This Canadian mosaic of Europeans has a history that dated back as early as the late nineteenth century, and it persisted for much of the twentieth century. Changes in the mosaic before the 1970s were mainly in the direction of having more European diversities in the Canadian population other than British and French.
By 1971, Canadians of European origin continued to account for 96 percent of the 21.5 million people in the total population. Those of European origin other than British and French remained the dominant element within the “Third Force”, accounting for 85.5 percent of the 5.8 million people who declared a non-British and non-French ethnic origin in the 1971 Census. However, by 1981, this group had declined to 75.8 percent of those not of British or French origin. By 1991, despite the growth of the non-British and non-French origin to 7.4 million people, the European component of the “Third Force” had further declined to 55.7 percent.
Hence, between 1971 and 1991, despite that fact that those not of British or French origin remained at around 26 to 28 percent of the total Canadian population, there were changes in the ethnic and racial differentiation in the “Third Force” to include a growing segment made up of non-European origin. For example, in 1971, those of Asian origin accounted for only 5 percent of those not of British or French origin; by 1981, they had grown to 11.3 percent, and by 1991, they had further increased to 21.6 percent. Similarly, those of African origin rose from less than 1 percent of those not of British or French origin in 1971 to 3.4 percent in 1991.
