What are the most undercounted ancestry groups in Canada?

[Nashe]

I definitely fall in the "before confederation" camp, but wouldn't have a clue how to generalize my "ancestry", although I've researched it a lot.

Most distant maternal ancestor arrival: Pierre Arsenault (arrived 1671 from France) That got mixed with various other French families (and a few English ones) down to my maternal grandmother.

Most distant paternal ancestor arrival: Andrew Hudson (arrived 1820-ish from Cumbria) His descendants mixed with various Irish (Flanagan) and Scottish (McDonald).

Most people who still live in the area I grew up in in NB can likewise trace their families back 200-300 years without leaving the county. The headstones in the graveyards are still the names you see on streets, businesses and classmates today. And it's all a mix by this point. Irish, Scottish, French, English, First Nations.

[Capsicum]

If you think about it, it might be "Americans" if you buy the logic that "American" can be an ancestry as many in the US do.

It would be hard to figure out how many Canadians have had a previous family history as Americans prior to arriving in Canada, from the Loyalists to the Vietnam war draft dodgers, depending on how you count Canadians that ever had a parent, grandparent, or earlier who immigrated to Canada from south of the border.

If it is an answerable question, I wonder if you could even say the majority of (perhaps English speaking) Canadians ever had an American ancestor at some point. I know Loyalists made up a smaller proportion of settlers relative to British settlers but there might be underestimates of "American" ancestry if others like German-American settlers or African Americans who later became Canadian simply identified as German or Black Canadian without specifically mentioning being "American" as a distinct ancestry while talking about their heritage.

[someone123]

Originally Posted by Capsicum

It would be hard to figure out how many Canadians have had a previous family history as Americans prior to arriving in Canada, from the Loyalists to the Vietnam war draft dodgers, depending on how you count Canadians that ever had a parent, grandparent, or earlier who immigrated to Canada from south of the border.

The Loyalists are a murky example of this though, because they came to Canada around the time when the US was first created as a country. "America" was not a unique cultural identity particular to the southern part of North America back then. "Canadian" meant "French Canadian". Many Loyalists were British-born and simply moved from one British colony to another. This happened into the 19th century as well. It used to be much easier to move between areas that are now in Canada and the US. Moving from Massachusetts to Nova Scotia or vice versa in the 1700's was not considered "immigration", they were just two colonies that were right next to each other.

There are other, arguably clearer examples of American immigration to Canada in the late-1800's and onward.

[MonctonRad]

Originally Posted by someone123

Moving from Massachusetts to Nova Scotia or vice versa in the 1700's was not considered "immigration", they were just two colonies that were right next to each other.

I would agree with that. My children, through their mother's side can trace their North American origins as far back as the 1620s in Rhode Island. Their MacChesney ancestors arrived in Nova Scotia in the pre-Loyalist era as "New England planters", occupying formerly Acadian lands following the deportation. They were simply moving colony to colony and would not have considered themselves as "immigrants".