Thunder Bay also had quite a few people from Lebanon and Syria. I haven't looked too far into it, but Walter Assef, who was mayor of Thunder Bay from 1973 to 1978, may have been the first Lebanese mayor in a Canadian city. His parents were Lebanese and Brazilian. Our current mayor is from England, and our first mayor in 1970 (after amalgamation) was Jewish. Fort William and Port Arthur were also ahead of the curve in electing female mayors for the first time, back in the 1950s.

[Architype]

They'll be there but a lot of them are also in the ''Canadian" ethnic origin category. A lot of French Canadians will be in that category too.

Thanks, a perfectly reasonable explanation. :)

[Docere]

How come there aren't any English, Irish or Scottish?

Because it takes a long time to do.

English origin:

Haliburton County, ON 48.1%
Division No. 7, NF (Bonavista) 47.2%
Muskoka District, ON 46.3%
Division No. 5, NF (Humber District) 45.8%
Division No. 8, NF (Notre Dame Bay) 45.7%
Division No. 3, NF (South Coast) 45.6%
Division No. 7, NF (Bonavista) 44.7%
Comox Valley Regional District, BC 44.4%
Sunshine Coast Regional District, BC 44.1%
Division No. 5, MB (Southwest Westman) 43.9%
Kawartha Lakes, ON 43.8%
Northumberland County, ON 43.6%
Division No. 1, NF (Avalon Peninsula) 43.5%
Division No. 4, NF (St. George's) 43.5%
Capital Regional District, BC 41.5%
Nanaimo Regional District, BC 41.4%
Prince Edward County, ON 41.1%
Parry Sound District, ON 41%
Cowichan Valley Regional District, BC 40.5%
Stratchona Regional District, BC 40.3%
Division No. 9, NF (Northern Peninsula) 40.1%
Kings County, NB 40.1%

Used 40% as a cut-off, as CDs in the 30s for English origin are ubiquitous.

[Docere]

They'll be there but a lot of them are also in the ''Canadian" ethnic origin category. A lot of French Canadians will be in that category too.

One thing to note is that "Canadian" is permitted as a multiple response. This contrasts with the US Census, which discounts "American" responses in combination with another ancestry.

Not surprisingly "Canadian only" responses are highest in Quebec and Atlantic Canada, where most are far removed from immigrant ancestors. Overall more French origin has been "lost" to this category than the British Isles groups.

The English count I provided undercounts the English origin somewhat, especially in Newfoundland. We also haven't seen as much "English leakage" as the US though, where Southern whites are overwhelmingly of Anglo-Saxon origin. In the first census with an ancestry question, in 1980, English was the largest group. Since then, Southern whites have tended to write only "American" on the census and as a result "German" surpassed "English" as the most common ancestry.

[Nathan]

If I remember correctly (I don't know if it is still true), Saskatchewan is the only province where the largest ethnic group isn't either from the British Isles or French (not including the "Canadian" grouping); it's German.


Also, I'm wondering about the higher cutoff points for German and Ukrainian, were they because it would have been too cumbersome to have them at the same 10% as everyone else? Too many prairie CDs would pop up?

But yes... as far as my ethnicity goes... I'm a pretty common Saskatchewan combination (Ukrainian and German), which when I was in Europe studying for a bit, sounded quite exotic/different to people in Germany and Ukraine. :haha:

[Docere]

Italians are very numerous in Sault Ste. Marie (and also Sudbury and the Lakehead) and have been since the 1920s. People don't realize that (Toronto thinks it invented Italian-Canadians in the 1950s) but those statistics bear it out.

Yes, the early 20th century wave of Italians worked in the mining industry in large numbers and were well represented in northern Ontario. Of course good numbers went to Montreal, Toronto and Hamilton as well. The postwar wave was much more skewed towards Toronto.

[Docere]

Also, I'm wondering about the higher cutoff points for German and Ukrainian, were they because it would have been too cumbersome to have them at the same 10% as everyone else? Too many prairie CDs would pop up?

Yes that's exactly it.

