Maptour Page 5
Maptour: Population Composition, 1891-1961
Majorities and Pluralities


Click to enlarge

Map: Ethnic Origin, 1961

Try This:

  • Keep open the interactive map "Ethnic Origin, 1961."
  • Under LAYER CONTROLS, turn off the checkbox for "Modern Geography" and turn on "1961 2nd largest group."
  • Cycle back and forth between “1961 largest group” and “1961 2nd largest group.”

Notice ...

  • British and French trade places throughout eastern Canada. Each is second to the other.

Try This:

  • Turn on “1961 3rd largest group.”
  • Cycle back and forth among all three options.
  • On the DATA SELECT toolbar, click on the Table tool and then click on one of the Census divisions on the map, to open its pop-up data table .

Notice ...

  • The St. Lawrence valley was so homogeneous in 1961 that it had no third ethnic group of significance (i.e. more than 1%); in a few cases there was not even a second ethnic group of significance.
  • First Nations citizens made only a tiny showing in second place, but a far more substantial one in the third.
  • British and French hardly ever are as low as third in the rankings in eastern Canada.

Consider!

  • New ethnic groups have been slow to establish themselves in eastern Canada.
  • These maps give no hint about the proportions of each ethnic group in each jurisdiction. The “largest” group could dominate, at close to 100%, or merely be slightly bigger than others, even as low as 34%.
  • In 1961 the census form called upon individuals to declare a single ethnicity, even those Canadians of mixed heritage.