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Canadian Americans
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Key Information
Canadian Americans (French: Américains canadiens) are American citizens (or in some uses residents) whose ancestry is wholly or partly Canadian, or citizens of either country who hold dual citizenship.[3] Today, many Canadian Americans hold both US and Canadian citizenship.
The term Canadian can mean a nationality or an ethnicity. Canadians are considered North Americans due their residing in the North American continent. English-speaking Canadian immigrants easily integrate and assimilate into northern and western U.S. states as a result of many cultural similarities, and in the similar accent in spoken English.[4] French Canadians, because of language and culture, tend to take longer to assimilate.[5] However, by the 3rd generation, they are often fully culturally assimilated, and the Canadian identity is more or less folklore.[6] This took place, even though half of the population of the province of Quebec emigrated to the US between 1840 and 1930.[7] Many New England cities formed 'Little Canadas', but many of these have gradually disappeared.
This cultural "invisibility" within the larger US population is seen as creating stronger affinity among Canadians living in the US than might otherwise exist.[8] According to US Census estimates, the number of Canadian residents was around 640,000 in 2000.[9] Some sources have cited the number to possibly be over 1,000,000.[10] This number, though, is far smaller than the number of Americans who can trace part or the whole of their ancestry to Canada. The percentage of these in the New England states is almost 25% of the total population.
In some regions of the United States, especially New England or the Midwest, a Canadian American often means one whose ancestors came from Canada.[11]
American cities founded by or named after Canadians
[edit]- Biloxi, founded by Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville
- Bourbonnais, Illinois, named after François Bourbonnais
- Chandler, Arizona, founded by Dr. Alexander J. (A.J.) Chandler[12]
- Dubuque, founded by and named after Julien Dubuque
- Hamtramck, named after Jean François Hamtramck
- Juneau, named after Joe Juneau
- Milwaukee, founded by Solomon Juneau
- Mobile, founded by Pierre LeMoyne d'Iberville
- New Orleans, founded by Lemoyne de Bienville
- Ontario, California, founded by George Chaffey
- Saint Paul, first settled by Pierre Parrant
- Vincennes, Indiana, founded by François-Marie Bissot
Canadian American Day
[edit]The Connecticut State Senate unanimously passed a bill in 2009, making June 24 Canadian American Day in the state of Connecticut. The bill allows state officials to hold ceremonies at the capitol and other places each year to honor Americans of Canadian ancestry.[13]
Aboriginal Canadian Americans
[edit]As a consequence of Article 3 of the Jay Treaty of 1794, official First Nations status, or in the United States, Native American status, also confers the right to live and work on either side of the border. Unlike the U.S., Canada has not codified the Jay Treaty. Canadian courts readily reject the Jay Treaty free passage of goods right.[14]
Study
[edit]Some institutions in the United States focus on Canadian-American studies, including the Canadian-American Center at the University of Maine,[15] the Center for Canadian American studies at Western Washington University,[16] and the University at Buffalo Canadian-American Studies Committee.[17]
Notable people
[edit]See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ "Over Half of White Population Reported Being English, German or Irish". Census.gov. Retrieved 2025-02-01.
- ^ Multicultural America: A Multimedia Encyclopedia.
- ^ Cain, Patrick (4 April 2014). "How to get rid of your U.S. citizenship". Global News Canada. Retrieved 26 July 2020.
- ^ "Veta: Good vocabulary - Accent training online - American Accent". veta.in. Archived from the original on November 29, 2011.
- ^ l'Actualité économique, Vol. 59, No 3, (september 1983): 423-453 and Yolande LAVOIE, L'Émigration des Québécois aux États-Unis de 1840 à 1930, Québec, Conseil de la langue française, 1979.
- ^ Barkan, Elliott Robert (1980). "French Canadians". In Thernstrom, Stephan; Orlov, Ann; Handlin, Oscar (eds.). Harvard Encyclopedia of American Ethnic Groups. Cambridge, MA / London: Harvard University Press. p. 392. ISBN 0674375122. OCLC 1038430174.
- ^ l'Actualité économique, Vol. 59, No. 3 (September 1983): 423–453 and Yolande LAVOIE, L'Émigration des Québécois aux États-Unis de 1840 à 1930, Québec, Conseil de la langue française, 1979.
- ^ "Program No. 65 "Who's Canadian"". This American Life. Chicago Public Radio. May 30, 1997. Archived from the original on April 21, 2009. Retrieved March 2, 2009.
- ^ "c2kbr01-2.qxd" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on September 20, 2004. Retrieved May 18, 2011.
