Scottish Canadians
Scottish Canadians are people of Scottish descent or heritage living in Canada. As the third-largest ethnic group in Canada and amongst the first Europeans to settle in the country, Scottish people have made a large impact on Canadian culture since colonial times. According to the 2016 Census of Canada, the number of Canadians claiming full or partial Scottish descent is 4,799,010,[3] or 13.93% of the nation's total population. Prince Edward Island has the highest population of Scottish descendants at 41%.
Canadiens écossais
Canèidianaich Albannach
Canèidianaich Albannach
2,101,100
828,145
661,265
288,180
209,170
202,515
142,560
50,685
The Scots-Irish Canadians are a similar ethnic group. They descended from Lowland Scots and Northern English people via Ulster and so some observe many of the same traditions as Scots.
Categorically, Scottish Canadians comprise a subgroup of British Canadians which is a further subgroup of European Canadians.[a]
Culture[edit]
Today Canada is awash in Scottish memorabilia, as Rae (2005) shows. The Tartan days, clan gatherings, highland games, and showings of films like Braveheart indicate a sense of Scottishness that is informed by stories, narratives, or myths of the homeland's rural, masculinist, resistant past.[26]
Other Canadians reject tartanism as a superficial and commercialized expression of Gaelic identity,[25] and embrace Scottish Gaelic language and culture through the auspices of organizations such as the Atlantic Gaelic Academy and the Gaelic College. The Comhairle na Gàidhlig is an organization devoted to "creating an environment that makes Nova Scotia a place where Gaelic language, culture, and communities thrive."[27]