Racism in Canada

Today, historians include the early Indigenous Peoples (First Nations) within the category of “Canada’s founding peoples” together with the French- and British-Canadians.

French-Canadians consider themselves one of the founding peoples because their settlement in Canada dates from the “Age of Discovery” in the fifteenth century. Among the first French explorers who reached the area was Jacques Cartier, who is credited to have laid the original French claim for Canada.

Although at first the British were not interested in staking a claim on Canada, after the first explorers -John Cabot in 1497, Martin Frobisher in 1576 and Henry Hudson in 1607- succeeding English voyagers laid claim to the fur-trading area around Hudson Bay.

The Official Languages Act was passed in 1969. It gave the French language the same status as the English language, which had been the only official language since 1867.

In 1974, Quebec passed its own Official Language Act -Bill 101- which made French the only official language in Quebec. This Act also resulted in a strengthening of the French-Canadian identity.

Some events and developments during the 1960s paved the way for the introduction of multiculturalism. Pressures for this appearance stemmed from the growing assertiveness of Canada's Indigenous peoples, the force of Québécois nationalism and increasing resentment on the part of some ethnic minorities regarding their place in society.

A new multiculturalism policy with a clearer sense of purpose and direction came into effect in 1988 when the Canadian Multiculturalism Act was adopted by Parliament. Canada was the first country in the world to pass a national multiculturalism law. Still today, the Act sets out the legal framework for Canada's multiculturalism policy.

Nunavut is an Inuktitut word for “our land.” It is part of a land claim which resulted in the division of the Northwest Territories into two territories to allow for the creation of a homeland for Canada’s Inuit. The creation of Nunavut shows the strength of Inuit political leaders and the flexibility of Canadian political institutions.