- ^ Stewart, Alice R. (1987), "The Franco-Americans of Maine: A Historiographical Essay", Maine Historical Society Quarterly, 26 (3): 160–179
- ^ Mark Paul Richard, From 'Canadien' to American: The Acculturation of French-Canadian Descendants in Lewiston, Maine, 1860 to the Present, PhD dissertation, Duke University, 2002; Dissertation Abstracts International, 2002 62(10): 3540-A. DA3031009, 583p.
- ^ "Chandler, Alexander J. (A.J.)". ChandlerpediA. Archived from the original on 24 June 2016. Retrieved 11 June 2016.
- ^ Edmonton Sun, April 21, 2009
- ^ Nickels, Bryan. "Native American Free Passage Rights Under the 1794 Jay Treaty: Survival Under United States Statutory Law and Canadian Common Law". Boston College. Archived from the original on July 19, 2011. Retrieved May 18, 2011.
- ^ "Canadian-American Center". University of Maine. Retrieved May 18, 2011.
- ^ "The Center For Canadian American Studies". WWU. Archived from the original on July 1, 2007.
- ^ "Canadian American Studies Committee, University at Buffalo". buffalo.edu. Archived from the original on 2011-09-17.
Further reading
[edit]- Brault, Gerard J. (March 15, 1986). The French-Canadian Heritage in New England. University Press of New England. ISBN 0-87451-359-6.
- Desrosiers-Lauzon, Godefroy. Florida's snowbirds: Spectacle, mobility, and community since 1945 ( McGill-Queen's University Press, 2011).
- Doty, C. Stewart (1985). The First Franco-Americans: New England Life Histories from the Federal Writers' Project, 1938–1939. University of Maine at Orono Press.
- Fedunkiw, Marianne P. "Canadian Americans" in Gale Encyclopedia of Multicultural America, edited by Thomas Riggs, (3rd ed., vol. 1, Gale, 2014), pp. 395–405. Online
- Hamilton, Janice (2006). Canadians in America. Lerner. ISBN 0-8225-2681-6.; for secondary schools.
- Hansen, Marcus Lee. The Mingling of the Canadian and American Peoples, Vol. I: Historical (Yale University Press, 1940), major scholarly study, coverage to 1938; vol 2 never published; online.
- McQuillan, D. Aidan. "Franch-Canadian Communities in the American Upper Midwest during the Nineteenth Century." Cahiers de géographie du Québec 23.58 (1979): 53–72.
- Newton, J. Lason. " 'These French Canadian of the Woods are Half-Wild Folk': Wilderness, Whiteness, and Work in North America, 1840–1955" Labour / Le Travail (2016)., 77:121–150. online
- Parker, James Hill (1983). Ethnic Identity: The Case of the French Americans. University Press of America.
- Sharp, Paul F. Whoop-Up Country: The Canadian-American West, 1865-1885 ( University of Minnesota Press, 1955).
- Simpson, Jeffrey (2000). Star-Spangled Canadians: Canadians Living the American Dream. HarperCollins ISBN 0-00-255767-3; recent history
- Smith, Marian L. "The Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) at the US-Canadian border, 1893-1993: An overview of issues and topics." Michigan Historical Review (2000): 127–147. online
- Sorrell, Richard S. "The survivance of French Canadians in New England (1865–1930): History, geography and demography as destiny." Ethnic and Racial Studies 4.1 (1981): 91–109.
