The author provides an understanding of the Ontario Dutch Canadians and their characteristics, plus their attitudes towards each other and towards the society in which they live. His argument is that ethnic groups are as much modern myths as integral components of a socially constructed reality.

Is there a Dutch-Canadian community or even a Dutch culture in Ontario? What constitutes such a group? In fact, what constitutes an ethnic group? Does it depend on how people identify themselves or on how they are perceived by others? And what are the connections among religion, class, ethnicity and language? Schryer explores these and other issues in his comprehensive study of the Dutch in Ontario. His central argument is that ethnic groups are as much modern "myths" as they are integral components of a socially constructed reality. Focusing on the large cohort of immigrants from the Netherlands and the former Dutch East Indies who arrived in Canada between 1947 and 1960, Schryer shows how the Dutch, despite a loss of ethnic identity and a high level of linguistic assimilation, replicated many aspects of their homeland. While illustrating and illuminating the diversity among immigrants sharing a common national origin, Schryer keeps sight of what is common among them. In doing so, he shows how deeply ingrained habits were modified in a Canadian context, resulting in both continuities and discontinuities. The result is a variegated image reflecting a multi-dimensional reality. This is the most detailed work ever produced on the Dutch in one specific geographic location. A mixture of sociology, history and political science, it provides a comprehensive and exhaustive study of the Dutch presence in Ontario. As a study in multiculturalism, it adds greatly to an understanding of ethnic group dynamics, not only in Ontario but across the country as well.