The Diversity Of The Canadian Nation

The Canadian family has been changing drastically over the 20th century. The definition of family has changed, along with the functions of families. Many modern families have veered from what we once considered the tradition family. This essay will discuss the different types of newly developed families, and some factors contributing to this change.

Beginning at the time of the Confederation, Canada has worked towards defining its own identity. Slowly, but surely, Canada has built the foundations for its path to prominence. From a colony of Great Britain, to the country it is today, Canada has achieved much on the long road to a unique Canadian identity. Whether it be through external or internal affairs, Canada’s people have endeavoured to instill the feeling of nationalism deep inside the hearts of both the present and future generations.

Since confederation, Canada has been a nation that is completely different to the rest of the world. Citizens embrace different cultures, religions and ethnicities as their own. When a civic nation is born there are always going to be discrepancies; not everyone is united under one idea. Therefore, loyalties begin to contend with each other which has resulted in the Canada we live in today. Separatists are amongst the majority. Quebec, The Maritimes, Cascadia, The West, all want to be independent from the government run within Ontario. As citizens we must ask ourselves, if the confederation in 1867 was offered to us today, would we accept?

“Multiculturalism exists when people accept and encourage many cultures to thrive in a society. Multiculturalism can lead to many great outcomes, including racial and ethnic harmony, which simply means that people from different backgrounds get along well together. Living with and accepting different cultures helps us understand each other and discourage hatred and violence.” () Furthermore, various ethnic groups introduce their individual beliefs, traditions, as well as, religions to the Canadian society. Generally speaking, be part of an expanding multicultural society has impacted Canada economically, demographically and socially. Thus, the presence of the variety of different cultures, languages and heritages, results in the need for the county to adapt and change, based on the new reality of Canada.

Enrolling in a class formulated around families and their dynamics within Canadian society, initially seemed as though it would be quite monotone. The prior knowledge I held, led myself to believe there was not much more one could learn about such an area; families are diverse and all strive off of one another to survive in their home and surrounding environments. Throughout this short term my thoughts have altered in understanding the complexity and diversity within families. Every individual is part of a family yet, whom one considers “family” can arise from many areas: full sibling, step sibling, adopted, close friend, foster child amongst other areas which many will speak to under their own terms. Every family has faced challenges

Over the last few decades Canadians’ desire and need for children has drastically changed. As stated in “Canada’s Shrinking Families”, “[C]anadian families are shrinking as fewer children are being born than in previous decades”(Mitchell 1). More and more data and information has emerging on family life in Canada, for example according to “ Canada’s Shrinking Families”, “[T]he average family size has declined from 3.7 members in 1971 to 3.0 in 2006” (Mitchell 1). Canada’s continuously changing society has changed its perspective on the need for larger families. As a result, this creates great impacts on Canada and its citizens. The impacts of shrinking families in Canada are considerably more positive as it can prevent overpopulation, create more positive impacts towards the Canadian economy, and cause an increase healthy child development.

From the years of 1945-2000, Canada changed and developed as a country. These changes had both negative and positive effects, and were quite controversial. With a global crisis at hand, Canada found itself involved in international conflicts like they’ve never experienced before. Meanwhile, Canada was also dogged with internal issues, which were both political and economic, as it changed society. Canada was faced with problems of immigration, multiculturalism, Quebec separatism, as well as regionalism. This made Canada’s society change drastically. With Canada’s changes came the development of Canada’s national identity. Canadians began to view their country differently, and Canada’s identity took ahold of a new meaning.

The term "multiculturalism" has been used by the Canadians in two different perspectives. The first use of this word is descriptive; meanwhile the other one is normative. The former sense implies the description of various religious and cultural groups that the Canadian population consists of. The nation of Canada is based on people from various races, religions and cultural backgrounds and there is a general acceptance of cultural pluralism in the country. Since the nineteenth century, Canada has experienced various waves of immigration (Wayland, 1997). Moreover, it has been reported that by the 1980s approximately 40 percent of the people were of origins other than British and French; the two being the largest and oldest groups of people in Canada (Troper, 1989). The history of Canada gives a great deal of importance to the relationship that existed between the French and the British people. According to the statistics, the major population of the country at the beginning of the 21st century was composed of people from outside French and British heritage; meanwhile there were many people who presented themselves as "visible minorities".

