Canada
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/ˈkænədə/) is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west and northward into the Arctic Ocean. It is the world's second largest country by total area. Canada's common border with the United States to the south and northwest is the longest in the world.The land that is now Canada was inhabited for millennia by various groups of Aboriginal peoples. Beginning in the late 15th century, British and French expeditions explored, and later settled, along the Atlantic coast. France ceded nearly all of its colonies in North America in 1763 after the Seven Years' War. In 1867, with the union of three British North American colonies through Confederation, Canada was formed as a federal dominion of four provinces. This began an accretion of provinces and territories and a process of increasing autonomy from the United Kingdom. This widening autonomy was highlighted by the Statute of Westminster of 1931 and culminated in the Canada Act of 1982, which severed the vestiges of legal dependence on the British parliament.
Canada is a federation that is governed as a parliamentary democracy and a constitutional monarchy with Queen Elizabeth II as its head of state. It is a bilingual nation with both English and French as official languages at the federal level. One of the world's highly developed countries, Canada has a diversified economy that is reliant upon its abundant natural resources and upon trade—particularly with the United States, with which Canada has had a long and complex relationship. It is a member of the G8, G-20, NATO, OECD, WTO, Commonwealth, Francophonie, OAS, APEC, and UN.
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History
Main article: History of Canada
See also: Timeline of Canadian history
Etymology
Main article: Name of Canada
The name Canada comes from a St. Lawrence Iroquoian word, kanata, meaning "village" or "settlement".[10] In 1535, indigenous inhabitants of the present-day Quebec City region used the word to direct French explorer Jacques Cartier towards the village of Stadacona.[11] Cartier later used the word Canada to refer not only to that particular village, but also the entire area subject to Donnacona (the chief at Stadacona); by 1545, European books and maps had begun referring to this region as Canada.[11]In the 17th and early 18th century, Canada referred to the part of New France that lay along the Saint Lawrence River and the northern shores of the Great Lakes. The area was later split into two British colonies, Upper Canada and Lower Canada. They were re-unified as the Province of Canada in 1841.[12] Upon Confederation in 1867, the name Canada was adopted as the legal name for the new country, and Dominion (a term from Psalm 72:8)[13] was conferred as the country's title. Combined, the term Dominion of Canada was in common usage until the 1950s.[14] As Canada asserted its political autonomy from the United Kingdom, the federal government increasingly used simply Canada on state documents and treaties, a change that was reflected in the renaming of the national holiday from Dominion Day to Canada Day in 1982.[14]
Aboriginal peoples
Main article: Aboriginal peoples in Canada
Archaeological and Indigenous genetic studies support a human presence in the northern Yukon from 26,500 years ago, and in southern Ontario from 9,500 years ago.[15][16][17] Old Crow Flats and Bluefish Caves are two of the earliest archaeological sites of human (Paleo-Indians) habitation in Canada.[18][19][20] Among the First Nations peoples, there are eight unique stories of creation and their adaptations.[21] The characteristics of Canadian Aboriginal societies included permanent settlements,[22] agriculture,[23] civic and ceremonial architecture,[24] complex societal hierarchies and trading networks.[25] Some of these cultures had long faded by the time of the first permanent European arrivals (c. late 15th–early 16th centuries), and have been discovered through archaeological investigations.The aboriginal population is estimated to have been between 200,000[26] and two million in the late 15th century,[27] with a figure of 500,000 currently accepted by Canada's Royal Commission on Aboriginal Health.[28] Repeated outbreaks of European infectious diseases such as influenza, measles and smallpox (to which they had no natural immunity), combined with other effects of European contact, resulted in a forty to eighty percent aboriginal population decrease post-contact.[26] Aboriginal peoples in Canada include the First Nations,[29] Inuit,[30] and Métis.[31] The Métis a culture of mixed blood originated in the mid-17th century when First Nation and Inuit married European settlers.[32] The Inuit had more limited interaction with European settlers during the colonization period.[33]
European colonization
Main articles: New France and Canada under British Imperial control
Further information: Former colonies and territories in Canada
The English established fishing outposts in Newfoundland around 1610 and established the Thirteen Colonies to the south.[40] A series of four Intercolonial Wars erupted between 1689 and 1763.[39] Mainland Nova Scotia came under British rule with the Treaty of Utrecht (1713); the Treaty of Paris (1763) ceded Canada and most of New France to Britain after the Seven Years' War.[41]
The Royal Proclamation (1763) carved the Province of Quebec out of New France and annexed Cape Breton Island to Nova Scotia.[14] St. John's Island (now Prince Edward Island) became a separate colony in 1769.[42] To avert conflict in Quebec, the British passed the Quebec Act of 1774, expanding Quebec's territory to the Great Lakes and Ohio Valley. It re-established the French language, Catholic faith, and French civil law there. This angered many residents of the Thirteen Colonies and helped to fuel the American Revolution.[14]
The Treaty of Paris (1783) recognized American independence and ceded territories south of the Great Lakes to the United States. Around 50,000 United Empire Loyalists fled the United States to Canada.[43] New Brunswick was split from Nova Scotia as part of a reorganization of Loyalist settlements in the Maritimes. To accommodate English-speaking Loyalists in Quebec, the Constitutional Act of 1791 divided the province into French-speaking Lower Canada (later the province of Quebec) and English-speaking Upper Canada (later Ontario), granting each its own elected Legislative Assembly.[44]
The desire for responsible government resulted in the aborted Rebellions of 1837. The Durham Report subsequently recommended responsible government and the assimilation of French Canadians into British culture.[14] The Act of Union 1840 merged The Canadas into a united Province of Canada. Responsible government was established for all British North American provinces by 1849.[47] The signing of the Oregon Treaty by Britain and the United States in 1846 ended the Oregon boundary dispute, extending the border westward along the 49th parallel. This paved the way for British colonies on Vancouver Island (1849) and in British Columbia (1858).[48] Canada launched a series of exploratory expeditions to claim Rupert's Land and the Arctic region.
