by
Madeline A. Kalbach
Warren E. Kalbach
James S. Frideres
University of Calgary
This research has been supported financially by Canadian Heritage
Social scientists have long been interested in ethnic ancestry and ethnic identity (Ryder, 1955; Wiley, 1965; Lieberson, 1985; Lieberson and Waters, 1988; Waters, 1990; Isajiw et al., 1993,1999; Kalbach and Kalbach, 1999; Gruses et al., 2001; Bagley et al., 2001). More specifically they have been interested in the fluidity of ethnic identity and the factors that make it fluid. Statistics Canada is also interested in understanding what ethnic origin means to Canadians. A survey regarding the meaning of ethnicity is to be conducted in the near future (EDS). The events of 9-11 have drawn attention to the importance of ethnicity as the ethnic groups in cities and towns all over the western world have gathered together to express their solidarity in this time of crisis. In Canada, the gatherings were billed as a celebration of multiculturalism.
Canada's censuses have always collected some type of information on the ethnic and racial characteristics of the population. The terms and definition have changed, as have the methods for determining a person's ancestry. The 1971 Census still asked for ethnic ancestry on the father's side but it's methodology changed from enumerator determination to self-determination. By the time of the 1981 Census respondents were permitted to provide more than one ethnic origin and the emphasis on the patrilineal side was dropped. By 1986 respondents were encouruged to "mark or specify as many as applicable". The 1991 and 1996 questions remained about the same except that they were now open-ended.
"As the question has become less specific and more ambiguous it has become increasingly evident that respondents have not been interpreting the intent of the question in the same way" (Kalbach and Kalbach, 1999:9). Nineteen percent of respondents answered Canadian to the ancestry question in the 1996 Census, for example, even though this response is technically incorrect. In addition, 12 percent responded Canadian plus one or more other origins. This was partly due to the fact that Canadian was listed as one of the examples and that in the last few years the media has encouraged Canadians to identify themselves as such (Ibid., 1999). In 1991, when the Census did not list Canadian as an example, only 3 percent of the respondents reported Canadian and I percent reported Canadian plus one or more other origins. Even though the tension between being Canadian and being an ethnicity is a complex one, most Canadians indicate what their ethnic ancestry is. Recent research (Ibid., 1999; Pendakur and Mata, 2000), suggests that given the increasing response of Canadian to the ethnic ancestry question, perhaps an ethnic identity question in addition to the ancestry question should be included in the Canadian census.
The purpose of this paper is to explore ethnic ancestry and ethnic identity among Canada's university youth, and specifically the transition from ancestry identification to current ethnic identity. In addition, this paper examines the implication of current youth ethnic ancestry and ethnic identity for multiculturalism policy and recommendations for future census questions regarding ethnicity of the Canadian population. More specifically, this research hopes to shed light on shifts in an individual's identity from ancestry to something else, such as Canadian or Canadian plus another ethnic identity. As a result, it is expected that this research will contribute to a better understanding of ethnic persistence and the evolution of the Canadian identity.
The data for this descriptive analysis come from the Ethnic Ancestry and Ethnic Identity Survey. The data were collected in 2000-01 by means of a survey given to social science students attending 5 universities in Canada. The total N is 3363. One university is located in each of Canada's regions, namely, the West, the Prairies, Ontario, Quebec and the Maritimes. Males comprise 37 per cent of the sample compared to 63 per cent for females. Twenty per cent of the sample is first generation followed by 23 percent second generation and 57 per cent 3rd+ generation. In addition, 53 percent of the respondents indicated a single ethnic ancestry, while 47 percent indicated more than one. In terms of identity, 49 percent of the respondents claimed Canadian identity, while 30 percent claimed an identity other than Canadian and 21 per cent identified as a Canadian and at least one other ethnic or cultural origin. In terms of marriage types 44 percent of the respondents are the off-spring of an ethnically endogamous marriage, while 56 percent are the off-spring of exogamously married parents. Each of Canada's 5 regions has about equal representation in the sample.
The findings of this research point out the need for an ethnic identity question in Canada's census. It is very clear that the university students in this sample had no difficulty indicting their ethnic ancestry. Only .3 percent indicated their ancestry as being Canadian and 97 percent were able to provide an ethnic or cultural ancestry. This finding suggests that the Canadian census needs to ask 2 questions regarding the ethnicity of its population. A question about ethnic ancestry that does not provide Canadian as an example plus an ethnic identity question would result in more rigorous ethnic ancestry data and a picture of how Canadians ethnically identify themselves.
The findings of this research also have implications for Canada's multiculturalism policy. It appears that multiculturalism does assist in the persistence of ethnicity, but at the same time does not seem to interfere with acculturation at the cultural level in terms of identification with an ethnic or cultural ancestry group. It also appears that having such a policy helps to meet the individual's need for community in that it says it is all right to identify with an ethnic ancestry group. In other words, there appears to be no individual cost to identifying with an ethnic or cultural ancestry group. On the other hand, there may be a societal cost to retaining one's ethnic ancestry, in that the implication of retaining one's ethnic ancestry may be that it subtly reinforces discrimination in Canadian society.