Canadian ethnicity

Canadian ethnicity refers to the self-identification of one's ethnic origin or ancestral roots as being Canadian. It was added as a possible response for an ethnic origin in the Canadian census in 1996. The identification is attributed to White Canadians who do not identify with their ancestral ethnic origins due to generational distance from European ancestors. The identification is more common in eastern parts of the country that were first settled by Europeans than in the rest of the country.

Canadians with ancestral roots in France and the British Isles are the most likely groups to identify their ethnic origin as Canadian. As their languages, traditions, and cultural practices largely define Canadian society, many do not see themselves as linked to any other nation or ethnic group. French-speaking Canadians with settler roots are more likely to perceive their ethnic origin as Canadian than as French, while most English-speaking Canadians whose families have lived in Canada for multiple generations identify with their European ethnic ancestry.

Indigenous Canadians do not identify their ethnic origin as Canadian, as Canadian identity originated with European settlers and does not reflect Indigenous nations which possess their own languages, cultures, and identities. Indigenous ethnic groups are the First Nations groups, Inuit, and Métis.

"Canadian" was the most common ethnic or cultural origin reported in the 2021 census, reported alone or in combination with other origins by 5.67 million people or 15.6% of the total population.