10% would be pointless for German...as about 10% of Canadians are of German origin.

I am thinking of updating German and Ukrainian with 20 or 25% and 10% thresholds, respectively.

[Nathan]

Yes that's exactly it.

10% would be pointless for German...as about 10% of Canadians are of German origin.

I am thinking of updating German and Ukrainian with 20 or 25% and 10% thresholds, respectively.

Fair enough. Just a warning... 10% for Ukrainian might grab almost every CD in the prairies... all three have more than 10% Ukrainians. ;)

[ssiguy]

Strathroy Ontario has the largest {proportionally} Portuguese population in the country. When I was a kid when it had about 8,000, 20% were Portuguese as they all came looking for work after WW11

[VANRIDERFAN]

It's interesting that Saskatchewan has some "continuity" with North Dakota and eastern Montana: Norwegians and German Catholics from Russia. And northern Ontario, like Minnesota's Iron Range and Michigan's Upper Peninsula, has a large Finnish population. Manitoba, in contrast, is the demographic oddball. Most of the Germans were Mennonites (and hardly any Catholic) and the Scandinavians were Icelandic rather than Norwegian, as was the case across the border.

My mother's family came from the Russian Crimea area in 1870/71 to the Red River valley.
Technically the Mennonites were Catholics prior to the reformation. :)

[Docere]

There are about 30 CDs that are 10%+ Ukrainian and 50 CDs that are 20%+ German - far too many to list. The Prairies are about 25% German and over 10% Ukrainian.

10 most Ukrainian CDs

Division No. 9, SK (Yorkton) 38.2%
Division No. 17, MB (Dauphin) 31.5%
Division No. 13, MB (Selkirk Area) 31%
Division No. 12, MB (Beasuejour Area) 27%
Division No. 20, MB (Swan River) 26.7%
Division No. 10, SK (Wynyard) 23.5%
Division No. 1, MB (Eastern Manitoba) 20.4%
Division No. 18, MB (North Interlake Area) 19.9%
Division No. 14, MB (South Interlake) 18.6%
Division No. 12, AB (Coldlake) 17.4%

Cities of the Prairies

Division No. 11, SK (Saskatoon) 16%
Division No. 11, MB (Winnipeg) 15.2%
Division No. 6, SK (Regina) 13.1%
Division No. 11, AB (Edmonton) 12.9%

Northwestern Ontario

Thunder Bay District, ON 12.5%
Rainy River District, ON 10.1%

[Docere]

Ontario's "German counties"

Perth County, ON 30%
Bruce County, ON 25.5%
Huron County, ON 23.3%
Waterloo Region, ON 22.9%
Renfrew County, ON 22.7%
Grey County, ON 22.3%

Waterloo County was majority German until around WWII, but rapid growth and urbanization since then has led to a more diverse population and greatly reduced the German share of the population.

[mistercorporate]

This is a fascinating thread, where do you guys get some of these statistics? For example, how did you get 25.5% German-origin for Bruce County, their Wikipedia page gives minimal info. Is there a site/research tool that tabulates these sorts of things for all districts together? A specific Statscan page perhaps? Thanks for sharing all this great info, I'm learning a lot here.

[Docere]

From the NHS profile:

https://www12.statcan.gc.ca/nhs-enm/2011/dp-pd/prof/index.cfm?Lang=E

[Docere]

"New Scotland" also encompasses PEI as well as Nova Scotia.

"Scottish counties" of the Maritimes:

Victoria County, NS 54.3%
Pictou County, NS 54.2%
Inverness County, NS 52.3%
Kings County, PEI 49.9%
Antigonish County, NS 49.7%
Queens County, PEI 41.4%
Cape Breton County, NS 41.2%
Colchester County, NS 38.2%

[Docere]

Some notably Scottish CDs outside the Maritimes:

Lanark County, ON 35.1%
Division No. 5, MB (Southwest Manitoba) 33.3%

Otherwise, outside Newfoundland (English and Irish with few Scots) and the Maritimes (i.e. Highland Scots of Cape Breton and PEI vs. descendants of New England Planters and Loyalists in southern Nova Scotia and anglo New Brunswick), (Lowland) Scots dovetail English fairly closely.

