The Importance Of Cultural Diversity In Canada

Thirdly, the constant increase of cultural diversity in Canada broadens the general views and opinions of Canadians, therefore making it more difficult to pin point a concrete definition. Those who are new to Canada will not as strongly identify with the common views of Canadians because these views are embedded over time. And although immigrants recognize what is important to Canadian’s, such as the Canada flag and The Charter of Rights and Freedoms, they do not necessarily identity with these things. Canada’s government allows immigrants to preserve their culture; including clothing, religion, and celebrations, and in doing so, this takes away from classical Canadian identity and creates more of a general identity. The more immigrants preserve their culture, the less they mesh with Canada’s culture, therefore
In the article, the author states, “They see identities in zero sum terms; the more attached to country of origin or ethnic community, the less invested you will be in the ‘Canadian experience’.” (Jedwab 2017). In other words, the article argues that acknowledging multiple identities detracts from our sense of belonging to Canada meaning that the more we recognize and identify with outside cultures, the less we become our own. This is another example of how changing notions of citizenship in Canada has caused the Canadian identity to lose its sense of singularity. When Canadians are obligated to choose whether they wish to preserve their ethnic connections or conform to Canadian identity, the value of the identity is naturally weakened. Those who choose to maintain their own culture, although this is respected in Canada, are contributing to the weakening of the Canadian identity by choosing to acknowledge their own culture over Canadian