This article needs additional citations for verification .(August 2023) |
Total population | |
---|---|
Canadian 38,871 (by birth, 2011)[ citation needed ] 33,218 (by ancestry, 2011)[ citation needed ] | |
Regions with significant populations | |
Sydney · Melbourne · Brisbane | |
Languages | |
Australian English · Canadian English · Canadian French | |
Religion | |
Roman Catholicism · Protestantism · Judaism | |
Related ethnic groups | |
American Australians |
Canadian Australians (French : canadiens australien) refers to Australians who identify as being of Canadian descent. It may also refer to Canadian immigrants and expatriates residing in Australia. According to statistics from 2006, there were as many as 21,000 Australians who have Canadian ancestors. [1] Many Canadian Australians have immigrated from mainland Canada, as well as from the United States of America and from the United Kingdom. According to the 2016 Australian Census, there were 43,049 Canadian born Australians in Australia in 2016, which is an increase from 38,871 persons according to the 2011 Australian Census. The number of immigrants stem from both countries being former British colonies and both being parliamentary democracies in the Westminster tradition (Collins, 2015).
The first Canadian Australians were immigrants from both upper (now Ontario) and lower (now Quebec) mainland Canada who came to New South Wales and Tasmania because they were in exile during the 1837-38 Canadian civil war (High Commission of Canada, 2011). There were 154 prisoners that were sent to Australia (High Commission of Canada, 2011). Fifty eight of those were French Canadians that were sent to New South Wales without speaking English (High Commission of Canada, 2011). Of the convicts that settled in New South Wales, all were initially assigned as labourers and eventually allowed to be free settlers. These workers helped to build the foundation of Sydney's infrastructure that we still have today including Parramatta Road, Canada Bay, Exile Bay and a monument in Cabarita Park in Concord (High Commission of Canada, 2011).
The second wave of Canadian Australians came in 1851 in search of gold (Museums Victoria, 2017). The Australian Gold Rush saw people from around the world flock to Australia in search of gold, which included hundreds of Canadians (Museums Victoria, 2017). They made an impact in the popular town of Ballarat, where the ‘Canadian Gully’ was the name given to a gully after a Canadian gold miner found success and a large gold nugget was also named ‘The Canadian’ (Museums Victoria, 2017).
Canadian Australians helped to develop the foundations of modern-day Australian society in the years during and after the gold rush. In 1854 Samuel McGowan created Australia's first telegraph line which stretched from Melbourne to Williamstown (Museums Victoria, 2017). Around the same time, George and William Chaffe made multiple irrigation schemes throughout the Murray River (Museums Victoria, 2017). This allowed for water to be transported further away than before, which led to greater farming success and eventually the beginning of the dried fruit industry in South Australia and Victoria.
On 4 August 1914 Great Britain declared war on Germany. Both Canada and Australia's prime ministers accepted that their armies would join the imperial armies due to Australia and Canada being British Dominions at the time. Canada's opposition leader, Wilfrid Laurier said that Canada was “Ready, aye, Ready” in relation to Canada going to war and Australia's then opposition leader and later prime minister, Andrew Fisher, similarly commented that Australia was committed ‘to the last man and the last shilling’ (Australian National University, 2017)
There were many similarities of Australians and Canadians during World War 1. The Australian 1st Division was initially commanded by Canadian-educated Major-General Sir William Throsby Bridges. In 1915 the Canadian army was grouped together in divisions which followed the precedent of the ANZAC (Australian and New Zealand Army Corps). Canadian and Australian soldiers also fought side by side on the western front (Australian National University, 2017). Australians and Canadians fought together again in Passchendaele in late 1917 and launched the final allied offensives of 1918 in the east of Amiens which involved a spearhead of Australian soldiers and another of Canadian soldiers (Australian National University, 2017).