[Denscity]

We have a very unique ethnic mix in Castlegar. Aside from the usual UK Canadians we have a lot of Doukhobors who got kicked out of Siberia and left Russia to escape persecution and lots of Azores Island Portuguese who came to work on the railway and at nearby Teck Cominco smelter. Lots of Italians in Trail BC for the same reason.

[Docere]

CDs with the highest share of...

Belgian: Chatham-Kent, ON 5.1%
Filipino: Division No. 6, MB (Winnipeg) 8.6%
Hungarian: Division No. 5, SK (Melville) 8.2%
Lebanese: Essex County, ON 3.1%
Slovak: Thunder Bay District, ON 6.2%
Somali: Ottawa, ON 1%
Swedish: Rainy River District, ON 8.1%
Swiss: Perth County, ON 3.3%

[Docere]

French origin in Ontario:

Sudbury District 45.1%
Prescott and Russell Counties 42.9%
Cochrane District 41.2%
Greater Sudbury 40.4%
Timiskaming District, 35.7%
Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry Counties 32.3%

French mother tongue:

Prescott and Russell Counties 64.2%
Cochrane District 44.4%
Greater Sudbury 27%
Sudbury District 25.4%
Timiskaming District 23.6%
Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry Counties 21.5%

French origin is obviously unreported. In Quebec City and Sherbrooke for example only 1/3 report French origin, and in the francophone counties of New Brunswick it's no higher than the 40s.

[Acajack]

French origin in Ontario:

Sudbury District 45.1%
Prescott and Russell Counties 42.9%
Cochrane District 41.2%
Greater Sudbury 40.4%
Timiskaming District, 35.7%
Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry Counties 32.3%

French mother tongue:

Prescott and Russell Counties 64.2%
Cochrane District 44.4%
Greater Sudbury 27%
Sudbury District 25.4%
Timiskaming District 23.6%
Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry Counties 21.5%

French origin is obviously unreported. In Quebec City and Sherbrooke for example only 1/3 report French origin, and in the francophone counties of New Brunswick it's no higher than the 40s.

Yeah. "French" and "British Isles" origins are the biggest losers to "Canadian".

There is something interesting going on with the origin vs. mother tongue stats there. In some cases one is higher, and in others it's the opposite. Yet all of these areas have fairly high rates of assimilation. Puzzling.

[jigglysquishy]

It'll be interesting to see how some of our big immigrant groups change in the next decade.

Only 8.6% Filipino in the one Winnipeg subdivision seems low, but that's just how much growth has occurred since 2011. Likewise in Regina and Saskatoon, there has been an influx of Indian and Filipino immigrants.

While Toronto and Vancouver are looked at as immigrant-central, it is interesting that Filipino immigration is concentrated in the prairies.

[Docere]

It'll be interesting to see how some of our big immigrant groups change in the next decade.

Only 8.6% Filipino in the one Winnipeg subdivision seems low, but that's just how much growth has occurred since 2011. Likewise in Regina and Saskatoon, there has been an influx of Indian and Filipino immigrants.

While Toronto and Vancouver are looked at as immigrant-central, it is interesting that Filipino immigration is concentrated in the prairies.

"The one Winnipeg subdivision" = about 700,000 people.

I wouldn't say Filipino immigration is concentrated in the Prairies though, given that both Toronto and Vancouver have more Filipinos.

[Acajack]

It'll be interesting to see how some of our big immigrant groups change in the next decade.

Only 8.6% Filipino in the one Winnipeg subdivision seems low, but that's just how much growth has occurred since 2011. Likewise in Regina and Saskatoon, there has been an influx of Indian and Filipino immigrants.

While Toronto and Vancouver are looked at as immigrant-central, it is interesting that Filipino immigration is concentrated in the prairies.

Yeah, things can change dramatically in five years.

I found the numbers of Lebanese for my census tract really low, for example. Based on what I hear and see in the neighbourhood. I expect it will be much higher in the next census.

