Canada is home to many cultures. Three percent of all Canadians are First Nations people. The people of the First Nations were there before other people came to North America. Now more than half of Canadians have British or French blood. The rest are from every part of the world: Asia, Africa, Central America, South America, Australia and other European countries.
Canada became a country in 1867, and for more than a hundred years, most immigrants in the country were from Europe. In the 1970s and 1980s, that changed. According to a survey, the number of European immigrants dropped from 90 percent to 25 percent, and the number of Asian immigrants rose from 3 percent to 48 percent.
Although Canada has two official languages—English and French, most Canadians do not speak both. Many immigrants speak two languages—the language of their first country and English or French. Canada welcomes cultural differences in the people who live there.
So what is a Canadian? That's a little hard to describe. Canada does not have one culture—it has many. It is important that people from different cultures can live together in one country.
Is there a Canadian food? Not really. Is there a Canadian religion? No. Is there a Canadian kind of music? No again. Is there a Canadian way of understanding the world? Yes. It's that people should respect and accept one another and help one another. It's important to keep different languages, religions and customs alive.