Canadian content (abbreviated CanCon, cancon or can-con) refers to the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) requirements that radio and television broadcasters (including cable and satellite specialty channels) must air a certain percentage of content that was at least partly written, produced, presented, or otherwise contributed to by persons from Canada. It also refers to that content itself, and, more generally, to cultural and creative content that is Canadian in nature.

Other countries employ similar quota systems. Australian broadcasters are required to broadcast a certain percentage of Australasian content. Similar domestic content quota laws also exist in the Philippines, Mexico, Nigeria, Israel, South Africa, Jamaica, Venezuela and New Zealand – also in the United Kingdom, Republic of Ireland, and France (which now have a European Union content rule rather than a domestic one). Given the domestic and global strength of the US media, such content restrictions would be unnecessary in addition to being unconstitutional.

Radio[link]

For music, the requirements are referred to as the MAPL system. Following an extensive public hearing process organised by the CRTC, the MAPL system, created by Stan Klees (co-creator of the Juno Award), was adopted in 1971 to define and identify Canadian content in pieces of music for the purposes of increasing exposure of Canadian music on Canadian radio through content regulations governing a percentage (25%) of airplay to be devoted to Canadian music.^[1] The percentage was increased to 30% in the 1980s, and to 35% effective January 3, 1999. However, most new commercial radio stations licensed since 1999 have been licensed at 40%.^[1]

Some stations – especially those playing formats where there may be a limited number of Canadian recordings suitable for airplay, such as classical, jazz or oldies, may be allowed by the CRTC to meet Canadian content targets as low as 20 per cent. Stations in Windsor, Ontario are also permitted to meet lower Canadian content targets, due to Windsor's proximity to the Metro Detroit media market in the United States.

Community radio and campus-based community radio stations often choose to meet higher Canadian content levels than commercial broadcasters because of their mandate to support up-and-coming Canadian artists and provide content not readily available on commercial radio or the CBC. However, legal CanCon requirements may be lower for campus and community stations as they often air large quantities of category 3 music.

Before the MAPL system was established in 1971, Canadian music was regarded with indifference by Canadian radio. This was a major hurdle for Canadian musicians since they could not gain attention in their home country without having a hit single in the United States or Europe first. Even after MAPL was implemented in the early 1970s, some radio stations were criticised for restricting their Canadian content to off-peak listening hours, in program blocks mockingly known as "beaver hours". This practice is now prevented by CRTC regulations stipulating CanCon percentages must be met between 6 am and 6 pm, rather than allowing a station to save all their Canadian content for off-peak hours.

On satellite radio services, Canadian content regulation is applied in aggregate over the whole subscription package. The licenced satellite radio broadcasters, Sirius Canada and XM Radio Canada, are not required to adjust the programming on the international broadcast services they offer, but must offer a minimum number of Canadian-produced channels with at least 85 per cent Canadian content on those services.

How the MAPL system works[link]

To qualify as Canadian content a musical selection must generally fulfil at least two of the following conditions:

• M (music) — the music is composed entirely by a Canadian.
• A (artist) — the music is, or the lyrics are, performed principally by a Canadian.
• P (performance) — the musical selection consists of a performance that is:
  • recorded wholly in Canada, or
  • performed wholly in Canada and broadcast live in Canada.
• L (lyrics) — the lyrics are written entirely by a Canadian.^[2]

There are four special cases where a musical selection may qualify as Canadian content:

• The musical selection was recorded before January 1972 and meets one, rather than two, of the above conditions.
• It is an instrumental performance of a musical composition written or composed by a Canadian.
• It is a performance of a musical composition that a Canadian has composed for instruments only.
• The musical selection was performed live or recorded after September 1, 1991, and, in addition to meeting the criterion for either artist or production, a Canadian who has collaborated with a non-Canadian receives at least half of the credit for both music and lyrics.

This last criterion was added in 1991, to accommodate Bryan Adams' album Waking Up the Neighbours. Adams had collaborated with British record producer Robert John "Mutt" Lange, and as a result, neither the album nor the worldwide smash hit single "(Everything I Do) I Do It for You" qualified as Canadian content under the existing rules. After extensive controversy in the summer of that year, the CRTC changed the rules to allow for such collaborations. Other Canadian artists with long-time international careers, like Anne Murray, Celine Dion, Avril Lavigne, and Shania Twain, have used recording studios in Canada specifically to maintain Cancon status.

What constitutes a Canadian under the MAPL system[link]

The CRTC states that for the purposes of the MAPL system, a Canadian can be defined by one of the following:

• Canadian citizen
• permanent resident as defined by the Immigration Act, 1976
• person whose ordinary place of residence was Canada for the six months immediately preceding their contribution to a musical composition, performance or concert
• licensee, i.e. a person licensed to operate a radio station^[3]

The MAPL logo[link]

Every radio station in Canada must meet Canadian content quotas, therefore, the MAPL logo, created by Stan Klees, on album packaging and on the compact disc itself increases the chance that the music will receive airplay in Canada. The MAPL logo is a circle divided into four parts, one part for each of the four "MAPL" categories. The categories in which the music qualifies are black with a white initial M, A, P or L. The categories for which the music does not qualify are in white, with a black letter.

