How Canadians Celebrate Culture and Diversity Is Yet Another Reason To Obtain Your Citizenship By Descent
There are a lot of reasons to love Canada and come here. The Canadian experience is unique on a number of levels. Canada, proudly, was the first country in the world to adopt multiculturalism as an official policy. On Oct. 8, 1971, Pierre Trudeau (Justin’s Dad) introduced Multiculturalism to the House of Commons. In addition to becoming an officially bilingual land, Canada would formally respect the diversity of its citizens’ languages, religions and cultures. The old melting pot vs. tossed salad analogy applies here heavily when comparing the American experience vs. the Canadian one. Erna Paris at The Globe and Mail published an interesting piece about Canadian society. One of the most important reasons for Canada’s success is the fact that we have eschewed demands for total assimilation to a defined identity in favour of integration. We are a tolerant harmonious society and the world has begun to increasingly take notice on how we do things, and how perhaps how others should follow. How we have formally embraced other cultures as a part of the Canadian experience has informed how our country is perceived around the world.
In 2015, Canada sat 6th out of 133 countries – the highest of any G7 nation – in an annual “social progress index”. It tracks 52 indicators – from crime levels to literacy rates and gender equality – that reflect whether a country is providing essential needs to its citizens and opportunities for people to improve their lot in society.
Canada comes second on a ranking of social entrepreneurship in the world’s 45 biggest economies. Canada scored highly on the ability of social entrepreneurs to make a living from their work, the ease of access to investment and the fact that social entrepreneurship in the country is gaining momentum.
Canada has one of the highest proportions of university graduates, according to figures compiled by the OECD. 59.2% of its 25-34 year-olds have completed the highest level of education.
We were just recently voted the second best place to live on the planet for the second year in a row, only behind Switzerland in a survey from the U.S. News & World Report, in conjunction with Young & Rubicam BAV Consulting and the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. The survey evaluated 80 countries in a variety of categories including economic influence, citizenship and quality of life. One of the driving theories on why Canadian society is harmonious and highly tolerant is how we celebrate the diversity of our citizens. How we celebrate culture in this country creates a rich experience unlike anywhere else in the world – and people are better for it.
People used to talk about Canada with mild interest. In these politically volatile days, people express envy. They want to know how difficult it is to get citizenship, whether their professional credentials will transfer, how much tuition costs for non-Canadians. – Alexandra Wragge (Annapolis, Maryland – as quoted in the Globe and Mail)
As per the piece, 95 per cent of respondents in an Environics poll said that immigrants are as likely to be good citizens as the native-born. In major cities such as Toronto and Vancouver, roughly half the population consists of visible minorities. Vibrant Asian and Indian communities imbue these cities with richness and vibrancy. 12% of the Canadian parliament’s sitting members are foreign born people who belong to different ethnic groups. Almost 9% of full time employees in the country are immigrants.In a 2006 poll asking what made them “proud to be Canadian”, multiculturalism ranked second place, behind only the country’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
Canada continues to be one of the top immigration destinations in the world. Every year, about 250,000 people from around the world are issued a Permanent Resident Visa, which authorizes them to live, work and study long-term in this beautiful, multicultural country. If you have a Canadian parent, you are likely a Canadian citizen by descent. Your right to citizenship affords you a special opportunity to access the Canadian experience.