Differences in Family Function in Canada and Saudi Arabia. As long as multiculturalism is an official policy in Canada, there will be a lot of immigrants who come to Canada from different parts of the world, including Muslim countries. Islam plays an important role in every part of people’s lives in all Muslim countries, especially in Saudi Arabia which is heartland of Islam and provides Islamic standards for all Muslim countries. People and families who come to Canada bring their own traditions and habits.

Family is a broad term to define. In the pre-modern times, family was one of the most important unit of society which consisted of two adults of the opposite sex sharing economic resources, accommodation, reproduction (Mitchell, 2012, Pg.6). A family consisted of two parents, the husband was considered to be a “breadwinner” (Mitchell, 2012, Pg.6), while the wife was the homemaker who stayed home and took care of children. The Standard North American Family (SNAF) consists two adults of the opposite sex who are married and they share both traditional and gender roles (Mitchell, 2012, Pg.6). It is foundational for understanding families in Canada because for a lot of people, it is their identity.

Hi, Nic! This time I'd like to ask you what you think of appreciating diversity because Canada is often seen as a country more welcoming to immigrants than many others in Western world. Some analysts recommend that Japan should accept more immigrants to solve a labor shortage but many Japanese have negative feelings toward living with people from other countries. Do you have any experiences of being offended? Or what would you feel if people with different culture would live in the next street of yours? I know this is a weird question but I'm curious how Canadian society integrate

Multiculturalism is the act of giving equivalent consideration regarding various foundations in a specific setting, and it can happen when a purview is made or extended by amalgamating zones with two or more diverse societies or through migration from various locales around the globe. Multiculturalism that seeks in keeping up the peculiarity of numerous societies is regularly differentiated to other settlement arrangements, for example, social mix, social osmosis, and racial isolation. Multiculturalism has been depicted as a "salad bowl" and "cultural mosaic" (Burgess, et al. 2005). In spite of the way that multiculturalism has predominantly been utilized as a term to characterize distraught gatherings, numerous scholars tend to center their contentions on outsiders who are ethnic and religious minorities, minority countries, and indigenous people groups. The term multiculturalism is frequently utilized as a part of a reference to Western country states, which

This picture emphasizes Canada as a true multicultural country. The diagonal division on the flag with the Canadian Flag on the top half and the Portuguese flag on the bottom half is a great illustration of what multicultural represents. From a sociological perspective, multiculturalism is about, acknowledging and encouraging cultural differences in order to sustain cultural diversity within society. The flag represents multiculturalism because it includes two separate cultures and blends them into another to form a new one. This highlights that people from different cultures can come together as one and live peacefully along side each other. The flag inspires both cultures since it is flying high above the house for everyone passing by to

Family is one of the hardest words to define. There are many definitions and thoughts of what a family consists of. When one accepts the definition of the census family given by Statistics Canada then a family becomes “a married couple and the children, if any… a couple living common law and the children, if any… a lone parent with at least one child living in the same dwelling… grandchild living with grandparents but no parents present… Census families can be opposite or same sex and children may be adopted, by birth, or marriage and all members must be living in the same dwelling” (Baker 2014). With family being such a difficult term to agree on, the creation of a complex study of family life emerges. The factors that influence family life are put into three theory categories; Social Structure, Interpersonal Factors, as well as Ideas, Global Culture, and Public Discourse.

Have you ever glanced at a person who appears to be different and immediately averted your gaze to avoid eye contact? Of course you have, we are all guilty of this. Was this based on the person’s race? The way the dressed perhaps? Or maybe it was neither of these, but yet for some reason you felt as though you could not trust them. This concept of trust is the motivating factor for this paper. You will find that there are numerous ways that you interact in situations which require societal trust without even knowing. It begins at the very top, with our governments and policies, and then funnels through every network of the public sphere down to the diverse individuals whose identities are determined by differing levels of trust. Multiculturalism is found at the very centre of this. The appreciation of others and respect for other cultures is the premise of multiculturalism and is intended to prevent racial divides and conflict from arising. When executed correctly, it has the power and ability to allow for trust among one another, which is pivotal for a cohesive and ethnically diverse society.