Controversy[link]

This article's Criticism or Controversy section may compromise the article's neutral point of view of the subject. Please integrate the section's contents into the article as a whole, or rewrite the material. (August 2010)

This section contains weasel words: vague phrasing that often accompanies biased or unverifiable information. Such statements should be clarified or removed. (August 2010)

One of the controversies with Canadian content specifically with the music industry has to do with the artists that receive air play under the cancon title. The debate often occurs over whether the artist receiving the air play needs the cancon heading to receive play, or if the heading could be used on another artist often seen as yet to be established and seen as in need of the heading to receive any play at all. Various artists that have received success abroad before success at home are often cited as examples of the cancon heading being poorly used at home. It still however remains unclear as to exactly why some artists achieve success abroad before success in Canada, and therefor fuels the controversy over Canadian content regulations for many individuals on both sides of the debate.

In 2005, the website Indie Pool launched a campaign to have the CRTC review and modify the current Canadian content rules to put greater stress on supporting new and emerging artists. The group's petition is signed by approximately 5,000 Canadian artists and music fans to date, but is not widely supported by Canadian media or acknowledged by the CRTC.

In 2006, the Canadian Association of Broadcasters, in a submission to the CRTC, proposed a lessening of Canadian content regulating to 25 percent, arguing that conventional radio faced more competition from alternative music sources such as Internet radio, satellite radio and iPods, and, in the same submission, proposed stricter new guidelines on the licensing of new radio stations. In another submission, Friends of Canadian Broadcasting argued the Canadian broadcasting industry is in a healthy position and did not need to have the Canadian content rules relaxed.

Talk radio and American syndicated programming[link]

Unlike music radio, the rules on talk radio are more ambiguous. The vast majority of Canadian talk radio stations operate with local talk for most of the daylight hours, with the exception of two nationally syndicated Canadian talk show hosts: news/talk personality Charles Adler and sports talk host Bob McCown.

Syndicated programming from the United States invariably airs after 7:00 pm local time in virtually all markets, and usually features non-political programs such as Joy Browne, The Jim Rome Show and Coast to Coast AM. Due to their limited relevance to Canadian audiences, more political American shows such as The Rush Limbaugh Show are rarely picked up by Canadian radio stations, although the now defunct CFBN aired Dennis Miller and the Glenn Beck Program on tape delay in the evenings for a few months, from April through November 2007, when CFBN stopped broadcasting over the air, and The Phil Hendrie Show aired for many years on CKTB, even during the period when it focused on political content. Miller also aired on CHAM for two years from 2008 to 2010. No rule prevents programs such as Limbaugh or Beck from being aired on Canadian radio stations; such programs are simply not carried because their focus on American politics limits their appeal to Canadian radio audiences, especially given the high rights fees Limbaugh charges his affiliates.

As in the United States in the 1980s, the trend for AM stations in Canada in the 1990s was to apply for an FM broadcasting license or move away from music in favour of talk radio formats. (Since the late 2000s, AM radio in North America has been declining as stations have shut down and moved to FM.) The total amount of Canadian-produced content declined as broadcasters could license syndicated radio programs produced in the U.S., while the Cancon regulations were conceived to apply to music only, and not to spoken-word programming. This became particularly controversial in 1998 when stations in Toronto and Montreal (ironically on FM), started airing The Howard Stern Show from New York City during prime daytime hours. Stern was forced off the air not because of Canadian content, but because the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council reprimanded the stations broadcasting Stern numerous times for Stern's comments, which prompted the two stations to drop him in short order. Stern would later move exclusively to satellite radio.

American shows that combine talk and music, such as Delilah and John Tesh, will usually have special playlists for airing in Canada to assist in meeting Canadian content requirements. Because of the different requirements, American syndicated oldies programs are widely popular in Canada, such as American Gold, Wolfman Jack, and M. G. Kelly's American Hit List. These shows usually do not substitute Canadian songs, due in part to a fairly large library of Canadian musicians already in rotation in the format (such as The Guess Who, Gordon Lightfoot, Paul Anka, Terry Jacks or R. Dean Taylor). In other formats, an American syndicated program will sometimes be counterbalanced with an all-Canadian program; for instance, CKMX will broadcast Country Countdown USA and America's Grand Ole Opry Weekend, counterbalancing that with the Canadian syndicated programs Country Gold with Will Brown, Canadian Country Countdown and Hugh McLennan's Spirit of the West, the last of which is also carried by several U.S. stations. American syndicated series are usually played in "off peak" and weekend hours.

