About this tabulation

General information

Catalogue number :	97-562-XCB2006006
Release date :	April 2, 2008
Topic :	Ethnic origin and visible minorities
Data dimensions :	Geography (Geographic Index) Sex (3) Ethnic origin (247) Single and multiple ethnic origin responses (3)

Note

Note: Ethnic origin

In 2006, the Ethnic origin question asked: 'What were the ethnic or cultural origins of this person's ancestors?' Respondents were asked to specify as many origins as applicable. Four write-in spaces were provided and up to six ethnic origins were retained.

Since 1981, when respondents were first permitted to report more than one ethnic origin in the census, a distinction has been made between single and multiple ethnic origin responses. A 'single' response is given when a respondent provides one ethnic origin only. A 'multiple' response is given when a respondent provides two or more ethnic origins. A 'total response' indicates the sum of single and multiple responses for each specific group.

It must be noted that the measurement of ethnicity is affected by changes in the social environment in which the question is asked, and changes in the respondent's understanding or views about the topic. Awareness of family background or length of time since immigration can affect responses to the ethnic origin question. Some respondents may confuse or combine the concept of ethnic origin with other concepts such as citizenship, nationality, language or cultural identity.

As well, some respondents may choose to provide very specific ethnic origins in the census, while others may choose to give more general responses. This means that two respondents with the same ethnic ancestry could have different response patterns and thus could be counted as having different ethnic origins. For example, one respondent may report 'East Indian' ethnic origin while another respondent, with a similar ancestral background, may report 'Punjabi' or 'South Asian' origins; one respondent may report 'Black' while another, similar respondent, may report 'Ghanaian' or 'African.' As a result, ethnic origin data are very fluid, and counts for certain origins, such as 'East Indian' and 'Black,' may seem lower than initially expected. Users who wish to obtain broader response counts may wish to combine data for two or more ethnic origins together or use counts for ethnic categories such as 'South Asian origins' or 'African origins.'

For additional information on issues related to the collection and dissemination of ethnic origin data, and on the comparability of ethnic origin data over time, refer to the Ethnic Origin Reference Guide, 2006 Census, Catalogue number 97-562-GWE2006025.

Note: Institutional residents

People in seniors' residences in the 2006 Census are classified as 'not living in an institution'. This is a change from the 2001 Census where they were classified as institutional residents, specifically, 'living in an institution, resident under care or custody'.

Note: Non-permanent residents and the census universe

In the 2006 Census, non-permanent residents are defined as people from another country who, at the time of the census, held a Work or Study Permit, or who were refugee claimants, as well as family members living in Canada with them. In the 1991, 1996 and 2001 censuses, non-permanent residents also included persons who held a Minister's permit; this was discontinued by Citizenship and Immigration Canada prior to the 2006 Census.

From 1991 on, the Census of Population has enumerated both permanent and non-permanent residents of Canada. Prior to 1991, only permanent residents of Canada were included in the census. (The only exception to this occurred in 1941.) Non-permanent residents were considered foreign residents and were not enumerated.

Total population counts, as well as counts for all variables, are affected by this change in the census universe. Users should be especially careful when comparing data from 1991, 1996, 2001 or 2006 with data from previous censuses in geographic areas where there is a concentration of non-permanent residents.

Today in Canada, non-permanent residents make up a significant segment of the population, especially in several census metropolitan areas. Their presence can affect the demand for such government services as health care, schooling, employment programs and language training. The inclusion of non-permanent residents in the census facilitates comparisons with provincial and territorial statistics (marriages, divorces, births and deaths) which include this population. In addition, this inclusion of non-permanent residents brings Canadian practice closer to the United Nations (UN) recommendation that long-term residents (persons living in a country for one year or longer) be enumerated in the census.

Although every attempt has been made to enumerate non-permanent residents, factors such as language difficulties, the reluctance to complete a government form or to understand the need to participate may have affected the enumeration of this population.

For additional information, please refer to the 2006 Census Dictionary, catalogue number 92-566-XWE or 92-566-XPE.

For counts of the non-permanent resident population in 1991, 2001 and 2006, please refer to the 2006 Census table 97-557-XCB2006006.