[Docere]

Yeah. "French" and "British Isles" origins are the biggest losers to "Canadian"

More so with "French." I noted earlier that "English leakage" in Canada is a lot less than in the US (the US region with the biggest dropoff is the South, in Canada it's the Atlantic provinces).

Irish Newfoundlanders are also undercounted. The vast majority of Catholics in Newfoundland are Irish. In the St. John's-Avalon CD, it's about 45% Catholic and 32% report Irish origin. But it's probably more like 50%.

[Brizzy82]

It'll be interesting to see how some of our big immigrant groups change in the next decade.

Only 8.6% Filipino in the one Winnipeg subdivision seems low, but that's just how much growth has occurred since 2011. Likewise in Regina and Saskatoon, there has been an influx of Indian and Filipino immigrants.

While Toronto and Vancouver are looked at as immigrant-central, it is interesting that Filipino immigration is concentrated in the prairies.

That number seems low. Winnipeg feels at least 10—15‰ Filipino.

The Maples and West End areas of Winnipeg specifically are probably 35‰ Filipino. I'm pulling these numbers outta my ass but there really are tons of them here. Great people!

[Docere]

Filipinos made up 28% of Winnipeg North and 20% of Winnipeg Centre federal ridings in 2011.

[mistercorporate]

That number seems low. Winnipeg feels at least 10—15‰ Filipino.

The Maples and West End areas of Winnipeg specifically are probably 35‰ Filipino. I'm pulling these numbers outta my ass but there really are tons of them here. Great people!

Could the similar facial/visible look between Filipinos and First Nations (full blooded) cause the Filipino community to look larger than it is?

I know in neighbourhoods that are say 10% Filipino, 10% Vietnamese and 25% Chinese, they can appear to be 50% Chinese to our eyes?

[Brizzy82]

Could the similar facial/visible look between Filipinos and First Nations (full blooded) cause the Filipino community to look larger than it is?

I know in neighbourhoods that are say 10% Filipino, 10% Vietnamese and 25% Chinese, they can appear to be 50% Chinese to our eyes?

Well, I can definitely tell Filipinos from natives.
But you do raise a good point. There are other ethnic groups like Vietnamese, Thai, etc that I might associate with Filipino.

[Stryker]

Well, I can definitely tell Filipinos from natives.
But you do raise a good point. There are other ethnic groups like Vietnamese, Thai, etc that I might associate with Filipino.

That's bloody rare in my opinion, unless your talking about some indonesians Filipino look distinctly like Filipinos.


It's actually wild how big of a demographic they are becoming.

It's funny I have to keep reminding myself that my roommates Filipino, he doesn't have many of his friends over, and to me filipino is always a pluralistic identity, 1 filipino isn't really what I think when I think filipino's.

[Stryker]

Could the similar facial/visible look between Filipinos and First Nations (full blooded) cause the Filipino community to look larger than it is?

I know in neighbourhoods that are say 10% Filipino, 10% Vietnamese and 25% Chinese, they can appear to be 50% Chinese to our eyes?

Lol what's more interesting is the mixed children. My pseudo nieces are half filipino and have some partial native ancestry. Funny thing is they likely won't ever hear of the native ancestry because it might confuse them lolz.

[Docere]

It's also the existence of ethnic enclaves. Filipinos make up more than 20% of the population in two ridings - if you're in those enclaves the population obviously seems larger than "just" 8.6% (that's still about 60,000 - a very sizable community). Filipinos are also by far the largest immigrant group in Winnipeg.

I think a lot would be surprised to hear that Greater Vancouver is "just" 18% Chinese as well.

[vid]

Filipinos might appear to have larger numbers than they really do because they have a lot of service jobs. A lot of the food courts are staffed by Filipinos at virtually every restaurant.

[Docere]

Cities of the Prairies

Division No. 11, SK (Saskatoon) 16%
Division No. 11, MB (Winnipeg) 15.2%
Division No. 6, SK (Regina) 13.1%
Division No. 11, AB (Edmonton) 12.9%


Winnipeg still has some Ukrainian residential concentrations - the riding of Kildonan-St. Paul is 26% Ukrainian origin and Elmwood-Transcona is 21%.

