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 The 1871 Census, undertaken a few years after the adoption of the country’s
Constitution, highlighted the ethnic duality of the population – 61%
of British origin and 31% of French origin. Eighty years later, following
the Second World War, those of French origin still represented 31% of
the population, while the British segment had declined to 48%. The stability
of the proportion with French origin was due to the importance of international
immigration in demographic growth in the years before and after the First
World War. In 1951, 20% of the population had neither British nor French
origins, a considerable increase since 1871 (nearly 8%) - those of aboriginal
origin still represented about one percent of the population. The ethnic
diversity of the population has been accentuated over the past half century
by the high levels of international immigration and the gap between the
fertility rates of the aboriginal population and that of other Canadians.
Read more about Official Languages, 1996
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