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Racial origins of the population, census years 1871 to 1941, with percentage distribution for 1941
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| 1921 | 1931 | 1941 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| number | % | |||
| British Isles races | 4,868,738 | 5,381,071 | 5,715,904 | 49.68 |
| English | 2,545,358 | 2,741,419 | 2,968,402 | 25.80 |
| Irish | 1,107,803 | 1,230,808 | 1,267,702 | 11.02 |
| Scottish | 1,173,625 | 1,346,350 | 1,403,974 | 12.20 |
| Other | 41,952 | 62,494 | 75,826 | 0.66 |
| Other European races | 3,699,846 | 753,242 | 526,964 | 48.03 |
| French | 2,452,743 | 927,990 | 483,038 | 30.27 |
| Austrian | 107,671 | 48,639 | 37,715 | 0.33 |
| Belgian | 20,234 | 27,585 | 29,711 | 0.26 |
| Bulgarian | 1,765 | 3,160 | 3,260 | 3.00 |
| Czech and Slovak | 8,840 | 30,401 | 42,912 | 0.37 |
| Danish | 21,124 | 34,118 | 37,439 | 0.33 |
| Finnish | 21,494 | 43,885 | 41,683 | 0.36 |
| German | 294,635 | 473,544 | 464,682 | 4.04 |
| Greek | 5,740 | 9,444 | 11,692 | 0.10 |
| Hungarian | 13,181 | 40,582 | 54,598 | 0.47 |
| Icelandic | 15,876 | 19,382 | 21,050 | 0.18 |
| Italian | 66,769 | 98,173 | 112,625 | 0.98 |
| Jewish | 126,196 | 156,726 | 170,241 | 1.48 |
| Lithuanian | 1,970 | 5,876 | 7,789 | 0.07 |
| Netherlander | 117,505 | 148,962 | 212,863 | 1.85 |
| Norwegian | 68,856 | 93,243 | 100,718 | 0.88 |
| Polish | 53,403 | 145,503 | 167,485 | 1.45 |
| Roumanian | 13,470 | 29,056 | 24,689 | 0.21 |
| Russian | 100,064 | 88,148 | 83,708 | 0.73 |
| Scandinavian | ** | ** | ** | - |
| Swedish | 61,503 | 81,306 | 85,396 | 0.74 |
| Ukrainian | 106,721 | 225,113 | 305,9296 | 2.66 |
| Yugoslavic | 3,906 | 16,174 | 21,214 | 0.18 |
| Other | 16,180 | 6,232 | 6,527 | 0.06 |
| Asiatic races | 65,914 | 84,548 | 74,064 | 0.64 |
| Chinese | 39,587 | 46,519 | 34,627 | 0.30 |
| Japanese | 15,868 | 23,342 | 23,149 | 0.20 |
| Other | 10,459 | 14,687 | 16,288 | 0.14 |
| Indian and Eskimo | 113,724 | 128,890 | 125,521 | 1.09 |
| Negro | 18,291 | 19,456 | 22,174 | 0.19 |
| Other | 187 | 681 | 36,7537 | 0.32 |
| Not stated | 21,249 | 8,898 | 5,275 | 0.05 |
| Total | 8,787,949 | 10,376,786 | 11,506,655 | 100.00 |
| * Included under Scandinavian. | ||||
| ** Since 1921 Scandinavian has been divided into Danish, Icelandic, Norwegian and Swedish. | ||||
| Note: Many terms used in the Canada Year Books are no longer used today for reasons such as their offensive connotations, changes in place name or organization name, or terms becoming obsolete. These terms have been left as they appear in the original yearbooks. | ||||
| 1. Includes the four original provinces of Canada only. | ||||
| 2. Includes Bohemian, Bukovinian and Slavic. | ||||
| 3. Includes Lithuanian and Moravian. | ||||
| 4. Includes Bulgarian. | ||||
| 5. Includes Finnish and Polish. | ||||
| 6. Includes Bukovinian, Galician and Ruthenian. | ||||
| 7. Includes 35,416 half-breeds. | ||||
| Source: Statistics Canada, Canada Year Book, 1947. | ||||