I'm curious if the other Prairie cities have any sort of residential concentration anymore.

My guess is no. One difference between Winnipeg and the other Prairie cities is that Winnipeg was a sizeable city prior to WWII with a significant Ukrainian population. While I'm pretty sure that the Ukrainian population that moved from the Prairies rural to cities after WWII greatly outnumbered the existing Ukrainian population in say, Edmonton and Saskatoon.

[isaidso]

Haha that's awesome! It basically corresponds to my lineage...

My maternal grandmother is Ukrainian with a bit of Polish, from Dauphin MB
My maternal grandfather was Norwegian, from Melfort SK

My paternal grandfather was Finnish, from Nipigon ON (Thunder Bay region)
and then my paternal grandmother was Portuguese from the Nipigon area, don't know how that happened :P

Super interesting! Thanks for the post.

You have a similar background to me.

My maternal grandmother: Swedish-Finnish
My maternal grandfather: Finnish

My maternal grandmother: Malay
My maternal grandfather: Portuguese

[manny_santos]

Italians have quite an affinity for politics and their numbers as elected officials greatly exceed their share of the population. I think pretty much every major city in Ontario has had an Italian mayor by now except for Toronto.

Fort William mayor Hubert Badanai was one of the first Italian Canadian mayors, I think he was elected in the 1940s.

Joe Fontana, of course was another...

[Docere]

Though he doesn't have an Italian name and doesn't at all play up his roots, Patrick Brown (whose uncle is former MPP Joe Tascona) is Italian on his mother's side. He may be the first premier of Italian ancestry.

[1overcosc]

He may be the first premier of Italian ancestry

Would be a bit of a come down from the first woman and the first LGBT person, but hey, a new first is a new first :haha:

[BretttheRiderFan]

Most census divisions in Quebec and New Brunswick have pluralities who identify as "Canadian", whereas you don't see this in western Canada.

Funny enough, the only census division in Canada with a plurality of "French" respondents was Division No. 12 in Alberta, which comprises the city of Cold Lake as well as the towns of Bonnyville, St. Paul, Elk Point and Smoky Lake.

The heartland of franco-Albertans stretches quite far throughout the northern part of the province, all the way from Falher in the Peace Country to St. Paul in the northeast, to Bonnie Doon in central Edmonton.

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7d/Censusdivisions-ethnic.png
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7d/Censusdivisions-ethnic.png

[BretttheRiderFan]

Looking at the different ethnic compositions in Edmonton and Calgary is interesting, if just to notice how nearly identical the two cities are in terms of demographic breakdown. Almost every group is basically the same, the major differences being that Edmonton has a significantly larger First Nations and Metis population (5.3% as opposed to 2.7% in Calgary), as well as a larger black population.

There are slight discrepancies in the composition of the white populations of each city as well. Calgary has a stronger presence of English, Scottish and Irish, while Edmonton has a larger population of Ukrainian, French and Polish. Both cities have a German population of 15.51%. I was also surprised to see that Edmonton has slightly higher concentrations of Chinese, East Indian and Filipino people. Of course, the city of Calgary is significantly larger, with more of the metropolitan area being included within the city. I'm sure if you throw in Edmonton's suburbs like St. Albert, Sherwood Park and Leduc, the metro area's visible minority groups dip lower than Calgary's.

There were also no significant differences in religious composition between the two cities, though Calgary's Wikipedia page doesn't break down Christian denominations the same way Edmonton's does, but I'm sure there would be few differences given the ethnic compositions of both cities (maybe slightly more Catholics and Orthodox Christians in Edmonton and slightly more Protestants in Calgary).

