From Canada's profound racism in the 19th and early 20th centuries to its radical shift in immigration policy in the 1960s, this one-of-a-kind reference explores the past 1,000 years of ethnicity in Canada.

In 1867 Canada was established as a political nation with two general ethnic cultures, yet more than 191 ethnic groups currently reside there. Canada's Diverse Peoples gives students of Canadian history, sociology, anthropology, and history a unique opportunity to understand the tensions, conflicts, and cooperation between Canada's indigenous and immigrant populations.

In this comprehensive reference, Historian J.M. Bumsted takes readers on a chronological tour of Canada's ethnic history from aboriginal society and the French and English "founding cultures" to the "Alien Menace" of World War I and the influx of refugees after World War II. From the botched storming of the ship Komagata Maru and its forced return to India to Quebec's separatism, Bumsted explores one of the most important themes in Canadian historical development.