Multiculturalism in Canada

 According to economist Tony Fang, Chair in Cultural and Economic Transformation at Memorial University of Newfoundland, Canada has one huge advantage over other countries suffering from population aging.

He said that "In Canada we are a little bit blessed because we are one of the traditional immigration countries. Without immigration our population is going to decline or stagnate."

Canadians have a willingness to bring in immigrants from around the world and share our good fortune. This attitude helps to assure that the good fortune will continue as 2021 is the 50^th anniversary of multiculturalism in Canada.

Canada’s federal multiculturalism policy was adopted in 1971 by Pierre Trudeau’s Liberal government. An unexpected by-product of the Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism (1963–69), multiculturalism was intended as a policy solution to manage both rising francophone nationalism, particularly in Quebec, and increasing cultural diversity across the country. Canada was the first country in the world to adopt a multiculturalism policy.

The policy acknowledged that Canadians come from a wide variety of cultural backgrounds, and that all cultures have intrinsic value. In a speech in the House of Commons in April of 1971, Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau introduced it as “a policy of multiculturalism within a bilingual framework,” a policy that would complement the Official Languages Act by facilitating the integration of new Canadians into one or both of the official language communities. “Although there are two official languages, there is no official culture,” said Trudeau.

Most Canadians think of multiculturalism as a demographic reality that acknowledges the diverse ethnic makeup of the Canadian population. However, there is ongoing debate over the message that multicultural policy conveys to Canadians, particularly to immigrants.

Over its first 30 years, the principal challenges confronting multiculturalism involved reconciling support for ethnic diversity, the preservation of the French language and the promotion of Canadian identity. While such debates have persisted into the 21st century, they’ve largely given way to the view that the message of multiculturalism promotes excessive accommodation of cultural and religious diversity at the expense of promoting social cohesion and common values. A minority of Canadians see the multicultural message as discouraging newcomers from adopting Canadian values. This, in turn, they argue, makes them less likely to participate in the mainstream culture and society and encourages the creation of ethnic ghettos.

In recent years, there has been a greater acknowledgement and acceptance of mixed and multiple identities in Canada. Most Canadians appear favourable to the ideal of multiculturalism, which is helping our country deal with increasingly difficult problems.