I pulled this interesting report from the folks over at the Chinese in Vancouver blog:

Ipsos Reid release – The Dominion Institute and Ipsos Reid have undertaken a unique national online survey that explores the levels of social engagement and attachment to Canada among English-speaking first and second generation Canadian immigrants, and compares these findings to a nationally representative sample of the Canadian population. Sense of belonging to Canada among first generation Canadian immigrants similar to the overall Canadian population....

This survey asked Canadians how strong their sense of belonging was to Canada. Second generation Canadians expressed a stronger sense of belonging to Canada (88% overall) than first generation Canadian immigrants (81%), and the general population (79%). 7-in-ten second generation Canadians expressed a "very strong" sense of belonging to Canada compared to 58% first generation immigrants.

"Canadian" reported as identity higher among second generation Canadians Second generation Canadians are also much more likely to self-identify as "Canadian" or "hyphenated" Canadian (e.g. Chinese-Canadian, German-Canadian) than first generation Canadian immigrants (22%). This difference is much more pronounced when second generation Canadians report themselves as Canadian only (17% vs. 3% first generation immigrants).

Importance of ethnic or cultural identity decreases slightly from first to second generation Overall, first generation Canadian immigrants are the most likely to say that their ethnic or cultural identity is important to them (64% vs. 57% second generation and 54% among Canadians in general). Second generation Canadians are the least likely to say it is "very important" (29%) vs. first generation and general population (both 36%).

Second generation Canadians report having more friends of a similar racial or cultural background When asked about how many friends were of the same racial or cultural background, 42% of second generation Canadians reported that "all" of "most of them" were of the same background, while 32% of first generation reported the same. The general population overall reported 58%.

Participation in groups and organizations similar among all English-speaking Canadians Overall, the survey shows that there is little inter-generational difference among English-speaking Canadians in their participation in groups or organizations: first generation Canadian immigrants (45%); second generation (43%). Their participation levels are similar to that of the general population (41%).