European Canadians

European Canadians (also known as Euro-Canadians) are Canadians with ancestry from Europe.

The French were the first Europeans to establish a continuous presence in what is now Canada. Hélène Desportes is considered the first white child born in New France. She was born circa 1620, to Pierre Desportes (born Lisieux, Normandie, France) and Françoise Langlois.

In the 2006 census, the largest European ancestry groups were English (21.03%), French (15.82%), Scottish (15.11%), Irish (13.94%), German (10.18%), Italian (4.63%). However, the country's largest self-reported ethnic origin is "Canadian" (accounting for 32.22% of the population). Since 1996, "Canadian" as an ethnic group has been added to census questionnaires for possible ancestry, which likely caused English Canadians, British Canadians and French Canadians to become severely underrepresented. The grouping is similar to that of "American" in neighboring United States and most commonly espoused by European Canadians whose ancestors have been some of the earliest settlers of what is now Canada, to the point where they no longer feel a connection to their countries of origin. In the 2011 National Household Survey Profile, 10,563,805 people (32.1%) chose "Canadian" as their ethnic group, making it the single largest group in the country.

Number of European Canadians
The table shows the European-Canadian population showing a gradual increase from the 1871 Census, however, their proportion of the total Canadian population has been decreasing gradually since the mid-twentieth century to the most recent census in 2011. Canada enumerated its population by race between 1871 and 1971 and ethnic origins.

Today
Europeans are still the largest ethnic group in Canada. Elements of Aboriginal, French, British and more recent immigrant customs, languages and religions have combined to form the culture of Canada and thus a Canadian identity. Canada has also been strongly influenced by its linguistic, geographic and economic neighbour, the United States.

Flag

 * Canadian flag - In 1964, Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson formed a committee to resolve the issue, sparking a serious debate about a flag change to replace the Union Flag. Out of three choices, the maple leaf design by George Stanley, based on the flag of the Royal Military College of Canada, was selected. The flag made its first official appearance on February 15, 1965.

Music
Another area of cultural influence are Canadian Patriotic songs:
 * Canadian National Anthem - Two Canadians of French descent Adolphe-Basile Routhier wrote the lyrics and Calixa Lavallée composed the music in 1880. The English lyrics which is the official and most popular version were written in 1908 by Scottish-Canadian Robert Stanley Weir.


 * The Maple Leaf Forever - is an older but unofficial national anthem written by Scotsman Alexander Muir in 1867. It was in consideration for official national anthem, however, no French version was ever written, so, it was never popular with Francophones.

Sport

 * Ice Hockey - British soldiers and immigrants to Canada and the United States brought their stick-and-ball games with them and played them on the ice and snow of winter. Ice hockey was first played in Canada during the early nineteenth century, based on similar sports such as field hockey that were played in Europe. The sport was originally played with a stick and ball, but in 1860 a group of English veterans from the Royal Canadian Rifle Regiment played a game in Kingston, Ontario, utilising a puck for what is believed to be the first time. This match, played on the frozen harbour by the city, is sometimes considered to be the birth of modern ice hockey.