The Canadian and Australian governs called for an Imperial War cabinet in 1918 where the two prime ministers both represented their wounded and dead soldiers. Because Canada and Australia together played a pivotal role in the war, they had gained global influence which was recognised by the British government. This led to the two prime ministers both representing separate dominions at the Paris Peace Conference in 1919 and 1920 (Australian National University, 2017). While there was no constitutional changes during World War 1, the Imperial War Cabinet lead to a change of attitude that led to the granting of de jure independence for both countries in the Statute of Westminster in 1931 (Australian National University, 2017). This heightened sense of national identity that emerged in both Canada and Australia led to a third wave of Canadian immigrants into Australia. To show how paralleled Australia and Canada's World War 1 experiences were, these following statistics are given as a global rank and are according to NationMaster.com. In terms of allied mobilised personnel in World War 1 , Canada is 10th with 628,934 and Australia is 11th with 412,953. Furthermore, In terms of allied wounded in action in World War 1, Australia is 6th with 152,171 persons and Canada is 7th with 149,732 persons. Finally, in terms of deaths as a percentages of population, Australia is 11th with 1.38% of total population at the time and Canada is 12th with 0.92% of total population at the time.
After the second world war, the ‘skilled migration program’ developed by the Australian government allowed more Canadian immigrants to come to Australia if they had tertiary skills. This increased the number of Canadian Australians that immigrated to Australia and was also responsible for a general increase in immigration in Australia especially from Europe and North America.
Network Canada (Canadian Australian Network of Young Professionals)
Website: www.networkcanada.com.au
Network Canada is a professional & social networking group based in Sydney which is also known as the Canadian Australian Network of Young Professionals. It is the largest network of North American young professionals living in Australia. They provide travel advice around Australia and advice for living in Australia. Network Canada was started in 2002 as a social network for Canadian expats that lived in Sydney. Network Canada includes students and professionals from all continents and their hosted parties are sponsored by companies such as Canadian Club, Destination Canada and Hungry Jacks. The objective of Network Canada is for people to meet and network. In addition to events, Network Canada helps Canadian Australians settle into Sydney life by providing advice for different types of visas, immigration questions and general tips for a new Canadian Australian looking to live in Sydney.
Canada Club of Victoria Inc.
Website: Canada Club of Victoria Inc.
The Canada Club of Victoria (CCV) has been running since its origins in 1940 and involves Canadian Australians from Melbourne and Regional Victoria. The Canadian Women's Club of Victoria was created in 1940, with the goal of helping Canadian women in Melbourne who were struggling with missing Canada as well as struggling with their husband's being away at war. Around this time, the Canadian Men's Club was formed with a business and network focused objective between Australian and Canada. In 1981, these two clubs joined together to create the present Canada Club of Victoria.
The CCV is a volunteer run social club for Canadian Australians or individuals with strong family ties to Canada. Their objective is to integrate Canadian and Australian culture through running events. The CCV host two main events each year which are Canada Day on the first of July and Thanksgiving on November 26. They also run a number of smaller social events for people to network and talk about Canada related topics.
OCanada is an online store based in the Sunshine Coast Queensland which sells food and general products all related to Canada. They order shipments from Canada of popular foods, beverages, clothing, souvenirs and recipes. They allow their customers to make requests and offers for products that they currently do not provide to allow for changes in Canadian popular culture. They also have running specials and accept afterpay.
The Canadian Way is a Canadian product store which is based in Hurstville, Sydney but is also online. Notably, they sell family owned Jakemans 100% Pure and Organic Maple Syrup and 100% wild caught seafood which is caught in Canada and shipped directly to Australia where it is afterwards given to their retail partners or directly to people's houses.
The Canadian Way was started by a Canadian Australian, David Cost-Chretien. He spoke with many other Canadian Australians and started The Canadian Way after realising that there was a lot of demand for Canadian-based food in Australia. They sell lots of maple based products such as Maple syrup, Maple cookies and Maple Candy. They also sell a variety of Seafood such as Salmon and Caviar as well as popular unique Canadian food such as Motts Clamato Juice, Bits 'n Bites, Kraft Dinner and Triscuits.