Television[link]

To an even greater extent than on radio, Canadian television programming has been a perennially difficult proposition for the broadcast industry, particularly dramatic programming in prime-time. It is much more economical for Canadian stations to buy the Canadian rights to an American prime-time series instead of financing a new homemade production. Perhaps more importantly, given the reach of the major U.S. broadcast networks in Canada, it is virtually impossible to delay or modify a U.S. program's broadcast schedule, as regularly occurs in other foreign markets, to weed out failures or to otherwise accommodate indigenous programming.

In English Canada, presently only the public network, CBC Television, devotes the vast majority of its prime-time schedule to Canadian content, having dropped U.S. network series in the mid-1990s. The French-language networks, both public and private, also rely largely on Canadian series, relying on dubbed American movies – with a handful of dubbed series – for most of their foreign content.

Programming[link]

This unreferenced section requires citations to ensure verifiability.

Early Canadian programming was often produced merely to fill content requirements, and featured exceedingly low budgets, rushed production schedules, poor writing and little in the way of production values and as a result did not attract much of an audience. One Canadian series, The Trouble with Tracy, is sometimes claimed as one of the worst television shows ever produced.^[4] However, even given these limitations, some productions managed to rise above the mediocre – both SCTV (originally on Global) and Smith & Smith (CHCH) grew from local low-budget productions with a limited audience to large production companies with a North American audience.

In the 1980s and early 1990s, distinctly Canadian drama series such as CBC's Street Legal or CTV's E.N.G. consistently drew hundreds of thousands of viewers each week. In the latter part of the 1990s and the early 2000s, Global's Traders and the CBC drama Da Vinci's Inquest completed long runs, buoyed by critical approval if not overwhelming viewer success. As for CTV, after short-lived runs of planned "flagship" drama series such as The City, The Associates and The Eleventh Hour, the network has recently found ratings success with the reality television series Canadian Idol and with the sitcom Corner Gas, the latter now syndicated to the US. The CBC dramedy This is Wonderland was a moderate success with a loyal fan base, but was nonetheless cancelled in 2006 after three seasons.

Specialty channels also naturally produce Canadian content, some of which, most notably Showcase's mockumentary series Trailer Park Boys, have been able to generate a strong mass appeal.

Despite these indigenous successes, Canadian networks have frequently fulfilled Cancon requirements by airing series filmed in Canada but intended primarily for the lucrative United States market. Recent examples include CTV's Sue Thomas: F.B.Eye, Mysterious Ways and Twice in a Lifetime, Global's Zoe Busiek: Wild Card, and Citytv's Stargate SG-1. International co-productions such as Jozi-H, The Tudors, Charlie Jade and the current revival of Doctor Who are also common. Another increasingly common practice in recent years has been for the networks, instead of investing in new Canadian drama programming, to rebroadcast series that previously aired on Canadian cable networks, such as ReGenesis, Terminal City or Durham County.

As well, Canadian commercial television networks increasingly schedule a large percentage of their Canadian productions to air in the summer season; although traditionally a season of low viewership, this practice has actually been beneficial for Canadian television productions, as a widespread viewer preference for new programming over off-season repeats has resulted in these series improving their ratings in Canada, as well as increasing their chances of gaining a lucrative sale to one of the big four American networks, a revenue stream which is generally unavailable during the fall and winter television seasons.^[5]

The Red Green Show was also a success, being imported into the United States via PBS. That show's cast often did pledge drive specials and received strong viewer support on PBS stations in the northern part of the United States, such as Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, New Hampshire and New York.

The television show SCTV created the two-minute long "Great White North" sketch with the characters Bob and Doug McKenzie to both fulfill and make fun of the Canadian content rules, as the sketch was loaded with Canadian stereotypes. It became the most popular segment of the show and the characters, played by Rick Moranis and Dave Thomas, would be featured in comedy albums, commercials and a feature film (Strange Brew).^[6]

A few Canadian television series, including Due South, The Listener and Flashpoint, have also been picked up by American networks and aired in prime time, although the majority of Canadian TV series which have aired in the United States have done so either in syndication or on cable networks. SCTV aired in a late night slot on NBC in the early 1980s. CBS aired a late-night block of crime dramas in the late 1980s which included a number of Canadian series, including Night Heat, Hot Shots, Adderly and Diamonds, and later aired The Kids in the Hall in a late-night slot as well.

Regulations[link]

For broadcast stations, the CRTC presently requires that 60% yearly, and at least 50% of prime-time programming, 6:00 pm to midnight, be of Canadian origin.^[7] However, historically, much of these requirements have been fulfilled by low-cost news, current affairs and talk programs in off-peak hours. It is usually not difficult to fill the daytime schedule with a sufficient amount of Cancon, often through reruns, while two-thirds of the latter requirement can be filled simply by airing an hour of news every night at 6 pm and again at 11 pm. As described above, often the remaining domestic content has consisted of low-cost science fiction or drama programming primarily intended for sale to the U.S. and elsewhere, and has aired on nights or in time-slots where it is unlikely to attract a large audience, freeing up other time-slots for American network programming. It is also a fairly common occurrence for stations to sign off during the overnight graveyard slots to reduce their Cancon liability.