Note: Population universe

The population universe of the 2006 Census includes the following groups:
- Canadian citizens (by birth or by naturalization) and landed immigrants with a usual place of residence in Canada;
- Canadian citizens (by birth or by naturalization) and landed immigrants who are abroad, either on a military base or attached to a diplomatic mission;
- Canadian citizens (by birth or by naturalization) and landed immigrants at sea or in port aboard merchant vessels under Canadian registry;
- persons with a usual place of residence in Canada who are claiming refugee status and members of their families living with them;
- persons with a usual place of residence in Canada who hold Study Permits and members of their families living with them;
- persons with a usual place of residence in Canada who hold Work Permits and members of their families living with them.

For census purposes, the last three groups in this list are referred to as 'non-permanent residents'. For further information, refer to the variable Immigration: Non-permanent resident found in the 2006 Census Dictionary, catalogue number 92-566-XWE or 92-566-XPE.

Data table

Select data categories for this table

Geography Geographic index Canada Newfoundland and Labrador / Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador St. John's Bay Roberts Grand Falls-Windsor Corner Brook Prince Edward Island / Île-du-Prince-Édouard Charlottetown Summerside Nova Scotia / Nouvelle-Écosse Halifax Kentville Truro New Glasgow Cape Breton New Brunswick / Nouveau-Brunswick Moncton Saint John Fredericton Bathurst Miramichi Campbellton Campbellton (N.B. part - Partie N.-B.) Campbellton (Que. part - Partie Qc) Edmundston Quebec / Québec Matane Rimouski Rivière-du-Loup Baie-Comeau Saguenay Alma Dolbeau-Mistassini Sept-Îles Québec Saint-Georges Thetford Mines Sherbrooke Cowansville Victoriaville Trois-Rivières Shawinigan La Tuque Drummondville Granby Saint-Hyacinthe Sorel-Tracy Joliette Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu Montréal Salaberry-de-Valleyfield Lachute Val-d'Or Amos Rouyn-Noranda Ontario Cornwall Hawkesbury Hawkesbury (Que. part - Partie Qc) Hawkesbury (Ont. part - Partie Ont.) Ottawa - Gatineau Ottawa - Gatineau (Que. part - Partie Qc) Ottawa - Gatineau (Ont. part - Partie Ont.) Brockville Pembroke Petawawa Kingston Belleville Cobourg Port Hope Peterborough Kawartha Lakes Centre Wellington Oshawa Ingersoll Toronto Hamilton St. Catharines - Niagara Kitchener Brantford Woodstock Tillsonburg Norfolk Guelph Stratford London Chatham-Kent Leamington Windsor Sarnia Owen Sound Collingwood Barrie Orillia Midland North Bay Greater Sudbury / Grand Sudbury Elliot Lake Temiskaming Shores Timmins Sault Ste. Marie Thunder Bay Kenora Manitoba Winnipeg Portage la Prairie Brandon Thompson Saskatchewan Regina Yorkton Moose Jaw Swift Current Saskatoon North Battleford Prince Albert Estevan Alberta Medicine Hat Brooks Lethbridge Okotoks Calgary Canmore Red Deer Camrose Edmonton Lloydminster Lloydminster (Sask. part - Partie Sask.) Lloydminster (Alta. part - Partie Alb.) Cold Lake Grande Prairie Wood Buffalo Wetaskiwin British Columbia / Colombie-Britannique Cranbrook Penticton Kelowna Vernon Salmon Arm Kamloops Chilliwack Abbotsford Vancouver Squamish Victoria Duncan Nanaimo Parksville Port Alberni Courtenay Campbell River Powell River Williams Lake Quesnel Prince Rupert Kitimat Terrace Prince George Dawson Creek Fort St. John Yukon Territory / Territoire du Yukon Whitehorse Northwest Territories / Territoires du Nord-Ouest Yellowknife Nunavut

Sex (3) Total - Sex Male Female

This table details ethnic origin , single and multiple ethnic origin responses and sex for the population in Owen Sound^{Footnote 1}

