1 Paul Spoonley and Erin Tolley (eds.) Diverse Nations, Diverse Responses, Approaches to Social Cohesion in Immigrant Societies, , Mc‐Gill‐Queen’s Univeristy Press, 2012. Chapter 2 Social Cohesion, Citizenship and Diversity in Canada 1 Martin Papillon Social cohesion is not a new topic in Canadian conversations about diversity. In fact, one could argue the building of a cohesive society, broadly defined, was one of the central preoccupations behind the creation of the Canadian federation. The latter is indeed often portrayed as a compromise, designed to bring together weakly integrated French and English communities and disparate regions. It is therefore not surprising that Canadian authors, and Canadian policies, are often at the forefront of contemporary debates over social cohesion in diverse societies. If Canadian concerns over unity and cohesion are not new, they have taken on a new significance in recent decades. Current debates over social cohesion can be traced back to the mid-1990s, in the context of growing concerns over the impact of globalization and the restructuring of the welfare state for Canadians’ sense of community. Ethno-cultural diversity came to occupy a central place in these debates. The real or perceived erosion of a shared sense of citizenship led to debates over the “glue” that holds Canadians together. The context of the 1990s and early 2000s was particularly conducive to the expression of concerns over the potentially fragmentary effects of diversity. The close results of the 1995 Quebec sovereignty referendum, and growing concerns over the social and economic reality of Aboriginal communities, reminded Canadians of the challenges of what Charles Taylor (1991) defined as “deep diversity.” The changing demographics of recent immigration also created new