I'm inclined the believe the populations of each city have actually become more similar over time as opposed to, say, 50-100 years ago. Most literature I've read on the history of Alberta, for instance, says that the historical differences in the political nature of each city (Edmonton being more Liberal, and more willing to elect labour types, for instance) was influenced by the local demographics and high proportions of Eastern European and French as opposed to the more traditionally Anglo-Saxon Calgary (not to pretend that this group wasn't also dominant in Edmonton, of course). Today, of course, the two cities seem to also be coalescing politically, with Calgary still more inclined to support Conservative candidates (a Wildrose MLA would NEVER win a byelection in Edmonton, frankly) with both cities largely supporting the provincial NDP in the last election (with the PCs still having footholds in Calgary, but the NDP sweeping the city of Edmonton) and in the last federal election, Edmonton-Strathcona remained the lone NDP seat in the province, with Calgary and Edmonton each electing two Liberal MPs (in strikingly similar areas...the central ridings in both cities, as well as electing Indo-Canadian MPs from ethnically diverse suburban ridings).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_Edmonton
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_Calgary

[ciudad_del_norte]

Looking at the different ethnic compositions in Edmonton and Calgary is interesting, if just to notice how nearly identical the two cities are in terms of demographic breakdown. Almost every group is basically the same, the major differences being that Edmonton has a significantly larger First Nations and Metis population (5.3% as opposed to 2.7% in Calgary), as well as a larger black population.

There are slight discrepancies in the composition of the white populations of each city as well. Calgary has a stronger presence of English, Scottish and Irish, while Edmonton has a larger population of Ukrainian, French and Polish. Both cities have a German population of 15.51%. I was also surprised to see that Edmonton has slightly higher concentrations of Chinese, East Indian and Filipino people. Of course, the city of Calgary is significantly larger, with more of the metropolitan area being included within the city. I'm sure if you throw in Edmonton's suburbs like St. Albert, Sherwood Park and Leduc, the metro area's visible minority groups dip lower than Calgary's.

There were also no significant differences in religious composition between the two cities, though Calgary's Wikipedia page doesn't break down Christian denominations the same way Edmonton's does, but I'm sure there would be few differences given the ethnic compositions of both cities (maybe slightly more Catholics and Orthodox Christians in Edmonton and slightly more Protestants in Calgary).

I'm inclined the believe the populations of each city have actually become more similar over time as opposed to, say, 50-100 years ago. Most literature I've read on the history of Alberta, for instance, says that the historical differences in the political nature of each city (Edmonton being more Liberal, for instance) was influenced by the local demographics and high proportions of Eastern European and French as opposed to the more traditionally Anglo-Saxon Calgary (not to pretend that this group wasn't also dominant in Edmonton, of course). Today, of course, the two cities seem to also be coalescing politically, with Calgary still more inclined to support Conservative candidates (a Wildrose MLA would NEVER win a byelection in Edmonton, frankly) with both cities largely supporting the provincial NDP in the last election (with the PCs still having footholds in Calgary, but the NDP sweeping the city of Edmonton) and in the last federal election, Edmonton-Strathcona remained the lone NDP seat in the province, with Calgary and Edmonton each electing two Liberal MPs (in strikingly similar areas...the central ridings in both cities, as well as electing Indo-Canadian MPs from ethnically diverse suburban ridings).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_Edmonton
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_Calgary

Yeah...for all of the similarities between Calgary and Edmonton they actually have pretty different histories in terms of european settlement and immigration groups. Historically and politically I think there is a pretty strong divide between the Ukranian/Metis/Franco Albertan influence north of the Battle River and the Dryland/Ranching/WASP influence to the south - even as the actual demographic numbers today are evening out qutie a bit. I often wonder what the social-political landscape of the prairies might have looked like if they had created the provinces in some of the other shapes they had considered. For AB, being part of the same political entity has definitely lead to a fair bit of convergence accross the province, but the northern part of the province (especially north of Edmonton) can be astonishingly different from the south (especially south of Calgary).

