Ancestry.ca reveals Canada's diverse 'DN-eh'

For Canada's 150th, Ancentry, the world's largest consumer DNA database, has revealed the results to answer the question "So, what Canadians are made of?" The study of more than 70,000 Canadians maps out the genetic make-up of the country.

According to the results, the average Canadian is more continental European (46%) than British, Irish or Scottish (43%), and this European DNA mix includes Western European (France/Germany) representing 16.6 per cent of the average Canadian’s DNA while Scandinavia and Eastern European (a region including Poland, Ukraine and Croatia) each represent 8.5 per cent. The average Canadian has 24 per cent Great Britain DNA and 19 per cent Ireland/Scotland/Wales. 

Interestingly, there is slightly more Asian DNA in the Canadian average when compared to similar genetic data from the UK, which has long established historical ties with much of the continent of Asia, and similar proportions of Asian DNA when compared to Australia and New Zealand, countries that have closer geographic proximity to Asia.

“This Canada Day we’re celebrating the fact that ours is one of the most diverse countries in the world and whilst we’re all unique, with our own personal sense of identity and ethnicity, this landmark analysis of the literal DNA of Canada gives a fascinating picture of the history and the diversity of our country as a whole. That’s the power of DNA – your genetics often reveal a much more eclectic mix than you may think and open your eyes to thinking about your identity in a whole new light” says Lesley Anderson, Ancestry family history expert.

Here are some more interesting findings...

• The province with the highest average percentage of African DNA is Nova Scotia (1.5%) followed by Ontario (1.1%) and then New Brunswick (1.0%)
• Newfoundland has the highest percentage of Great Britain DNA (36%) while PEI has far and away the highest average percentage of Ireland/Scotland/Wales DNA (42%).
• Given the large migration of Jews to Toronto and Montreal after the Second World War, the average proportion of European Jewish DNA is understandably high in Quebec and Ontario but few might expect the Yukon to have the second highest percentage of European Jewish DNA in Canada, especially when one considers that only 175 people in Yukon claimed to have Jewish ancestry in the 2011 Census.
• Polynesian and Micronesian DNA is highest in BC while Eastern European DNA is far higher in the Prairies than the rest of the country – reflective of the mass immigration of Ukrainians, Russians and Doukhobor refugees to the Prairies beginning in the late 1890s.

On the international stage, comparing the Canadian data to the United States, the UK and Australia/New Zealand reveals some intriguing findings:

• Canada has the highest average percentage of Eastern European DNA (8.5%) - double that of Australia and more than three times that of the UK
• We also have the highest combined percentage of Finland/North Russia, Caucasus (Iran/Syria) and Middle East DNA at just over 4 per cent
• Canada also has the highest average percentage of Central Asian DNA (0.4%), a region that includes modern day Afghanistan, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan

For more information or to start exploring your family history visit ancestry.ca/dna