Russian Canadians: Views on Politics, History and Society

Canada is a multicultural country where migrants with a (Soviet) Russian background are one of many minorities. This community has received scant attention to date, partly because it largely dissolves into the overall popula­tion, and the socio-economic integration of newcomers from Russia tends to be relatively smooth. Although people with a (Soviet) Russian background are not a large demographic group, Russian speakers, including migrants from other former Soviet republics, form a sizeable share of the migrants who speak neither of Canada’s two official languages as their first language. The Kremlin views this group as a resource that can potentially be leveraged.

This report is one of the first to provide reliable insights into a large sample of respondents with a (Soviet) Russian background relative to the broader Cana­dian population. We have surveyed over 500 such respondents alongside more than 1,800 Canadians from the general population. Additionally, for a signifi­cant share of all respondents, we collected data from two household members: an adult child and a parent. This allowed us to grasp where family dynamics differ between Canadians with and without a (Soviet) Russian background. For respondents with (Soviet) Russian roots, the adult child was socialised in Canada and thus represents the second generation, whereas the parental gen­eration itself migrated from (Soviet) Russia.

The key findings are as follows:

• Compared to the general Canadian population, respondents with a (Soviet) Russian background, in particular the second generation, have lower trust in Canadian state institutions and the principle of democracy while show­ing greater support for economic liberalism.
• The offspring of Russian migrants is much less likely to participate in Cana­dian elections than their parents or peers. While one-third of the parental generation usually votes in Russian elections, hardly anyone from the sec­ond generation does so.
• Individuals with a (Soviet) Russian background tend to be socially conserva­tive. They tend to believe that men should be the main breadwinner and to support traditional gender norms, more so than other Canadians.
• Younger people with a (Soviet) Russian background are less politically and socially active than their peers, with the exception of commenting on poli­tics via social media.
• While a clear majority of Canadians believes that Russia alone is responsi­ble for the war in Ukraine, two-thirds of individuals with a (Soviet) Russian background disagree with this view. Older respondents are particularly supportive of the Kremlin’s position that the war against Ukraine is in reac­tion to Western aggression.
• Individuals with a (Soviet) Russian background have a rather distant relationship to (Soviet) Russian history and are not very defensive when it is criticised. This suggests that the potential for the Kremlin to invoke patri­otic sentiment through historical narratives might be limited.
• Compared to other groups with a migratory background, those from (Soviet) Russia have relatively little contact with friends and family members back in Russia. Travel to Russia is also rare.
• Families with a (Soviet) Russian background discuss politics more frequent­ly than other Canadian families, with fathers being the dominant figures in these discussions. In addition, for the younger generation in these families, their parents and social media are the most important sources of historical knowledge, whereas other Canadians emphasise the importance of history teaching at school.

This project has received funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon Europe research and innovation programme, grant agreement number 101042339. The project start was on 1 September 2022.