Canada
Should Celebrate Its 40 Million
Brandon
Sun “Small World” Column, Monday, June 26 / 23
Zack Gross
Zack Gross
Canada Day 2023 is just around the corner! We often complain that our American neighbours to the South know almost nothing about us, but the truth is that many Canadians are also unaware of basic facts about our country and often don’t take the time to appreciate our accomplishments or our potential. Yes, we have some difficult issues that we need to deal with – our colonial past, our climate crisis, our post-pandemic economy – but let’s think about, and act on, what we can do to acknowledge our gifts, and let’s determine to make things better.
As of June 16th, just 10 days ago, our country reached the 40 million population mark! While our increase in citizens is not a result of our fertility rate, due to immigration it has sped up. We reached thirty million back in 1997 and could reach fifty million or more as soon as 2050. As we grow, our population becomes more diverse, a place where people come from everywhere else, along with those who have been here for a generation, a few generations or indeed “forever.”
Of the largest economies in the world, the G7, Canada is enjoying one of the fastest rates of population growth. People are moving here from around the world bringing their education, skills, wealth and cultures with them. Upon arrival, they contribute to our workforce and our communities. They face barriers such as not having their qualifications recognized, something governments are promising to speed up. They also face racial bias, ironically from people whose families themselves, in recent generations, were newcomers as well to this country.
I was dismayed when I taught university courses here in Manitoba to hear from racialized students about mistreatment they encountered when taking public transportation, or when trying to rent a place to stay, or from employers when they joined local companies. In retirement, I’ve also been put off when I hear complaints from neighbours that “foreigners are moving in”. We are the offspring of foreigners. We likely believe that we’ve contributed sweat equity to this country, and I know that newcomers will do the same.
Demographics have changed in Canada. What was once statistically, as well as officially, a white Christian country, is now diverse. An official survey done in 2021 showed that just over 50% of Canadians consider themselves Christian, but the second largest group, more than one-third, say they have no religion at all and are completely secular. Islam, Hinduism, Sikhism, Buddhism, Judaism, Indigenous spirituality and a few others make up the remaining percentage.
Ethnically, just over 50% of Canadians think of themselves to be of European origin and about 20% of Canadians just say “I’m North American”, so they likely don’t identify back to Europe or other origins. 20% identify themselves as Asian, 6% as North American Indigenous and 4% as of African origin. Almost 5% of Canadians are Black. Statistics show that our small Latin American population count themselves among the poorest Canadians while portions of the Asian community fall into the richest category.
While Canada is the second largest country in the world, after Russia and just ahead of China, we have in comparison a small population, 90% of which lives within one hundred miles of the US border. Almost 40% of Canadians live in Ontario, roughly 25% in Quebec and 15% in BC. The Prairies and the Atlantic provinces make up the rest. Canadian politics, similar to recent politics in many other countries, has become a more rough and tumble affair. This has been fueled by technology – the impact of how groups use social media in the public space – and by growing cynicism and less than civil discourse.
By and large, however, we are still Canadian. We start sentences with Sorry, and end them with Thank You. I was walking past a construction site the other day. A group of young men, tattooed and semi-clothed, working in hot humid weather, surrounded by hungry insects, were building a deck onto a lovely looking cottage. To keep hydrated, they had a goodly supply of beer on hand. I commented to them on the heat and the insects. They acknowledge that it was a tough go that day. They asked me how my day had been. They addressed me as Sir.
So, we are not entirely lost. As we grow and change as a country, hopefully we hang onto the civility that makes us Canadian. Hopefully, we seek out ways to communicate better, be more open-minded – solve our problems so that everyone wins. May Canada Day someday be positively meaningful for everyone.
Zack Gross is Board Chair of The Marquis Project, a Brandon-based international development organization, and co-author of the new book The Fair Trade Handbook: Building a Better World, Together.
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