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Cultural mosaic () is a metaphor for a society composed of diverse ethnic, linguistic, and cultural groups that are encouraged to maintain their unique identities while coexisting. The idea of a cultural mosaic is intended to suggest a form of multiculturalism as seen in Canada, that differs from other systems such as the melting pot, which is often used to describe nations like the United States' assimilation.

In the 2016 Census, there were more than 250 ethnic groups in Canada.</blockquote>

Origin and use of the term

Victoria Hayward described the cultural changes of the Canadian Prairies as a "mosaic" as early as the 1920s:

Another early use of the term mosaic to refer to Canadian society was by John Murray Gibbon, in his 1938 book Canadian Mosaic. Gibbon clearly disapproved of the American melting-pot concept. He saw the melting pot as a process by which immigrants and their descendants were encouraged to cut off ties with their countries and cultures of origin so as to assimilate into the American way of life.

In 1965, John Porter published his influential sociological study, The Vertical Mosaic: An Analysis of Social Class and Power in Canada. The study examined equality of opportunity and the exercise of power by bureaucratic, economic, and political elites in Canada, with Porter arguing that "not unlike other western industrial nations", Canada relied "on its elite groups to make major decisions and to determine the shape and direction of its development." In their work, Porter also argues that certain ethnic groups tended to fare better than others in regards to measures of income, education, and health than others, and as such classified them as "elite groups", who tended to be overrepresented among Canada's elites in government, economic and political spheres.

See also

  • Canadian values
  • Cultural rights
  • Just society
  • Monument to Multiculturalism
  • Multiculturalism in Canada
  • Multicultural media in Canada
  • Multiculturalism in Australia
  • Salad bowl

References

Further reading

  • Gibbon, J. 1938. The Canadian Mosaic, McClelland & Stewart Limited, Toronto.
  • Porter, J. 1965. The Vertical Mosaic: An Analysis of Social Class and Power in Canada. University of Toronto Press.
  • Statistics Canada Canada's ethnocultural portrait: The changing mosaic
  • "Vertical Mosaic" The Canadian Encyclopedia online
  • Multicultural Canada (archived 4 May 2012)