Over the years the CRTC has tried a number of strategies intended to increase the success of Canadian programming, including expenditure requirements and time credits (i.e. a single hour of Cancon counts for more than an hour) for productions with specific requirements. Its most recent policy, issued in 1999, requires stations owned by the largest private groups, including CTV/A, Global, Citytv/OMNI, and TVA/Sun TV, to air an average of eight hours per week (between 7 and 11 pm) of priority programming, including the following categories:

• drama (for CRTC purposes "drama" includes scripted comedies)
• variety
• documentaries
• entertainment newsmagazines

Drama programs which meet specific requirements, including the number of Canadians in key production roles, can count for additional time credits for this purpose but not for the purposes of the overall 60%/50% requirements.

These current regulations have been criticised by actors' and directors' groups, among others, for not adequately favouring dramas. Indeed, reality television series began to grow in popularity soon after the policy was announced, driving Canadian broadcasters to produce more of these programs as opposed to higher-cost dramas. (For instance, the audition episodes of Canadian Idol could qualify as "documentaries", and the performance / results episodes as "variety".) As well, entertainment newsmagazines now regularly air during the "priority" period on CTV (eTalk Daily), Global (ET Canada), E! (E! News Weekend), and Sun TV (Inside Jam!), largely due to their priority standing.

The CRTC later modified its policies slightly by increasing the incentives for airing new drama programs. Broadcasters could receive additional minutes of advertising above the 12 minutes per hour generally permitted, which could be aired anywhere in the schedule, in exchange for increasing the number of Canadian dramas aired and meeting certain other drama-related targets. However, these are not mandatory targets. Moreover, in 2007 the commission effectively negated these incentives by announcing the gradual removal of all limits on TV advertising. Several cultural lobby groups and performing-arts labour unions have called on the CRTC to compel the major networks to air a minimum number of hours of Canadian drama, or spend an arbitrary percentage of revenues on producing such drama programs.

Requirements for specialty channels and premium television services – channels available only on cable and satellite – often differ greatly from those of broadcast stations. Most long-established specialty channels are expected to devote at least 50% of airtime to Cancon, while category 2 digital channels and most premium services have much lower restrictions. However, specialty channels are allowed to take part in the advertising incentives.

Movies[link]

Some have suggested that Canadian content minimums be enacted for movie theatres as well,^[8][9] though none have resulted.

See also[link]

• Music of Canada

References[link]

Further reading[link]

• Armstrong, Robert (2010), Broadcasting Policy in Canada, University of Toronto Press, ISBN 9781442640962, http://books.google.ca/books?id=v8uRPaM_VoAC&lpg=PP1&dq=Canadian%20Media&pg=PP1#v=onepage&q&f=true 
• Edwardson, Ryan (2008), Canadian content: culture and the quest for nationhood, University of Toronto Press, ISBN 978-0-8020-9759-0, http://books.google.ca/books?id=IxVuSFLo8fAC&lpg=PP1&dq=Canadian%20content&pg=PP1#v=onepage&q&f=true 

External links[link]

• MAPL system (CRTC)
• (.asf streaming audio) CBC Archives Sam Sniderman (Sam the record man) talks about his support for CANCON in 1971

Canadians

1st row: Shanawdithit, Aatsista-Mahkan, Louis Riel, Sir John A. Macdonald, Lester B. Pearson 2nd row: Celine Dion, Thomas D'Arcy McGee, John Diefenbaker, Linda Evangelista, Patrick Chan 3rd row: Russell Peters, Cassie Steele, Michaëlle Jean, David Suzuki, Tommy Douglas
Total population
Canada 34,839,000 (Est.[Note 1])
Regions with significant populations
United States 1,003,850 [1] Hong Kong 200,000 [1] United Kingdom 72,518 [1] Taiwan 52,500 [1] Lebanon 45,000 [1] People's Republic of China 20,000 [1] Australia 27,289 [1] Italy 23,487 [1] France 18,913 [1] Greece 12,477 [1] Egypt 10,000 [1] South Korea 8,763 [1] Mexico 7,943 [2] New Zealand 7,770 [1] Switzerland 7,519 [1] Philippines 7,500 [1] Portugal 7,326 [1] Japan 7,067 [1] Netherlands 8,427 [1] Belgium 4,145 [1] Norway 2,290 [1] Ireland 4,081 [1] Spain 3,810 [1] Denmark 2,752 [1] Sweden 2,742 [3]
Languages
Official languages are English (Canadian English) and French (Canadian French). Numerous indigenous American languages are also recognized.
Religion
Multiple denominations

Canadians (singular Canadian) are the people who are identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be genetic, residential, legal, historical, cultural or ethnic. For most Canadians, several (frequently all) of those types of connections exist and are the source(s) of them being considered Canadians.

