Introduction: Ethnicity in the Canadian Census (Editorial‪)‬

This thematic issue has been produced to provide a background for discussion of the conceptual framework and development of indicators of ethnicity in Canada. Currently, the most comprehensive and consistent data source for measures of ethnicity is the Census of Population, conducted every five years, which asks a 20 percent sample of the Canadian population to report on the ethnic origin(s) of their ancestors. In 2002, a new survey on issues of ethnicity in Canadian society--the Ethnic Diversity Survey--was conducted by Statistics Canada (in partnership with the Department of Canadian Heritage). The goal of that survey was to deconstruct concepts of ethnic ancestry and identity in order to better understand the role of ethnicity in people's lived experiences in Canadian society. The goal of this collection of articles is to provide a context for current applications of research on ethnicity in Canada and to stimulate discussion regarding how best to collect data and do applied research using these concepts in the future, given the changing demographics of the country. The papers selected for this publication were taken from a symposium on "Ethnic Origin Data from the 2001 Census: Implications for Policy Research," held in Ottawa on March 28, 2003. The symposium was organized by the Citizenship and Heritage sector of the Department of Canadian Heritage, which is proud to encourage and facilitate such a discussion on issues of ethnicity and diversity. These are issues which are important to all Canadians, as well as being an integral part of the mandate of the Department of Canadian Heritage.