- Truesdell, Leon E. The Canadian Born in the United States: An Analysis of the Statistics of the Canadian Element in the Population of the United States, 1850 to 1930 (Yale UP, 1943). online review
External links
[edit]Canadian Americans
View on GrokipediaDefinition and Scope
Terminology and Historical Context
Canadian Americans are defined as U.S. citizens or residents with full or partial ancestry from Canada, encompassing Canadian-born individuals who have naturalized as well as their descendants who self-report such heritage in census data. This empirical designation prioritizes verifiable lineage and citizenship status over subjective cultural identities, reflecting migrations primarily motivated by economic prospects rather than ideological or ethnic assertions.[1] The term gained prominence in the late 19th century during waves of labor migration, particularly French-Canadians from Quebec seeking employment in New England textile mills, where demand for workers amid industrialization drew over 800,000 across the border between 1840 and 1930. These movements were causal outcomes of wage differentials and job availability, unencumbered by formal immigration barriers due to the undefended U.S.-Canada border established in 1818.[6][7] This contrasts with 18th-century reverse migrations of United Empire Loyalists—estimated at 40,000 to 60,000—who fled to British North America post-American Revolution due to loyalty to the Crown, shaping early Canadian demographics but distinct from the later, economically driven U.S.-bound flows. Proximity across the contiguous land border, combined with shared British colonial heritage (Anglo-Protestant or French Catholic), facilitated assimilation, as most migrants spoke English or French dialects compatible with U.S. regional vernaculars, enabling quicker socioeconomic incorporation than groups separated by oceanic distances or profound linguistic divides.[8][9] Recent U.S. Census American Community Survey estimates indicate around 828,000 Canadian-born residents in 2023, with self-reported Canadian ancestry claimed by approximately 1 million individuals, underscoring persistent but modest cross-border ties.[1]Distinction from Other Immigrant Groups
Canadian immigrants to the United States experience fewer assimilation barriers than many other immigrant groups due to shared linguistic foundations, with English predominant in both nations. In 2019, only 3 percent of Canadian-born individuals ages 5 and older reported limited English proficiency, in stark contrast to 46 percent among all immigrants overall.[10] This near-universal proficiency—coupled with familiarity with English-speaking norms—reduces the cultural and communicative obstacles often encountered by immigrants from non-English-dominant regions, such as Latin America, where limited proficiency exceeds 50 percent in many cohorts.[11] In terms of migration drivers, Canadian entrants are economically selective, skewing toward skilled and professional roles rather than low-wage labor common in flows from developing economies. A significant portion enters via the TN nonimmigrant classification under the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, which facilitates temporary professional work for qualified Canadians in predefined occupations like engineering, scientific research, and management consulting.[12] This pathway aligns with broader patterns where Canadian immigrants cluster in high-skill sectors, evidenced by their overrepresentation in management, business, science, and arts fields compared to the general immigrant labor force.[10] These factors contribute to a distinct integration trajectory, marked by rapid employability and minimal reliance on public assistance, challenging assumptions of a monolithic "immigrant experience" that emphasizes uniform hardship across origins. Naturalization occurs at rates around 50 percent, mirroring the immigrant average but accelerated by the lack of foundational divides in language and professional compatibility.[10]Historical Migration Patterns
Pre-20th Century Movements
Pre-20th century migrations of Canadians to the United States were primarily driven by economic opportunities in American industry and agriculture, with significant flows beginning in the mid-19th century. French Canadians from Quebec sought employment in New England's burgeoning textile mills, where labor demands pulled workers southward amid limited industrialization in Canada. Between 1840 and 1900, this migration contributed to the growth of French Canadian populations in states like Massachusetts and New Hampshire, forming ethnic enclaves known as "Little Canadas."[13] By 1900, New England's French Canadian population had increased from 37,000 in 1860 to 573,000, reflecting the scale of this industrial migration.[14] Push factors in Canada included land scarcity and restrictive policies that hindered farm expansion, particularly in Quebec where overpopulation, debt, and infertile soils displaced many rural families.[15] In contrast, English-speaking farmers from Ontario migrated to the American Midwest, attracted by the U.S. Homestead Act of 1862, which granted 160 acres of public land to settlers for a nominal fee after five years of residency and improvement.[16] This legislation facilitated agricultural settlement, drawing Canadian farmers facing similar land limitations in Upper Canada due to tenure systems and economic pressures. U.S. Census data from 1900 recorded approximately 1.187 million Canadian-born residents, comprising 747,000 English-speaking and 440,000 French-speaking individuals, marking the peak of pre-20th century inflows.[17] These movements were largely temporary or seasonal for some, but many established permanent communities, prioritizing economic gain over cultural ties. Overall, from 1840 to 1900, an estimated 600,000 French Canadians alone had emigrated, underscoring the pull of U.S. wages and land availability against Canadian constraints.[15]20th Century Waves
