The Intergenerational Transfer of Ethnic Identity in Canada at the Turn of the Twenty-First Century

ABSTRACT/RESUME The purpose of this analysis is to explore the generational transfer of ethnic identity at the beginning of the twenty-first century in Canada and in eight census metropolitan areas, i.e., Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Regina, Saskatoon, Winnipeg, Toronto, and Montreal using data from the 2001 Census of Canada. Patterns of ethnic-connectedness are addressed using language, marriage type, and responses to the ethnic ancestry question at the time of the 2001 Census. The results suggest the importance of keeping questions dealing with ethnic ancestry, of parents, and language. This, along with the addition of a question on ethnic identity, would among other things ensure the provision of valid information on Canada's multicultural population through policy recommendations regarding data collection via Canada's national censuses. Cette etude vise a analyser la continuite transgenerationnelle de l'identite ethnique au debut du XX[I.sup.e] siecle au Canada et dans huit regions metropolitaines de recensement (Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Regina, Saskatoon, Winnipeg, Toronto, et Montreal) au moyen des donnees du recensement de 2001. Les constantes en matiere de liens ethniques sont examinees en fonction des parametres de la langue et du type de mariage ainsi que des reponses fournies a la question sur l'origine ancestrale dans le recensement de 2001. Les resultats suggerent qu'il est important de conserver les questions portant sur l'origine ancestrale, le lieu de naissance des et la langue. Ces questions et l'ajout d'une autre portant sur l'identite ethnique garantiraient, entre autres choses, la fourniture de renseignements exacts sur la population multiculturelle du Canada. Il s'agit la de la principale recommandation strategique sur la collecte de donnees au moyen des recensements nationaux qui se degage de l'etude. INTRODUCTION The post-war years in Canada have seen the emergence of the ideals of multiculturalism blossom into policies that have had a major effect on the composition of Canada's immigrant stream and this, along with time, has had a major effect on the identity of Canada's immigrants. Changes in the wording of the census ethnic ancestry question since 1971, the legitimization of multiple origin responses, the acceptance of as an answer to the ethnic origin ancestry question, and the addition of the birthplace of parents question for the first time since 1971 present an opportunity to look at the intergenerational transfer of ethnic identity in Canada at the time of Canada's 2001 Census. While Canada's census does not ask an identity question per se, it is still possible to examine the data to achieve some understanding of how Canadians identify themselves in terms of ethnicity. Questions such as those dealing with of parents, mother tongue, language spoken at home, ethnic ancestry, birthplace, and marriage type can tell us about identity and its changes from one generation to another. Ethnic ancestry and ethnic identity, for example, can be the same or different depending on the individual and his/her migration and generational status, language use, marital type if married, or the marital type of his/her or ancestors. Levels of ethnic-connectedness can also be examined with Canadian census data. A case in point is the use of an ethnic language spoken at home or mother tongue. Previous research has shown a decline in the use of ethnic languages from the 1st to the 3rd+ generation (Kalbach and Richard 1991; Pigott 2003). The purpose of this analysis is to explore the generational transfer of ethnic identity at the beginning of the twenty-first century in Canada and in eight census metropolitan areas, i.e., Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Regina, Saskatoon, Winnipeg, Toronto, and Montreal. In so doing, a brief review of the relevant literature will be presented along with an analysis of the patterns of ethnic-connectedness based on language, marriage type, and responses to the ethnic ancestry question at the time of the 2001 Census. …

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