Culture of Canada in the context of "Canadian literature"

Canadians are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being Canadian.

Canada is a multilingual and multicultural society home to people of groups of many different ethnic, religious, and national origins, with the majority of the population made up of Old World immigrants and their descendants. Following the initial period of French and then the much larger British colonization, different waves (or peaks) of immigration and settlement of non-indigenous peoples took place over the course of nearly two centuries and continue today. Elements of Indigenous, French, British, and more recent immigrant customs, languages, and religions have combined to form the culture of Canada, and thus a Canadian identity and Canadian values. Canada has also been strongly influenced by its linguistic, geographic, and economic neighbour—the United States.

Canadian values are the perceived commonly shared ethical and human values of Canadians. The majority of Canadians believe they share specific values, with a plurality identifying human rights, respect for the law and gender equality as collective principles. Canadians generally exhibit pride in equality before the law, fairness, social justice, freedom, and respect for others; while often making personal decisions based on self-interests rather than a collective Canadian identity. Tolerance and sensitivity hold significant importance in Canada's multicultural society, as does politeness.

Canadians typically tend to embrace liberal views on social and political issues. In Canada the idea of a "just society" is constitutionally protected, with government policies—such as publicly funded health care; higher and more progressive taxation; outlawing capital punishment; strong efforts to eliminate poverty; an emphasis on cultural diversity; the legalization of same-sex marriage, pregnancy terminations, and euthanasia—being social indicators of the country's political and cultural values.

Canadian ethnicity refers to the self-identification of one's ethnic origin or ancestral roots as being Canadian. It was added as a possible response for an ethnic origin in the Canadian census in 1996. The identification is attributed to White Canadians who do not identify with their ancestral ethnic origins due to generational distance from European ancestors. The identification is more common in eastern parts of the country that were first settled by Europeans than in the rest of the country.

Canadians with ancestral roots in France and the British Isles are the most likely groups to identify or perceive their ethnic origin as Canadian. As their languages, traditions, and cultural practices largely define Canadian society, many do not see themselves as linked to any other nation or ethnic group. French-speaking Canadians with settler roots are more likely to perceive their ethnic origin as Canadian than as French, while most English-speaking Canadians whose families have lived in Canada for multiple generations identify with their European ethnic ancestry.