I think beyond the antagonistic history, Edmonton and Calgary struggle with each other because in many ways we are so similar, but are also the major centres in two fairly large regions that probably wouldn't have logically ended up together if it wasn't politically expedient. I know in the broad scheme of the world Edmonton and Calgary are pretty much identical but I think the N-S divide is underestimated in this provice sometimes. We have a much greater N-S population distribution than most of the country and unlike other provinces with more distinct subregions we don't really recognzie ours as much as we could. Northern/Southern AB are vaguely defined and are descriptors more than actually identifiers of what it actually means to be from Cardston, Taber, or Brooks vs. Lac la Biche, Vegreville, or Marie-Reine

[Acajack]

Funny enough, the only census division in Canada with a plurality of "French" respondents was Division No. 12 in Alberta, which comprises the city of Cold Lake as well as the towns of Bonnyville, St. Paul, Elk Point and Smoky Lake.



There is actually another one: Richmond County Sub. B, in the SE of Cape Breton in Nova Scotia.

Strangely enough, it's not an area that's known for having a lot of francophones. And it doesn't include nearby Isle Madame, which does have a lot of francophones.

I guess Sub. B has lots of assimilated anglophone people but who are of French origin.

[Nashe]

There is actually another one: Richmond County Sub. B, in the SE of Cape Breton in Nova Scotia. Strangely enough, it's not an area that's known for having a lot of francophones. And it doesn't include nearby Isle Madame, which does have a lot of francophones. I guess Sub. B has lots of assimilated anglophone people but who are of French origin.
Are you sure about that?
"Measuring 16 km long and 11 km wide, giving approximately 45 km2, Isle Madame is jurisdictionally part of Richmond County and is separated from Cape Breton Island by a narrow strait named Lennox Passage."

[BretttheRiderFan]

There is actually another one: Richmond County Sub. B, in the SE of Cape Breton in Nova Scotia.

Strangely enough, it's not an area that's known for having a lot of francophones. And it doesn't include nearby Isle Madame, which does have a lot of francophones.

I guess Sub. B has lots of assimilated anglophone people but who are of French origin.

You are right! My bad.

That's definitely the thing with that census division in Alberta as well, I doubt the majority of them can speak French (most at this point are a generation or two removed from that, though there's still significant numbers of francophone speakers, especially in certain communities).

[BretttheRiderFan]

Yeah...for all of the similarities between Calgary and Edmonton they actually have pretty different histories in terms of european settlement and immigration groups. Historically and politically I think there is a pretty strong divide between the Ukranian/Metis/Franco Albertan influence north of the Battle River and the Dryland/Ranching/WASP influence to the south - even as the actual demographic numbers today are evening out qutie a bit. I often wonder what the social-political landscape of the prairies might have looked like if they had created the provinces in some of the other shapes they had considered. For AB, being part of the same political entity has definitely lead to a fair bit of convergence accross the province, but the northern part of the province (especially north of Edmonton) can be astonishingly different from the south (especially south of Calgary).

I think beyond the antagonistic history, Edmonton and Calgary struggle with each other because in many ways we are so similar, but are also the major centres in two fairly large regions that probably wouldn't have logically ended up together if it wasn't politically expedient. I know in the broad scheme of the world Edmonton and Calgary are pretty much identical but I think the N-S divide is underestimated in this provice sometimes. We have a much greater N-S population distribution than most of the country and unlike other provinces with more distinct subregions we don't really recognzie ours as much as we could. Northern/Southern AB are vaguely defined and are descriptors more than actually identifiers of what it actually means to be from Cardston, Taber, or Brooks vs. Lac la Biche, Vegreville, or Marie-Reine

Being originally from the GP area I can definitely relate to this. The Edmonton-Calgary thing is given a lot of attention in this province (and trying to magnify the differences as much as we can) but the north-south differences seperate from the big cities gets overlooked.

One way I think this can be viewed is a map from the 2012 Redford vs. Smith election, and illustrates the border between what are truly socially conservative areas and those areas that are more inclined to support a Red Tory type. Rural areas of the north were also open to electing New Democrats in their landslide victory last May, whereas they simply didn't resonate south of the area that essentially rejected Redford three years prior (outside the cities, and the Rockies, which is a different animal entirely).

