Reporter: Mark Blinch and Inequality Reporter

reporter: Mark Blinch / THE CANADIAN PRESS FILE PHOTO By Jennifer Yang Identity and Inequality Reporter Wed., Feb. 1, 2017 Who is a true Canadian For the majority of respondents in a new survey, it's somebody who not only speaks English or French but also shares Canadian customs and traditions a marker that Canadians prioritized more than even the Australians, French or Americans, according to Toronto Star. With an eye on nationalist movements and rising anti-immigrant sentiment, the Pew Research Center conducted a survey of more than 14,500 people in 14 countries to investigate global perspectives on a thorny idea What does it take to be one of us In a report released Wednesday, Pew researchers found language was the most critical factor for how people defined a true member of their nation, with the Netherlands, Hungary and United Kingdom placing the highest premium on speaking the native tongue. Canadians polled for a survey on what makes a true Canadian said being able to speak French or English and sharing Canadian customs and traditions were of high importance. Canadians and Italians were the least likely to link language with national identity, though nearly nine-in-10 Canadians both Anglophone and Francophone still felt speaking French or English was very or somewhat important despite the fact 20.6 per cent of Canadians did not consider either to be their mother tongue, according to the 2011 census. Article Continued Below For whatever it means, Canadians seem to value customs and traditions more so than even people in the U.S. or in many of the European countries, said Stokes, director of Global Economic Attitudes with the Pew Research Center, a non-partisan think tank based in Washington, D.C. And while the majority say the ability to speak French or English is important, relatively speaking, it's not that important to Canadians compared to even Australians or people in the U.S. Like all polls, this one has important limitations, including the fact the nebulous phrase of national customs and traditions was not defined and left for individual respondents to interpret. react-empty 161 Canadians in the Yukon, Nunavut and Northwest Territories were also excluded from the Canadian survey, which was conducted in April and May 2016 and had a margin of error of 3.9 percentage points at a 95 per cent confidence level. In Canada, 54 per cent of 1,020 respondents also placed a high premium on shared customs and traditions when defining the Canadian identity, with only Hungary, Greece and Poland showing larger proportions of people who prioritized shared culture something that jumped out for Bruce Stokes, the author of the report. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.