Although
from 1800 Canadian citizens were born in the territory of Canada, all
of them, except the aboriginal population, had a foreign origin,
fundamentally European. Today, Canada is considered a nation of
immigrants because in the last 200 years of its history millions of
foreigners have come to the country to be part of the Canadian life
system, granting diversity and multiculturalism to the population and
reaffirming the idea that the majority of Canadians are descendants
of immigrants.
Currently, the total population of immigrants
in Canada is estimated at 6 million people, from different
backgrounds. Every year, immigrants from more than 150 countries
decide to become Canadian citizens.
According to the 2011
census, more than 200 ethnic backgrounds are calculated in
Canada.
57.9% of the Canadian population have an ethnic origin
and the remaining 42.1% have multiple ethnic backgrounds.
Aboriginal
peoples
The
first inhabitants of Canada were the aborigines. It is believed that
they came from Asia. They would have emigrated to North America
thousands of years before the first European settlers arrived. They
had a rich and diverse culture and lived in harmony with the
environment. They lived from hunting, land and gathering. They
frequently made war, as they competed for land, resources and
power.
The arrival of the first European settlers (soldiers,
missionaries, merchants) forever changed the life and culture of
indigenous peoples. Many Aboriginal people died fighting for the
domination of their lands or simply for European diseases for which
they were not prepared. In spite of the setbacks, the aborigines and
the Europeans ended up strengthening strong economic and military
ties in the first 200 years of coexistence, which, in short, laid the
foundations of the Canadian nation.
Between 1800 and 1980, the
federal government promoted policies of cultural assimilation of the
aboriginal population. The children were forced to study in public
schools, where they had to learn the values and general
principles of the Canadian way of life. The cultural and aboriginal
languages were minimized, while the cultural elements of the
Canadian white majority were exalted. In 2008, the government
rectified this policy and public apologies to the indigenous
population.
At present, Aboriginal peoples are protected and
their culture is respected and preserved with great zeal. They have
rights over the lands where they live, over their resources and are
governed by their own laws, but integrated into Canadian
society.
The aboriginal term refers today to three distinct
groups: the Indians, commonly called First Nations; the Inuits, who
populate the Arctic, and whose knowledge of land, sea and wildlife
enables them to survive in one of the most hostile environments on
the planet; and the Métis, which are the result of the mixture of
the aborigines and the first Europeans – English and French – who
arrived in the country.
European settlers
The
first explorers to arrive in North America came from Europe, in the
fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. In 1497, Jhon Cabot, an Italian
navigator in the service of the English crown, explored the Canadian
Atlantic coast for the first time, stepped on Newfoundland and
claimed the territory for England, although the English settlement
did not begin until 1610.
Subsequently,
Jacques Cartier made three expeditions on behalf of the French crown.
He explored the surrounding lands of the San Lorenzo River, what is
now the territory of Quebec, and gave the place the name of Canada, a
word that in the huron-iroquois dialect means town (“kanata”).
Canada’s migratory waves
In
the 18th and 19th centuries, many immigrants as slaves entered from
Africa. Also, from the United States, where they fled to seek refuge
in Canada, a nation that abolished slavery long before the United
States, in 1834.
In the end, Canada is a mixture of ethnic groups from all over the world. Will you make Canada your new home? Find more info at https://canada-eta-visa.com/.