Today, Canadian Australians still celebrate Canadian cultural events such as Canada Day (July 1) and Canadian Thanksgiving (the second Monday of October). Organisations such as the Canada Club help these traditional events to live on.
According to the 2016 Australian Census and compared to the 2011 Australian Census, Canadian Australians that were born in Canada have had a decline in religious affiliation. In 2011, 36.7% fit within the census category of “No Religion” whereas in 2016, 45.3% identified as having “No Religion”. The most common religion was Catholic in both 2011 and 2016 with 20% and 17.1% of Canadian born Australians identifying as Catholic in those years respectively. These changes in religion demography follow a similar trend with all Australian born Australians and non-Australian born Australians respectively (24.5% & 20.2% Non-Religious in 2011 compared to 33.3% & 26.7% in 2016) (ABS, 2016)
In 2016, 20.6% of Canadian born Australians aged 15 or over had a bachelor's degree or above as their highest educational achievement compared to 22% of Australian born Australians. Following a similar trend, 14.2% of Canadian born Australians had completed year 12 as their highest educational achievement compared to 15.7% of Australian born Australians. The decreased educational achievement is only slight but is consistent throughout other education matrices. Canadian born Australians had the following percentages as their highest education level; 8.8% had completed up to year 10 and 8.4% had completed up to year 9 or below. This can be compared to Australian born Australians where 10.8% had completed up to year 10 and 8% had completed up to year 9 or below as their highest education level. (ABS, 2016)
The education levels of Canadian Australian families as seen by the figures (ABS, 2016) above are quite similar. This may be because both Canada and Australia use standardised tests throughout primary and secondary school and similar tests are used for university admission. However, Canadian born Australians have a slightly decreased level of education and it was found in Canada that “in schools with a high number of students who are visible minorities and English language learners, the effects of standardized testing include a range of practices that reinforce inequity and increase social disparity”(Spencer, Delhi, & Ryan, 2012). Although this may also be apparent in some Australian schools, this could explain the slightly lower education levels of Canadian born Australians.
In 2016 the median weekly income for Canadian born Australians was $645 (personal), $1,570 (family) and $1,290 (household). This is slightly less than the figures for Australian born Australians, who had a median weekly income of $662 (personal), $1,734 (family) and $1,438 (household). This trend can potentially be explained by the lack of opportunity for post-education training that workers in Canada are given by their employers. “Canada is categorized by the OECD as one of the “weak” countries for training and since it tends to be categorized as average or above for public support, this suggests that employer support is exceedingly weak by international standards. This has led to comments that Canadian employers lack a training culture”(Benjamin, 2001).
Australian vs Canada Conflict Stats Compared. (n.d.). Retrieved November 10, 2020, from https://www.nationmaster.com/country-info/compare/Australia/Canada/Conflict
Berry, A. (2001). Minimum Wages in Canada. Labor Market Policies in Canada and Latin America: Challenges of the New Millennium, 187–220. doi : 10.1007/978-1-4757-3347-1_8
Betcha, B. (2014). About the club. Retrieved November 19, 2020, from http://www.canadianaustralianclub.com/abouttheclub
Bureau of Statistics . Australian Bureau of Statistics, Australian Government, 2016, www.abs.gov.au/.
Canada, Global Affairs. “History of Canada-Australia Relations.” GAC, High Commission of Canada, 17 Nov. 2011, www.canadainternational.gc.ca/australia-australie/bilateral_relations_bilaterales/history-histoire.aspx?lang=eng.
Clarke, Andrew, and Mikal Skuterud. “Why Do Immigrant Workers in Australia Perform Better than Those in Canada? Is It the Immigrants or Their Labour Markets?” 14 Nov. 2013, Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue Canadienne D'économique, vol. 46, doi : 10.1111/caje.12059
Collins, Emmet. “Alternative Routes: Intergovernmental Relations in Canada and Australia.” Canadian Public Administration, vol. 58, no. 4, 2015, pp. 591–604., doi : 10.1111/capa.12147
Richardson, Sue & Lester, Laurence. (2004). A Comparison of Australian and Canadian Immigration Policies and Labour Market Outcomes. Retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/252056325_A_Comparison_of_Australian_and_Canadian_Immigration_Policies_and_Labour_Market_Outcomes.
