I have heard it used in numerous ways. Used as a description or as an adjective; heck, I have heard it used as an insult, but the word "Canada" or "Canadian" does not have one simple meaning. Sure in most senses it means to be a Canadian citizen but even that does not signify your ethnicity or your country of birth. Before becoming Canada, British North America was the setting for many battles between the French, the British, the Americans, and the First Nations for the rights to the land. At that time, to be Canadian meant you happened to be winning the war.

Nowadays, it is diversity that is an integral part of being Canadian. Hundreds of thousands of Canadian immigrants speak Chinese, Punjabi, Spanish, Italian, or German among others. Not to mention those that speak Canada's second official language, Francais. As the Canada Day celebration, parades, and fairs conclude and the last firework explodes in front of the beautiful backdrop of the crisp night sky, ask yourself "what does it mean to be Canadian?" As time continues to roll forward and Canada continues to grow, what it means to be Canadian will be a continued acceptance of multiple ethnicities, nationalities, and core beliefs. What it is not, is "cut-and-dry"; what it is, is "Canadian."