Ethnic origins of people in Canada


Listed here are the ethnic groups of Canadian residents. The relevant census question asked for "the ethnic or cultural origins" of the respondent's ancestors and not the respondents themselves.
As data were collected by self-declaration, ethnic groups may not necessarily correspond to the true ancestry of respondents. Many respondents acknowledged multiple ancestries. These people were added to the "multiple origin" total for each origin listed. These include responses as varied as a respondent who listed eight different origins and a respondent who answered "French Canadian". As with all self-reported data, understanding of the question may have varied from respondent to respondent.

Larger ethnic origins (200,000 or more individuals per group; 2016 census)

EthnicityCombined
responses		As single
response		One of multiple
responses
Canadian11,135,9656,436,9404,699,030
English6,320,0851,098,9305,221,150
Scottish4,799,010475,5754,323,430
French4,670,5951,006,1803,664,415
Irish4,627,000457,9054,169,095
German3,322,405569,6502,752,750
Chinese1,769,1951,439,980329,215
Italian1,587,970695,420892,550
First Nations1,525,565526,570999,000
Indian 1,374,7101,096,845277,865
Ukrainian1,359,655273,8101,085,845
Dutch1,111,655289,675821,980
Polish1,106,585264,415842,170
Filipino837,130651,390185,740
British Isles,
not included elsewhere		644,695132,830511,865
Russian622,445120,165502,280
Métis600,00091,255508,740
Portuguese482,610264,815217,790
Welsh474,80525,190449,615
Norwegian463,27535,905427,370
Spanish396,46070,330326,130
American377,41029,590347,810
Swedish349,64021,775327,870
Hungarian 348,08583,400264,685
Jamaican309,485161,495147,995
Greek271,405141,580129,830
Vietnamese240,615165,38575,225
Romanian238,05096,910141,145
Lebanese219,555130,59088,965
Pakistani215,555156,30059,255
African,
not included elsewhere		212,00576,790135,210
Iranian210,405170,75539,650
Danish207,47026,985180,485
Austrian207,05020,225186,820

Smaller ethnic origins (2016 census)

Evolution from 1996 to 2016

As regards combined responses, Canadian is the most common ethnic origin in the 2016 Census. This was also the case in the 2011 NHS, 2006 Census, 2001 Census, and the 1996 Census. Canadian was also the most common single ethnic origin in the 1996, 2001, 2006, 2011, and 2016.