Sam, Erin. (2020). Bringing Canada Down Under. Retrieved November 19, 2020, from https://ocanada.com.au/
Spencer, B. L., Delhi, K., & Ryan, J. (2012). Canadian Education. Canadian Education, Chapter 8, 132–140. doi : 10.1007/978-94-6091-861-2_1
Strategic Communication, P. (2017, June 8). Australian-Canadian parallel experiences during WWI. Retrieved November 19, 2020, from https://www.anu.edu.au/news/all-news/australian-canadian-parallel-experiences-during-wwi
Victoria, Museums. “Canada.” Origins.museumvictoria.com.au, Creative Victoria, 2017, origins.museumsvictoria.com.au/countries/canada.
www.networkcanada.com.au, N. (2015). Network Canada: Sydney Australia. Retrieved November 19, 2020, from http://www.networkcanada.com.au/
Anglo-Celtic Australians is an ancestral grouping of Australians whose ancestors originate wholly or partially in the British Isles - predominantly in England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales, as well as the Isle of Man and Channel Islands.
The Australian continent was first settled when ancestors of Indigenous Australians arrived via the islands of Maritime Southeast Asia and New Guinea over 50,000 years ago.
Islam in Australia is the second-largest and the oldest non-aboriginal religion in Australia. According to the 2021 Census in Australia, the combined population of self-identified Muslim Australians, of all schools and branches of Islam, total to 813,392 people, or 3.2% of the total Australian population. They are marginally above Hinduism–2.7% and Buddhism–2.4%, making Australian Muslims the second most significant religious grouping after all denominations of Australian Christianity–44%. While 39% are reported as non-religious.
Chinese Australians are Australians of Chinese origin. Chinese Australians are one of the largest groups within the global Chinese diaspora, and are the largest Asian Australian community. Per capita, Australia has more people of Chinese ancestry than any country outside Asia. As a whole, Australian residents identifying themselves as having Chinese ancestry made up 5.5% of Australia's population at the 2021 census.
Irish Australians are residents of Australia who are fully or partially of Irish descent. Irish immigrants and descendants have been a prominent presence in the Australian populace since the First Fleet's arrival in New South Wales in 1788.
Asian Australians are Australians of Asian ancestry, including naturalised Australians who are immigrants from various regions in Asia and descendants of such immigrants. At the 2021 census, the proportion of the population identifying as Asian amounted to approximately 17.4 percent with breakdowns of 6.5 percent from Southern and Central Asia, 6.4 percent from North-East Asia, and 4.5 percent from South-East Asia.
Sri Lankan Australians are people of Sri Lankan heritage living in Australia; this includes Sri Lankans by birth and by ancestry. Sri Lankan Australians constitute one of the largest groups of Overseas Sri Lankan communities and are the largest diasporic Sri Lankan community in Oceania. Sri Lankan Australians consist of people with Sinhalese, Tamil, Moor, Burgher, Malay and Chinese origins among others.
Sudanese Australians are people of Sudanese origin or descent living in Australia. The largest population of Sudanese Australians reside in Victoria (6,085).
Macedonian Australians are Australian citizens of Macedonian descent. Many arrived in the 1920s and 1930s, although larger numbers came to Australia after World War II and the Greek Civil War. By far the largest wave of immigration was during the 1960s and 1970s. As of the 2021 Australian census, Macedonian is the most-spoken Eastern European language in Australia.
Sydney is Australia's most populous city, and is also the most populous city in Oceania. In the 2021 census, 5,231,147 persons declared themselves as residents of the Sydney Statistical Division–about one-fifth (20.58%) of Australia's total population. With a population density of 2037 people per square kilometre, the urban core has population density five times that of the greater region.
