12.Give a general survey of the present population of Canada. The role of different ethnic groups in the making of the present population. Recent immigration trends. Multiculturalism in Canada.

12.Give a general survey of the present population of Canada. The role of different ethnic groups in the making of the present population. Recent immigration trends. Multiculturalism in Canada. Belarusians in Canada.

Canada’s population growth was historically influenced by several factors, among which territorial expansion, the presence of indigenous populations, and migration. Today, immigration is by far the most important factor determining the country’s population growth.

As of 2012, the population of Canada is estimated at 34,762,000 and makes up 0.5 percent of the world’s total population. The country’s population density is considered low (3 persons per
square kilometers), but many regions in the southern part of Canada have population densities comparable to and even higher than some European countries. The northern regions have low population density due to the fact that the land is not arable. Depending on the region, Canada’s habitable land has modest to high population density. The combined population of the 16 largest cities is around 17,885,000. There are 100 Canadian cities with a population of 45,000 inhabitants or more while 230 towns have a population of 15,000 inhabitants or more.

Canadians live within approximately 250 kilometres of the border with the United States. Eastern Canada is by far the most heavily populated part of the country. Ontario and Quebec together have nearly two-thirds of the nation's population. About 10 per cent of all Canadians live in the Atlantic Provinces of New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, and Newfoundland; 17 per cent live in the Prairie Provinces of Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Alberta; and 9 percent in British Columbia.

Not surprisingly, the largest cities are in the east. They are (including metropolitan areas) Toronto — 4.2 million and Montreal 3 million. Vancouver, British Columbia, ranks next with 1,8 million people. Other large cities include Winnipeg, Ottawa the capital, Hamilton, Quebec, Edmonton, and Calgary.

As of 2009, the average life expectancy is 81.23 years – 83.91 years for females and 78.69 years for males. The death rate as a whole is very low, amounting to only 6 per thousand of all ages. Both in home and in health Canada has a very high standard of living. Health is both a federal and provincial responsibility.

The natural growth rate in the country at present can be said to be 0.3% whereas the overall growth rate is 0.9%. The two factors behind this are surely the country's practicing of Open Immigration policies and the birth rate exceeding the death rate.

The regional origins of Canada's immigrants altered substantially since Confederation (1867), from Western Europe at the beginning, to Southern and Eastern Europe in the 1950s and 1960s, to Third World countries recently. With the introduction in 1967 of an immigration policy that eliminated preferences for particular national groups, there has been a dramatic change in the composition of Canadian immigration; 80 per cent of Canada's emigrants used to come from Europe or from countries of European heritage; now almost 75 per cent come from Asia, Africa, Latin America, and the Caribbean. Currently, Asian immigration accounts for about half the annual total. Canadian immigration now comes chiefly from Third World countries.

The majority of people who identify themselves as Canadians (32.22 percent) live in the province of Quebec. Those who commonly identify themselves as English account for 21.03 percent of the population. Over 43 percent of them live in Newfoundland and Labrador. The French-speaking population of Canada is concentrated in Quebec (28.9 percent). As the 2001 census reveals that no less than 34 ethnic groups inhabit there. The country’s population is quite diverse, however, and represented ethnic minorities include German (6%), Dutch (over 2 %), Irish, Italian(2,5%), North American Indian, Swedish, Jewish, Hungarian, Ukrainian (3%), Scandinavians (2 %), Poles (1%)etc. The largest visible minorities are South Asian, Chinese, and Black. The Aboriginal population of Canada accounts for 3.75 percent of the total population or close to 1,173,000. Most persons of aboriginal origin live in Ontario, British Columbia, Alberta, and Manitoba.

If the USA is often termed as the melting pot of nations, in Canada the mosaic type of settlement dominates, when immigrants from the same home country live together in one community retaining the national traits of their native land. Therefore, the process of assimilation with the people of the host country is much slower. The interplay of different cultures may be termed as multiculturalism, and today it is a most important feature of Canadian life.

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