Aside from the Aboriginal peoples, who according to the 2006 Canadian Census numbered 1,172,790, 3.8% of the country's total population,^[4] the majority of the population is made up of Old World immigrants and their descendants. After the initial period of French and then British colonization, different waves (or peaks) of immigration and settlement of non-aboriginal peoples took place over the course of nearly two centuries and continues today. Elements of Aboriginal, French, British and more recent immigrant customs, languages and religions have combined to form the culture of Canada and thus a Canadian identity. Canada has also been strongly influenced by that of its linguistic, geographic and economic neighbour, the United States.

Canadian independence grew gradually over the course of many years since the formation of the Canadian Confederation in 1867. World War I and World War II in particular gave rise to a desire amongst Canadians to have their country recognized as a fully-fledged sovereign state with a distinct citizenship. Legislative independence was established with the passage of the Statute of Westminster 1931, the Canadian Citizenship Act of 1946 took effect on January 1, 1947, and full sovereignty was achieved with the patriation of the constitution in 1982. Canada's nationality law closely mirrored that of the United Kingdom. Legislation since the mid 20th century represents Canadians' commitment to multilateralism and socioeconomic development.

Population[link]

Canadians make up 0.5% of the world's total population,^2010[5] having relied upon immigration for population growth and social development.^[6] Approximately 41% of current Canadians are first or second generation immigrants,^[7] meaning one out of every five Canadians currently living in Canada was not born in the country.^[8] Statistics Canada projects that, by 2031, nearly one-half of Canadians above the age of 15 will be foreign-born or have one foreign-born parent.^[9]

Immigration[link]

The French originally settled New France in present-day Quebec and Ontario, during the early part of the 17th century.^[10] Approximately 100 Irish-born families would settle the Saint Lawrence Valley by 1700, assimilating into the Canadien population and culture.^[11][12] The French also settled the Acadian peninsula alongside a smaller number of other European merchants, who collectively became the Acadians.^[13] During the 18th and 19th century; immigration westward (to the area known as Rupert's Land) was carried out by French settlers (Coureur des bois) working for the North West Company, and by British (English and Scottish) settlers representing the Hudson's Bay Company.^[14] This led to the creation of the Métis, an ethnic group of mixed European and First Nations parentage.^[15]

The British conquest of New France was proceeded by small number of Germans and Swedes who settled alongside the Scottish in Port Royal, Nova Scotia, while some Irish immigrated to the Colony of Newfoundland.^[16] In the wake of the 1775 invasion of Canada by the newly-formed Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War, approximately 60,000 United Empire Loyalist fled to British North America, a large portion of whom migrated to New Brunswick.^[17] After the War of 1812, British (included British army regulars), Scottish and Irish immigration was encouraged throughout Rupert's Land, Upper Canada and Lower Canada.^[18]

Between 1815 and 1850 some 800,000 immigrants came to the colonies of British North America, mainly from the British Isles as part of the great migration of Canada.^[19] These included some Gaelic-speaking Highland Scots displaced by the Highland Clearances to Nova Scotia.^[20] The Irish Potato Famine of the 1840s significantly increased the pace of Irish immigration to Prince Edward Island and the Province of Canada, with over 35,000 distressed individuals landing in Toronto in 1847 and 1848.^[21][22] Beginning in late 1850s, Chinese immigrants into the Colony of Vancouver Island and Colony of British Columbia peaked with the onset of the Fraser Canyon Gold Rush.^[23] The Chinese Immigration Act of 1885 eventually placed a head tax on all Chinese immigrants, in hopes of discouraging Chinese immigration after completion of the Canadian Pacific Railway.^[24]

The population of Canada has consistently risen, doubling approximately every 40 years, since the establishment of the Canadian Confederation in 1867.^[25] From the mid to late 19th century Canada had a policy of assisting immigrants from Europe, including an estimated 100,000 unwanted "Home Children" from Britain.^[26] Block settlement communities were established throughout western Canada between the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Some were planned and other were spontaneously created by the settlers themselves.^[27] Canada was now receiving a large amount of European immigrants predominately Italians, Germans, Scandinavians, Dutch and Ukrainians.^[28]

100,000 +

50,000 - 99,999

20,000 - 49,999

10,000 - 19,999

Legislative restrictions on immigration (such as the Continuous journey regulation and Chinese Immigration Act) that had favoured British and other European immigrants were amended in the 1960s, opening the doors to immigrants from all parts of the world.^[29] While the 1950s had still seen high levels of immigration by Europeans, by the 1970s immigrants increasingly were Chinese, Indian, Vietnamese, Jamaican and Haitian.^[30] During the late 1960s and early 1970s, Canada received many American Vietnam War draft dissenters.^[31] Throughout the late 1980s and 1990s Canada's growing Pacific trade brought with it a large influx of South Asians, that tended to settle in British Columbia.^[32]