Ethnic origin (247)	Single and multiple ethnic origin responses (3)
	Total - Single and multiple ethnic origin responsesFootnote 2	Single ethnic origin responsesFootnote 3	Multiple ethnic origin responsesFootnote 4
Total - Ethnic originFootnote 5	31,375	12,875	18,505
British Isles origins	21,840	5,250	16,590
Cornish	0	0	0
English	13,755	2,850	10,905
Irish	9,220	865	8,355
Manx	0	0	10
Scottish	11,645	1,365	10,275
Welsh	595	20	575
British Isles, n.i.e.Footnote 6	525	140	380
French origins	2,840	200	2,640
Acadian	50	10	45
French	2,815	195	2,620
Aboriginal origins	1,310	110	1,205
Inuit	35	0	30
Métis	415	15	400
North American Indian	875	95	780
Other North American origins	10,575	4,840	5,740
American	320	20	300
Canadian	10,365	4,815	5,550
Newfoundlander	25	0	25
Nova Scotian	0	0	10
Ontarian	0	0	0
Québécois	10	0	0
Other provincial or regional groups	0	0	0
Caribbean origins	140	45	95
Antiguan	0	0	0
Bahamian	0	0	0
Barbadian	70	15	55
Bermudan	0	0	0
Carib	0	0	0
Cuban	0	0	0
Dominican, n.o.s.Footnote 7	0	0	0
Grenadian	0	10	0
Guyanese	0	0	0
Haitian	0	0	0
Jamaican	35	0	35
Kittitian/Nevisian	0	0	0
Martinican	0	0	0
Montserratan	0	0	0
Puerto Rican	0	0	0
St. Lucian	0	0	0
Trinidadian/Tobagonian	10	15	0
Vincentian/Grenadinian	0	0	0
West Indian	10	0	0
Caribbean, n.i.e.Footnote 8	0	0	0
Latin, Central and South American origins	45	10	30
Aboriginal from Central/South America	0	0	0
Argentinian	0	0	0
Belizean	0	0	0
Bolivian	0	0	0
Brazilian	0	0	0
Chilean	0	0	0
Colombian	10	0	10
Costa Rican	10	0	10
Ecuadorian	0	0	0
Guatemalan	0	0	0
Hispanic	0	0	10
Honduran	10	0	10
Maya	0	0	0
Mexican	10	0	0
Nicaraguan	0	0	0
Panamanian	0	0	0
Paraguayan	0	0	0
Peruvian	0	0	0
Salvadorean	0	0	0
Uruguayan	0	0	0
Venezuelan	0	0	0
Latin, Central or South American, n.i.e.Footnote 9	0	10	0
European origins	9,610	2,015	7,590
Western European origins	7,590	1,500	6,090
Austrian	185	25	155
Belgian	95	10	90
Dutch (Netherlands)	2,090	710	1,380
Flemish	0	0	0
Frisian	15	10	15
German	5,600	740	4,865
Luxembourger	0	0	0
Swiss	125	20	105
Northern European origins	500	45	450
Finnish	60	0	65
Scandinavian origins	435	45	385
Danish	80	20	50
Icelandic	25	0	30
Norwegian	155	20	135
Swedish	140	0	140
Scandinavian, n.i.e.Footnote 10	35	10	25
Eastern European origins	1,205	205	995
Baltic origins	110	15	95
Estonian	35	0	35
Latvian	55	10	45
Lithuanian	20	0	15
Byelorussian	10	0	10
Czech and Slovak origins	55	10	50
Czech	25	10	15
Czechoslovakian	15	0	15
Slovak	15	0	20
Hungarian (Magyar)	155	40	110
Polish	600	85	510
Romanian	50	10	35
Russian	120	0	115
Ukrainian	275	40	240
Southern European origins	935	215	725
Albanian	15	20	0
Bosnian	0	0	0
Bulgarian	20	0	20
Croatian	50	10	35
Cypriot	0	0	0
Greek	70	35	35
Italian	405	100	305
Kosovar	0	0	0
Macedonian	30	10	20
Maltese	10	0	0
Montenegrin	0	0	0
Portuguese	100	35	60
Serbian	10	0	10
Sicilian	0	0	0
Slovenian	0	0	0