Serbian Australians, are Australians of ethnic Serb ancestry. In the 2021 census there were 94,997 people in Australia who identified as having Serb ancestry, making it a significant group with the global Serb diaspora.
Pakistani Australians are Australians who are of Pakistani descent or heritage. Most Pakistani Australians are Muslims by religion, although there are also sizeable Christian, Hindu and other minorities.
Australians, colloquially known as Aussies, are the citizens, nationals and individuals associated with the country of Australia. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or ethno-cultural. For most Australians, these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being Australian. Australian law does not provide for a racial or ethnic component of nationality, instead relying on citizenship as a legal status, though the Constitutional framers considered the Commonwealth to be "a home for Australians and the British race alone", as well as a "Christian Commonwealth". Since the postwar period, Australia has pursued an official policy of multiculturalism and has the world's eighth-largest immigrant population, with immigrants accounting for 30 percent of the population in 2019.
English Australians, also known as Anglo-Australians, are Australians whose ancestry originates wholly or partly in England. In the 2021 census, 8,385,928 people, or 33% of the Australian population, stated that they had English ancestry. It is the largest self-identified ancestry in Australia. People of ethnic English origin have been the largest group to migrate to Australia since the establishment of the Colony of New South Wales in 1788.
Indian Australians or Indo-Australians are Australians of Indian ancestry. This includes both those who are Australian by birth, and those born in India or elsewhere in the Indian diaspora. Indian Australians are one of the largest groups within the Indian diaspora, with 783,958 persons declaring Indian ancestry at the 2021 census, representing 3.1% of the Australian population. In 2019, the Australian Bureau of Statistics estimated that 721,050 Australian residents were born in India.
Melbourne is Australia's second-most populous city and has a diverse and multicultural population.
Australian Jews, or Jewish Australians, are Jews who are Australian citizens or permanent residents of Australia. In the 2021 census there were 99,956 people who identified Judaism as their religious affiliation and 29,113 Australians who identified as Jewish by ancestry, an increase from 97,355 and 25,716, respectively, from the 2016 census. The actual number is almost certainly higher, because being a Jew is not just about being religious, but the census data is based on religious affiliation, so secular Jews often feel it would be inaccurate to answer with "Judaism". Also, since the question is optional, many practising Holocaust survivors and Haredi Jews are believed to prefer not to disclose their religion in the census. By comparison, the Israeli newspaper Haaretz estimated a Jewish-Australian population of 120,000–150,000, while other estimates based on the death rate in the community estimate the size of the community as 250,000, which would make them 1% of the population. Based on the census data, Jewish citizens make up about 0.4% of the Australian population. The Jewish community of Australia is composed mostly of Ashkenazi Jews, though there are Jews in Australia from many other traditions and levels of religious observance and participation in the Jewish community.
Syrian Australians are Australians of Syrian descent or Syria-born people who reside in the Commonwealth of Australia. Australian Syrians make up 0.4 percent of the Australian population, with a gender split of 51.3 percent female, 49.7 percent male. The 2016 Australian census revealed 68.8 percent of Syrian Australian homes have Arabic as the language spoken at home, however of the homes where English is not the first spoken language, 37.7 percent are able to speak English fluently. The majority of Syrian Australians arrived prior to 2007, with a small group immigrating between 2007–2011 then a larger group entering between 2012–2016.
In 2020, 29.1% of the Australian resident population, or 7,502,000 people, were born overseas.
Asian immigration to Australia refers to immigration to Australia from part of the continent of Asia, which includes East Asia, Southeast Asia, and South Asia.The first major wave of Asian immigration to Australia occurred in the late 19th century, but the exclusionary White Australia policy, which was implemented to restrict non-European immigration, made it difficult for many Asian immigrants to migrate to the country. However, with the passage of the Migration Act 1958, the White Australia policy began to be phased out and Asian immigration to Australia increased significantly. Today, Asian immigrants from a wide range of countries play an important role in the cultural and economic landscape of Australia.