Migration from Canada to the United States peaked in the early 20th century, with 708,715 arrivals between 1910 and 1919 and a record 949,286 from 1920 to 1929, driven primarily by economic opportunities in U.S. manufacturing and higher wages rather than political factors.[18] These waves included substantial numbers of French Canadians seeking industrial jobs in New England textile mills and Midwest factories, contributing to nearly 900,000 French Canadian emigrants overall from 1840 to 1930.[15] The influx reflected U.S. economic expansion outpacing Canada's, as American industrial growth pulled laborers across the open border.[18] The Great Depression curtailed flows to 162,703 in the 1930s, coinciding with the Canadian Dust Bowl that devastated prairie agriculture, particularly in Saskatchewan, prompting internal migrations but limited cross-border movement due to synchronized economic hardship in both nations.[18] Post-World War II recovery spurred a rebound, with 353,169 migrants in the 1950s and 433,128 in the 1960s, as U.S. postwar prosperity and job availability attracted skilled workers.[18] A notable "brain drain" of professionals marked the mid-20th century, with Canada losing 60,230 individuals in professional, technical, managerial, and entrepreneurial roles to the U.S. between 1954 and 1967, motivated by superior employment prospects and remuneration.[19] This trend intensified in the 1960s amid precursors to formalized skilled migration preferences, paralleling Quebec's Quiet Revolution (1960–1966), where secularization and modernization pushed some francophone professionals southward for opportunities aligning with broader North American economic shifts, rather than ideological flight.[19] Overall, these movements underscored causal pulls from U.S. GDP per capita advantages, sustained by higher investment and productivity growth compared to Canada throughout the century.[20]Post-2000 Trends and NAFTA Effects
The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), implemented on January 1, 1994, enhanced cross-border labor mobility by introducing the TN visa category, which allows qualified Canadian professionals in designated occupations—such as engineers, scientists, and economists—to work temporarily in the United States without labor certification requirements.[10] [21] This provision facilitated increased temporary professional flows, particularly in sectors like technology and healthcare, offsetting declines in permanent migration by enabling easier access for high-skilled workers compared to more restrictive H-1B visas.[22] Empirical data indicate NAFTA's trade liberalization correlated with integrated North American supply chains, indirectly supporting such mobility, though direct causation on migration volumes remains debated due to confounding economic factors.[23] Post-2000, permanent migration from Canada to the United States exhibited a marked decline, with the average annual number of Canadian-born individuals granted U.S. permanent residency dropping approximately 30% from the late 2000s to the late 2010s, according to Statistics Canada analysis of U.S. immigration data.[24] This trend leveled off in the mid-2010s to early 2020s, reflecting net losses stabilizing amid Canada's high immigration intake from other regions, but skilled emigration persisted, driven by differentials in economic opportunities.[25] Canada's comparatively high marginal tax rates—such as Ontario's top combined rate applying at CAD 253,414 versus over CAD 1.3 million in California—have contributed to this "brain drain," particularly among high earners in innovation-driven fields, as evidenced by reports on talent attraction gaps.[26] The decline in permanent residencies has been partially compensated by rising temporary professional entries via TN visas, with Canadian workers concentrating in U.S. tech and health sectors where demand for specialized skills outpaces domestic supply.[22] Canada's stagnant innovation output, reflected in lower patent filings relative to GDP—where it accounts for only 1.3% of OECD triadic patents despite over 3% of GDP share—contrasts with U.S. dynamism, providing a causal pull for skilled migrants seeking higher productivity environments.[27] Post-COVID developments, including expanded remote work, have enabled some Canadians to access U.S. jobs without full relocation, though regulatory restrictions on cross-border remote employment for foreign employers limit widespread migration shifts.[28] Overall, these patterns underscore policy-induced outflows, with Canada's fiscal burdens and innovation lags empirically linked to sustained professional mobility southward.[29]Demographics and Distribution
Population Estimates and Ancestry Data
As of 2023, the Canadian-born population in the United States stood at approximately 828,000 individuals, accounting for less than 2 percent of the nation's total foreign-born residents of 47.8 million.[1] This number reflects limited growth, increasing by just 4 percent from 2010 levels, in contrast to the substantial inflows from Asian and Latin American countries that have propelled the overall foreign-born population to expand by over 50 percent since 2000.[1] [30] Naturalization among Canadian-born immigrants remains moderate, with 51 percent having acquired U.S. citizenship by 2023, aligning closely with the 52 percent rate across all immigrant groups.[1] The demographic profile skews older, featuring a median age of 55 years—elevated compared to 47 for the broader immigrant population and 37 for U.S.-born residents—which underscores an aging cohort including retirees.[1] Migration inflows from Canada have decelerated since the late 2000s, with the annual average of Canadian-born individuals granted U.S. permanent residency dropping 30 percent through the late 2010s amid stricter U.S. immigration policies and economic factors reducing net outflows from Canada.[24] Overall, the Canadian-born segment has remained stable over four decades, hovering near 800,000–850,000 since 1980, unlike the exponential growth in other foreign-born categories.[1] Self-reported Canadian ancestry in U.S. surveys exceeds foreign-born figures, with over 1 million individuals claiming it in recent American Community Survey data, though such responses often encompass multi-generational descendants rather than first-generation immigrants.[31]Geographic Concentrations
California hosts the largest share of Canadian-born residents in the United States, accounting for 12 percent of the total as of 2023, followed by Florida, New York, Michigan, and Washington state, each with approximately 6 percent.[1] These five states together represent a significant portion of the roughly 828,000 Canadian immigrants nationwide.[1]| State | Share of Canadian Immigrants (2023) |
|---|---|
| California | 12% |
| Florida | 6% |
| New York | 6% |
| Michigan | 6% |
| Washington | 6% |