In 2009, Canada received 252,179 "permanent residents" - the top ten source countries were China (29,049), the Philippines (27,277), India (26,122), the United States (9,723), the United Kingdom (9,566), France (7,300), Pakistan (6,214), Iran (6,065), South Korea (5,864), and Morocco (5,222).^[33] These countries were followed closely by Algeria (4,785), United Arab Emirates (4,640), and Iraq (4,567) with Sri Lanka, Colombia, and Germany each contributing over 4,000 individuals.^[33] Immigrants of all backgrounds tend to settle in the major urban centres.^[34][35]

The majority of illegal immigrants come from the southern provinces of the People's Republic of China, with Asia as a whole, Eastern Europe, Caribbean, Africa and the Middle East all contributing to the illegal population.^[36] Estimates of illegal immigrants range between 35,000 and 120,000.^[37] A 2008 report by the Auditor General of Canada Sheila Fraser, stated that Canada has lost track of approximately 41,000 illegal immigrants whose visas have expired.^[38]

Citizenship[link]

Members of the first official Canadian Citizenship ceremony held at the Supreme Court of Canada in Ottawa,
3 January 1947

Canadian citizenship is typically obtained by birth in Canada, birth abroad when at least one parent is a Canadian citizen and was born in Canada, or by adoption abroad by at least one Canadian citizen.^[39] It can also be granted to a permanent resident who lives in Canada for three out of four years and meets specific requirements.^[39] Canada established its own nationality law in 1946 with the enactment of the Canadian Citizenship Act, which took effect on January 1, 1947.^[40] The Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, was passed by the Parliament of Canada in 2001 as Bill C-11, which replaced the Immigration Act of 1976 as the primary federal legislation regulating immigration.^[41] Prior to the conferring of legal status on Canadian citizenship, Canada's naturalization laws consisted of a multitude of Acts beginning with the Immigration Act of 1910.^[42]

According to Citizenship and Immigration Canada there are three main classifications for immigrants: Family class (closely related persons of Canadian residents), Economic class (admitted on the basis of a point system that account for age, health and labour-market skills required for cost effectively inducting the immigrants into Canada's labour market) and Refugee class (those seeking protection by applying to remain in the country by way of the Canadian immigration and refugee law).^[43] In 2008, there were 65,567 immigrants in the family class, 21,860 refugees, and 149,072 economic immigrants amongst the 247,243 total immigrants to the country.^[7] Canada resettles over one in 10 of the world’s refugees^[44] and has one of the highest per-capita immigration rates in the world.^[45]

The majority of Canadian citizens live in Canada; however, there are approximately 2,800,000 Canadians abroad as of November 1, 2009.^[46] This represents about 7.5% of the total Canadian population. Of those abroad the United States, Hong Kong, the United Kingdom, Taiwan, China, and Lebanon have the largest Canadian diaspora. Canadians in United States are the greatest single expatriate community at over 1 million in 2009, representing 35.8% of all Canadians abroad.^[47] Under current Canadian law, Canada does not restrict dual citizenship but Passport Canada encourages its citizens to travel abroad on their Canadian passport, so they can access Canadian consular services.^[48]

Ethnic ancestry[link]

Canada has thirty four ethnic groups with at least one hundred thousand members each, of which eleven have over 1,000,000 people and numerous others are represented in smaller amounts.^{[Note 2]} According to the 2006 census, the largest self-reported ethnic origin is Canadian/Canadien (32%),^{[Note 3]} followed by English (21%), French (15.8%), Scottish (15.1%), Irish (13.9%), German (10.2%), Italian (4.6%), Chinese (4.3%), North American Indian (4.0%),^{[Note 4]} Ukrainian (3.9%), and Dutch (Netherlands) (3.3%).^[49] In the 2006 census, over five million Canadians identified themselves as a member of a visible minority. Together, they make up 16.2% of the total population: most numerous among these are South Asian (4.0%), Black (2.5%), and Filipino (1.1%).^[49] Aboriginal peoples are not considered a visible minority under the Employment Equity Act,^[50] and is the definition that Statistics Canada also uses.

Map of the dominant self-identified ethnic origins of ancestors per census division of 2006.^{[Note 2]}

Canadian[Note 3]   English   French   Scottish   German

Italian   North American Indian[Note 4]   Ukrainian   East Indian   Inuit

For a complete list see: Canadian ethnic groups

Culture[link]

A 1911 political cartoon on Canada's bicultural identity showing a flag combining symbols of Britain, France and Canada; titled "The next favor. 'A flag to suit the minority.'"