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/95/Alta2012.png/300px-Alta2012.pnghttps://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/95/Alta2012.png/300px-Alta2012.png

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/60/Alta2015.png/300px-Alta2015.png
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/60/Alta2015.png/300px-Alta2015.png

[ciudad_del_norte]

Yup, and interestingly, the first map especially is nearly perfectly split along the Battle River, which has been a kind of dividing line in this region even prior to European Settlement.

I feel like the more I've seen of the province north of Edmonton and south of Calgary in the past few years the more I've actually understood how Edmonton and Calgary are still rooted and drawing from something different despite the similarities.

[Acajack]

Are you sure about that?

Isle Madame is part of Richmond County but not part of Richmond Census Subdivision B. The county has A, B and C I think.

[Nashe]

Isle Madame is part of Richmond County but not part of Richmond Census Subdivision B. The county has A, B and C I think.
I don't think the map differentiates, though... the dark blue area is where Isle Madame is... no?

[Acajack]

I don't think the map differentiates, though... the dark blue area is where Isle Madame is... no?

The map is too big and the island too small to tell. Could be, I guess.

Richmond A and B are about 15% francophone, whereas Richmond C (Isle Madame) is just under 50% francophone.

Now, what's really interesting is why so many more people in that part of NS checked off "French", compared to other Acadian parts of NS (Chéticamp on Cape Breton's west coast, or Clare in the SW) where it's apparent most Acadians (basically the same people as the "French" of Richmond County) checked off "Canadian".

[BretttheRiderFan]

Winnipeg still has some Ukrainian residential concentrations - the riding of Kildonan-St. Paul is 26% Ukrainian origin and Elmwood-Transcona is 21%.

I'm curious if the other Prairie cities have any sort of residential concentration anymore.

My guess is no. One difference between Winnipeg and the other Prairie cities is that Winnipeg was a sizeable city prior to WWII with a significant Ukrainian population. While I'm pretty sure that the Ukrainian population that moved from the Prairies rural to cities after WWII greatly outnumbered the existing Ukrainian population in say, Edmonton and Saskatoon.

I believe the historical Ukrainian enclave in Edmonton was north of downtown in the Central McDougall/Boyle Street areas. This is where you can find St. Josephat's Cathedral, the Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy, the Ukrainian Canadian Archives and Museum, Ukrainian Orthodox Church, the Ukrainian National Federation, a Ukrainian Seniors Residence, etc, etc. It's the working-class area that also includes Chinatown and Littly Italy.

My guess is that with time the population dispersed from this area, as it remains the lower-income part of town and today seems to be heavily populated with indigenous as well as Somali, Vietnamese, older Chinese, etc.

[Nathan]

I believe the historical Ukrainian enclave in Edmonton was north of downtown in the Central McDougall/Boyle Street areas. This is where you can find St. Josephat's Cathedral, the Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy, the Ukrainian Canadian Archives and Museum, Ukrainian Orthodox Church, the Ukrainian National Federation, a Ukrainian Seniors Residence, etc, etc. It's the working-class area that also includes Chinatown and Littly Italy.

My guess is that with time the population dispersed from this area, as it remains the lower-income part of town and today seems to be heavily populated with indigenous as well as Somali, Vietnamese, older Chinese, etc.

The area of Regina that Ukrainians used to be in with larger concentrations was "Germantown". It was largely a poorer area with a high Eastern European concentration, and as Ukrainians were the largest Eastern European group here...

Like Edmonton's area listed above, today there is still a Ukrainian Catholic Church, a Ukrainian Orthodox Church, a Ukrainian senior's home, Ukrainian National Federation Hall, and the Ukrainian Co-op (best sausages in the city). The population has largely shifted though. It remained a low-income area, so when the children of immigrants improved their situation, they moved to other areas. Now it has a high Aboriginal population, along with a mix of less well-off people of European decent (no specific heritage dominating) and recent immigrants from all over.

[Xelebes]

Hm, it would seem that the Ukrainians occupied the northern portion of the old Germantown. Germantown would ultimately be split into Chinatown to the south and the Chuck to the north.