Spanish	285	0	285
Yugoslav, n.i.e.Footnote 11	0	0	0
Other European origins	185	50	135
Basque	0	0	0
Gypsy (Roma)	0	0	0
Jewish	175	40	130
Slav (European)	0	0	0
European, n.i.e.Footnote 12	0	10	0
African origins	175	15	160
Afrikaner	0	0	0
Akan	0	0	0
Amhara	0	0	0
Angolan	0	0	0
Ashanti	0	0	0
Bantu	0	0	0
Black	50	10	40
Burundian	0	0	0
Cameroonian	0	0	0
Chadian	0	0	0
Congolese (Zairian)	0	0	0
Congolese, n.o.s.Footnote 13	0	0	0
Dinka	0	0	0
East African	0	0	0
Eritrean	0	0	0
Ethiopian	0	0	0
Gabonese	0	0	0
Gambian	0	0	0
Ghanaian	0	0	0
Guinean, n.o.s.Footnote 14	0	0	0
Harari	0	0	0
Ibo	0	0	0
Ivorian	0	0	0
Kenyan	0	0	0
Malagasy	0	0	0
Malian	10	0	0
Mauritian	0	0	0
Nigerian	0	0	0
Oromo	0	0	0
Peulh	0	0	0
Rwandan	0	0	0
Senegalese	0	0	0
Seychellois	0	0	0
Sierra Leonean	0	0	0
Somali	0	0	0
South African	0	0	10
Sudanese	0	0	0
Tanzanian	0	0	0
Tigrian	0	0	0
Togolese	0	0	0
Ugandan	0	0	0
Yoruba	0	0	0
Zambian	0	0	0
Zimbabwean	0	0	0
Zulu	0	0	0
African, n.i.e.Footnote 15	110	0	110
Arab origins	65	35	30
Egyptian	30	25	0
Iraqi	0	0	10
Jordanian	0	0	0
Kuwaiti	0	0	0
Lebanese	20	10	10
Libyan	0	0	0
Maghrebi origins	0	0	0
Algerian	0	0	0
Berber	0	0	0
Moroccan	0	0	0
Tunisian	0	0	0
Maghrebi, n.i.e.Footnote 16	0	0	0
Palestinian	0	0	0
Saudi Arabian	0	0	0
Syrian	0	0	0
Yemeni	0	0	0
Arab, n.i.e.Footnote 17	10	0	10
West Asian origins	50	30	20
Afghan	0	0	0
Armenian	30	25	10
Assyrian	0	0	0
Azerbaijani	0	0	0
Georgian	0	0	0
Iranian	0	0	0
Israeli	0	0	0
Kurd	0	0	0
Pashtun	0	0	0
Tatar	0	0	0
Turk	10	0	0
West Asian, n.i.e.Footnote 18	10	0	0
South Asian origins	210	95	115
Bangladeshi	0	0	0
Bengali	0	0	0
East Indian	190	85	100
Goan	25	0	25
Gujarati	0	0	0
Kashmiri	0	0	0
Nepali	0	0	0
Pakistani	0	0	0
Punjabi	0	0	0
Sinhalese	0	0	0
Sri Lankan	20	10	10
Tamil	0	0	0
South Asian, n.i.e.Footnote 19	0	0	0
East and Southeast Asian origins	285	215	70
Burmese	0	0	0
Cambodian	0	0	0
Chinese	165	125	35
Filipino	55	35	15
Hmong	0	0	0
Indonesian	0	0	0
Japanese	10	0	0
Khmer	0	0	0
Korean	50	45	0
Laotian	10	0	15
Malaysian	0	0	0
Mongolian	10	0	0
Singaporean	0	0	0
Taiwanese	0	0	0
Thai	0	0	0
Tibetan	0	0	0
Vietnamese	0	0	10
East or Southeast Asian, n.i.e.Footnote 20	0	0	0
Asian, n.o.s.Footnote 21	0	0	0
Oceania origins	120	10	110
Australian	95	0	95
New Zealander	0	0	0
Pacific Islands origins	25	10	15
Fijian	10	10	0
Hawaiian	0	0	0
Maori	15	0	15
Polynesian	0	0	0
Samoan	0	0	0
Pacific Islander, n.i.e.Footnote 22	0	0	0

Source: Statistics Canada, 2006 Census of Population, Statistics Canada Catalogue no. 97-562-XCB2006006.

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Related data

• 2006 Census analysis series:
  Canada's Ethnocultural Mosaic, 2006 Census: Findings
• 2006 Census reference guides and technical reports:
  Ethnic Origin Reference Guide, 2006 Census
  Visible Minority Population and Population Group Reference Guide, 2006 Census