Do They Belong to the Same Group as Their Mothers? Identity of the Aboriginal Children in Canada

Margaret Michalowski, Statistics Canada
Marie-France Germain, Statistics Canada

In the past 15 years, the growth of the populations of Aboriginal identity in Canada has been very large and cannot be solely explained by demographic factors. It is due, to a big degree, to the change over time (intragenerational) and between generations (intergenerational) in the ethnic identity reported by individuals. Using the data from the 1996 and 2001 Censuses, the study of 3 aboriginal groups (North American Indian, Métis and Inuit) demonstrates that the ethnicity of children born to aboriginal parents differs significantly from that of their parents. Among the 3 groups, Métis intergenerational mobility is the highest, regardless of their place of residence in Canada. Inward mobility from the non-aboriginal population compensates for the outward mobility for all the 3 groups, mitigating effects of declining fertility observed among the aboriginal populations in Canada.