English Canadian
See also: English Canada and Canadians of English
descent
English Canadian
Total population
17,882,775 (2006; English mother tongue, including multiple
responses)[1]
6,570,015 English ethnicity (including multiple responses)[2]
1,367,125 English ethnicity (single responses only)[3]
Regions with significant populations
Canada
Languages
English
Religion
Mainly Protestantism, Roman Catholicism
Related ethnic groups
English, Scottish Canadian, Irish Canadian, Welsh Canadian
An English Canadian is a Canadian whose principal lan-
guage is English or who is of English ancestry; it is used
primarily in contrast with French Canadian.[4][5] Canada
is an officially bilingual and multicultural country, with
French and English official language communities. Im-
migrant cultural groups ostensibly integrate into one or
both of these communities, but often retaining elements
of their original cultures.
Although many English-speaking Canadians have
strong historical roots traceable to the British Isles, they
belong to a multitude of ethnicities. They or their an-
cestors came from various European, Asian, Caribbean,
African, Latin American, and Pacific Island cultures, as
well as French Canada and North American Aboriginal
groups. As such, although the office of the Governor
General is said to alternate between "French" and "Eng-
lish" persons, the two most recent Governors General
(Adrienne Clarkson, an English-speaking Chinese Cana-
dian; and Michaëlle Jean, a French-speaking Haitian
Canadian) show that this refers to language and not cul-
ture or ethnicity.
In addition to the term "English Canadian", the
terms "Anglophone Canadian" and "Anglo Canadian" are
also used.[6][7][8][9]
Geographic distribution
The following table shows the English-speaking popula-
tion of Canada’s provinces and territories. The data are
from Statistics Canada.[10] Figures are given for the
number of single responses "English" to the mother
tongue question, as well as a total including multiple re-
sponses one of which is English.
Nota