Canada's culture, like that of most any country in the world, is a product of its language(s), religion(s), political and legal system(s). Being a settler nation, Canada has been shaped by waves of migration that have combined to form a unique blend of art, cuisine, literature, humour and music.^[51] Today, Canada has a diverse makeup of nationalities and constitutional protection for policies that promote multiculturalism rather than cultural assimilation or a single national myth.^[52] In Quebec, cultural identity is strong, and many French-speaking commentators speak of a Quebec culture as distinguished from English Canadian culture.^[53] However as a whole Canada is a cultural mosaic a collection of several regional, aboriginal, and ethnic subcultures.^[54][55] Canadian society is often depicted as being "very progressive, diverse, and multicultural".^[56]

Canadian government policies such as official bilingualism, publicly-funded health care, higher and more progressive taxation, outlawing capital punishment, strong efforts to eliminate poverty, an emphasis on multiculturalism, imposing strict gun control, leniency in regard to drug use, and, most recently, legalizing same-sex marriage are social indicators of how Canada's political and cultural evolution differ from that of the United States.^[57] American media and entertainment are popular, if not dominant, in English Canada; conversely, many Canadian cultural products and entertainers are successful in the United States and worldwide.^[58] The Government of Canada has also influenced culture with programs, laws and institutions. It has created Crown corporations to promote Canadian culture through media and has also tried to protect Canadian culture by setting legal minimums on Canadian content.^[59]

Monument to Multiculturalism by Francesco Pirelli in Toronto; four identical sculptures are located in Buffalo City, Changchun, Sarajevo, and Sydney

Canadian culture has historically been influenced by Aboriginal, French and British cultures and traditions. Most of Canada's territory was inhabited and developed later than other European colonies in the Americas, with the result that themes and symbols of pioneers, trappers, and traders were important in the early development of the Canadian identity.^[60] First Nations played a critical part in the development of European colonies in Canada, particularly for their role in assisting exploration of the continent during the North American fur trade.^[61] The British conquest of New France in the mid 1700s brought a large Francophone population under British Imperial rule, creating a need for compromise and accommodation.^[62] The new British rulers left alone much of the religious, political, and social culture of the French-speaking habitants, guaranteeing the right of the Canadiens to practise the Catholic faith and to the use of French civil law (now Quebec law) through the Quebec Act of 1774.^[63]

The Constitution Act of 1867 was designed to meet the growing calls of Canadians for autonomy from British rule, while avoiding the overly-strong decentralization that contributed to the Civil War in the United States.^[64] The compromises made by the Fathers of Confederation set Canadians on a path to bilingualism, and this in turn contributed to an acceptance of diversity that later led to both multiculturalism and the recognition of Aboriginal contributions to Canadian society.^[65][66]

The Canadian Forces and overall civilian participation in the First World War and Second World War helped to foster Canadian nationalism,^[67][68][69] however in 1917 and 1944 conscription crisis's caused a considerable rift along ethnic lines between Anglophones and Francophones.^[70] As a result of the First and Second World Wars, the Government of Canada became more assertive and less deferential to British authority.^[71] With the gradual loosening of political ties to the United Kingdom and the modernization of Canadian immigration policies, in the 20th century immigrants with African, Caribbean and Asian nationalities have added to the Canadian identity and its culture.^[72] The multiple origins immigration pattern continues today with the arrival of large numbers of immigrants from non British or French backgrounds.^[73]

Multiculturalism in Canada was adopted as the official policy of the government during the premiership of Pierre Elliot Trudeau in the 1970s and 1980s.^[74] The Canadian government has often been described as the instigator of multicultural ideology because of its public emphasis on the social importance of immigration.^[75] Multiculturalism is administered by the Department of Canadian Heritage and reflected in the law through the Canadian Multiculturalism Act^[76] and section 27 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.^[77] In parts of Canada, especially the major urban areas, multiculturalism itself is the cultural norm and diversity is a force that unites the community.^[78][79]

Religion[link]

Canada as a nation is religiously diverse, encompassing a wide range of groups, beliefs and customs.^[80] The preamble to the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms references "God", and the monarch carries the title of "Defender of the Faith".^[81] However Canada has no official religion and support for religious pluralism (Freedom of religion in Canada) is an important part of Canada's political culture.^[82][83] With Christianity on the decline, having once been central and integral to Canadian culture and daily life;^[84] it has been recently suggested that Canada has come to enter a post-Christian period in a secular state, where the practice of religion has "moved to the margins of public life", with irreligion in Canada on the rise.^[85]

The 2001 Canadian census reported that 77.1% of Canadians identify as being Christians; of this, Catholics make up the largest group (43.6%).^[87][88] The largest Protestant denomination is the United Church of Canada (9.5%), followed by the Anglicans (6.8%), Baptists (2.4%), Lutherans (2%), and other Christians (4.4%).^[88] About 16.5% of Canadians declare no religious affiliation, including agnostics, atheists, humanists, and other groups. The remaining 6.3% are affiliated with non-Christian religions, the largest of which is Islam (2.0%), followed by Judaism (1.1%).^[87][88]

