DCHP-2

New Canadian new Canadian DCHP-2 (October 2016)

• 1 n. & adj. — Ethnicities

  someone who settled in Canada for good, with or without acquiring British (till 1946) or Canadian (since 1947) citizenship.

  Type: 1. Origin — Nineteenth century uses of New Canadian often denoted inhabitants of provinces recently incorporated into Confederation. As early as the turn of the century, however, the term began to be used in reference to immigrants settling in Canada.
  See also COD-2, s.v. "New Canadian", which is marked "Cdn", and OED-3, s.v. "New Canadian", which is marked "Canad.".

  • This is the more general meaning that is used by most Canadians. Only those who take an active interest in immigration matters abide by meaning 2.

• 2 n. & adj. — Law, Administration

  since 1947, an immigrant who became a Canadian citizen.

  Type: 1. Origin — New Canadian is a term for a naturalized Canadian. New Canadians have opted to adopt Canadian citizenship. Since 1977 they may keep their previous citizenship. Before 1947, when Canadian citizenship was established, Canadians were classified as British subjects. As Chart 1 shows, the term is almost exclusive to Canada.
  See also COD-2, which lists the term as new Canadian, labels it "Cdn", but defines it quite differently as "a person who has recently immigrated to Canada".

  See also: citizenship court  

  • The term New Canadian may both be a prestige term as well as somewhat negatively connotated, depending on the context. For instance, New Canadians may imply a dichotomy between "new" and "old" Canadians, which might appear to imply a difference in "legitimacy" for some. Formally and legally, of course, there is only one type of Canadian citizenship.
  • This meaning is more confined to political and administrative contexts. Meaning 1 is the most common meaning by a great margin.