Quote:
Originally Posted by 1overcosc
I don't have time to do the data now, but I bet some of the relatively low distinctiveness in that comparison stems from the dividing line used. I'd guess most of the southern and western parts of Eastern Ontario around Kingston, Belleville, and Peterborough are pretty similar to Southwestern Ontario in ethnic composition.
I'm pretty sure it's in the northern and eastern parts of Eastern Ontario closer to Ottawa and the QC border where it gets distinct.
If that comparison was redone, but instead separated out Ottawa, Renfrew, Lanark, Prescott-Russell, and Stormont-Dundas-Glengarry from the rest of Eastern Ontario, I'd bet that the former would look a lot more distinctive. Probably with much higher Irish, French, and "Canadian" population and a lot less English and German.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Docere
Also, Ottawa itself (half of Eastern Ont. roughly) has seen a lot of migration, so while the Irish/French Canadian presence is still notable, the proportion has declined (there were probably a majority in Ottawa pre-WWII) both with recent immigration and with people from other parts of Canada (who may be more "English", "Scottish", "German" etc.) moving to the region.
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I'd imagine domestic (both local scale like southern Ontarians from smaller cities, be it in E or SW Ontario, going to Toronto, as well as say GTA students going to uni in the various towns in E and SW Ontario alike, or farther like Canadians moving to Ottawa for federal jobs) and international migration diminishes the E/SW divide.
If a lot of domestic migrants (not immigrants) belong to all those common groups like English, Scottish, German, French, "Canadian" etc. these demographics spread around easily.
Groups like Italians, Aboriginals, Black and Asian visible minorities are not hugely different between SW and E Ontario. Probably because they do not favor one side of the E/SW divide, but reflect spillover or overlap with other regions (whether it's the GTA itself or northern Ontario).
Also, though both are small %'s, Black and Arabs despite their shared cross-border linkage with metro Detroit in SW Ontario, are actually (just a small bit) lower than E Ontario, probably because Ottawa's getting more diverse immigration now.