Before the arrival of European colonists and explorers, First Nations followed a wide array of mostly animistic religions.^[89] During the colonial period, the French settled along the shores of the Saint Lawrence River, specifically Latin rite Roman Catholics, including a number of Jesuits dedicated to converting Aboriginals; an effort that eventually proved successful.^[90] The first large Protestant communities were formed in the Maritimes after the British conquest of New France, followed by American Protestant settlers displaced by the American Revolution.^[91] The late nineteenth century saw the beginning of a large shift in Canadian immigration patterns. Large numbers of Irish and Southern Europeans immigrants were creating new Roman Catholic communities in English Canada.^[92] The settlement of the west brought significant Eastern Orthodox immigrants from Eastern Europe and Mormon and Pentecostal immigrants from the United States.^[93]

The earliest documentation of Jewish presence in Canada are the 1754 British Army records from the French and Indian War.^[94] In 1760, General Jeffrey Amherst, 1st Baron Amherst attacked and won Montreal for the British. In his regiment there were several Jews, including four among his officer corps, most notably Lieutenant Aaron Hart who is considered the father of Canadian Jewry.^[94] The Islamic, Sikhism and Buddhism communities although small, are as old as the nation itself. The 1871 Canadian Census (first "Canadian" national census) indicated thirteen Muslims among the populace,^[95] with approximately 5000 Sikh by 1908.^[96] The first Canadian mosque was constructed in Edmonton in 1938, when there were approximately 700 Muslims in Canada.^[97] Buddhism first arrived in Canada when Japanese immigrated during the late 19th century.^[98] The first Japanese Buddhist temple in Canada was built in Vancouver in 1905.^[99] The influx of immigrants in the late 20th century with Sri Lankan, Japanese, Indian and Southeast Asian customs, has contributed to the recent expansion of the Sikhism and Buddhist communities.^[100]

Languages[link]

Approximately 98% of Canadians can speak English and/or French.^[101]

  English - 57.8%

  English and French (Bilingual) - 17.4%

  French - 22.1%

  Sparsely populated area ( < 0.4 persons per km²)

A multitude of languages are used by Canadians, with English and Canadian French, a dialect of old French, (the official languages) being the mother tongues of 59.7% and 23.2% of the population respectively.^[101] Approximately twenty percent or over six million people in Canada list a non-official language as their mother tongue.^[102] Some of the most common first languages include: Chinese (3.1%), Italian (1.4%), German (1.2%), Spanish (1.2%), Punjabi (1.1%), Tagalog (0.9%), Tamil (0.8%), Gujarati (0.6%).^[103] Less than one percent of Canadians (just over 250,000 individuals) can speak an aboriginal language. About half this number (129,865) reported using an aboriginal language on a daily basis.^[104]

English and French are recognized by the Constitution of Canada as official languages.^[105] Thus all federal government laws are enacted in both English and French with government services available in both languages.^[105] Two of Canada's territories give official status to indigenous languages. In Nunavut, Inuktitut and Inuinnaqtun are official languages alongside the national languages of English and French, and Inuktitut is a common vehicular language in territorial government.^[106] In the Northwest Territories, the Official Languages Act declares that there are eleven different languages: Chipewyan, Cree, English, French, Gwich’in, Inuinnaqtun, Inuktitut, Inuvialuktun, North Slavey, South Slavey and Tłįchǫ.^[107] Multicultural media offers specialty television channels, newspapers and other publications in many minority languages, that are widely accessible across the county.^[108]

In Canada, as elsewhere in the world of European colonies, the frontier of European exploration and settlement tended to be a linguistically diverse and fluid place, as cultures using different languages met and interacted. The need for a common means of communication between the indigenous inhabitants and new arrivals for the purposes of trade and (in some cases) intermarriage led to the development of Mixed languages.^[109] Languages like Michif, Chinook Jargon and Bungi creole tended to be highly localized and were often spoken by only a small number of individuals who were frequently capable of speaking another language.^[110]

See also[link]

Canada portal

	Book: Canada
Wikipedia books are collections of articles that can be downloaded or ordered in print.

• Canuck
• Demographics of Canada
• List of Canadians
• Persons of National Historic Significance

Notes[link]

References[link]

Further reading[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Canadians

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Canadians

• Canada Year Book 2010 - Statistics Canada
• Canada: A People's History - Teacher Resources - Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
• Persons of National Historic Significance in Canada - Parks Canada
• Multicultural Canada - Department of Canadian Heritage
• The Canadian Immigrant Experience - Library and Archives Canada
• The Dictionary of Canadian Biography – Library and Archives Canada
• Canadiana: The National Bibliography of Canada – Library and Archives Canada

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