American-Canadians are people of Canadian citizenship who were born in the United States of America. They account for a significant portion of Canada's population. Canada and the United States share much culturally but are separate geopolitical entities in North America.
According to the Canada 2006 Census, 316,350 Canadians reported American as being their ethnicity, at least partially.[1] There are also between 900,000 and 2 million Americans living in Canada, either as full-time and part-time residents.
There has not been a reliable estimate of the total number of Americans from the United States who have settled in Canada since the founding of the two countries as the United States in 1776 and Canada in 1867. Prior to the independence of the United States and the formation of Canada, the settled areas of both countries consisted of British colonies.
Americans have moved to Canada throughout history. During the American Revolution, many Americans loyal to the British crown left the United States and settled in Canada. These early settlers are called United Empire Loyalists. Many Black Canadians are descendants of African American slaves (Black Loyalist) who fled to Canada during the American Revolution. Similar waves of American immigration occurred during the War of 1812. The Black Refugees in the War of 1812 also fled to Canada and many American slaves also came to via the Underground Railroad, most settling in Halifax, Nova Scotia
In the early 20th century, Canada invited 500,000 to one million American settlers into the farming regions of Prairie Provinces such as Alberta, Manitoba and Saskatchewan. In the 1930s, after World War II (1950's) and again the 1970s, another wave of Americans immigrated to Canada, this time many are from the states of Texas and Oklahoma to work in the country's growing oil industry. During the Vietnam War era, many American draft dodgers fled to Canada to avoid the war. 10,200 Americans moved to Canada in 2006, and this was the highest number since 1977. [1]
Many Canadians living in the U.S. are temporary residents known as "snowbirds" and have residences in the Southern half of the U.S. (i.e. Florida, the Carolinas, the U.S. Gulf Coast, Southern Texas, Southern California and Arizona) during the winter months. Though comparatively much fewer, some Americans from the hotter and more humid areas of the South and Southwest will temporarily reside in Canada during the summer months.
Many Americans in Canada chose to live in major cities such as Toronto and other urban areas of southern Ontario, such as Windsor, facing Detroit, and Niagara Falls, Ontario, across from Niagara Falls, New York, in the Buffalo area. Vancouver; Osoyoos, British Columbia; Edmonton, Alberta; and Calgary, Alberta, also have American expatriate colonies.
For a list of notable Canadians of American descent see Category:Canadian people of American descent. For notable American immigrants see Category:American emigrants to Canada.
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