Confederation and expansion
Main articles: Canadian Confederation and Territorial evolution of Canada
To open the West, the government sponsored construction of three transcontinental railways (including the Canadian Pacific Railway), opened the prairies to settlement with the Dominion Lands Act, and established the North-West Mounted Police to assert its authority over this territory.[55][56] In 1898, after the Klondike Gold Rush in the Northwest Territories, the Canadian government created the Yukon Territory. Under Liberal Prime Minister Wilfrid Laurier, continental European immigrants settled the prairies, and Alberta and Saskatchewan became provinces in 1905.[53]
Early 20th century
Main article: Canada in the World Wars and Interwar Years
The Great Depression brought economic hardship all over Canada. In response, the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF) in Alberta and Saskatchewan enacted many measures of a welfare state (as pioneered by Tommy Douglas) into the 1940s and 1950s.[60] Canada declared war on Germany independently during World War II under Liberal Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King, three days after Britain. The first Canadian Army units arrived in Britain in December 1939.[57]
Canadian troops played important roles in the failed 1942 Dieppe Raid in France, the Allied invasion of Italy, the D-Day landings, the Battle of Normandy, and the Battle of the Scheldt in 1944.[57] Canada provided asylum and protection for the monarchy of the Netherlands while that country was occupied, and is credited by the country for leadership and major contribution to its liberation from Nazi Germany.[61] The Canadian economy boomed as industry manufactured military materiel for Canada, Britain, China, and the Soviet Union.[57] Despite another Conscription Crisis in Quebec, Canada finished the war with one of the largest armed forces in the world and the second-wealthiest economy.[62][63]
Modern times
At the same time, Quebec underwent profound social and economic changes through the Quiet Revolution of the 1960s, giving birth to a modern nationalist movement. The radical Front de libération du Québec (FLQ) ignited the October Crisis in 1970.[71] The sovereignist Parti Québécois was elected in 1976 and organized an unsuccessful referendum on sovereignty-association in 1980.[71] Attempts to accommodate Quebec nationalism constitutionally through the Meech Lake Accord failed in 1990. This led to the formation of the Bloc Québécois in Quebec and invigoration of the Reform Party of Canada in the West.[72][73] A second referendum followed in 1995, in which sovereignty was rejected by a slimmer margin of just 50.6% to 49.4%.[74] In 1997, the Supreme Court ruled that unilateral secession by a province would be unconstitutional, and the Clarity Act was passed by parliament, outlining the terms of a negotiated departure from Confederation.[74]
In addition to the issues of Quebec sovereignty, a number of crises shook Canadian society in the late 1980s and early 1990s. These included the explosion of Air India Flight 182 in 1985, the largest mass murder in Canadian history;[75] the École Polytechnique massacre in 1989, a university shooting targeting female students;[76] and the Oka Crisis in 1990,[77] the first of a number of violent confrontations between the government and Aboriginal groups.[78] Canada also joined the Gulf War in 1990 as part of a US-led coalition force, and was active in several peacekeeping missions in the late 1990s.[79] It sent troops to Afghanistan in 2001, but declined to send forces to Iraq when the US invaded in 2003.[80]
Geography
Main article: Geography of Canada
Since 1925, Canada has claimed the portion of the Arctic between 60° and 141°W longitude,[83] but this claim is not universally recognized. The northernmost settlement in Canada (and in the world) is Canadian Forces Station Alert on the northern tip of Ellesmere Island—latitude 82.5°N—817 kilometres (450 nautical miles, 508 miles) from the North Pole.[84] Much of the Canadian Arctic is covered by ice and permafrost. Canada also has the longest coastline in the world: 202,080 kilometres (125,570 mi).[82]
Canada has an extensive coastline on its north, east, and west, and since the last glacial period it has consisted of eight distinct forest regions, including extensive boreal forest on the Canadian Shield.[87] The vastness and variety of Canada's geography, ecology, vegetation and landforms have given rise to a wide variety of climates throughout the country.[88] Because of its vast size, Canada has more lakes than any other country, containing much of the world's fresh water.[89] There are also fresh-water glaciers in the Canadian Rockies and the Coast Mountains.
Canada is also geologically active, having many earthquakes and potentially active volcanoes, notably Mount Meager, Mount Garibaldi, Mount Cayley, and the Mount Edziza volcanic complex.[90] The volcanic eruption of Tseax Cone in 1775 caused a catastrophic disaster, killing 2,000 Nisga'a people and destroying their village in the Nass River valley of northern British Columbia; the eruption produced a 22.5-kilometre (14.0 mi) lava flow, and according to legend of the Nisga'a people, it blocked the flow of the Nass River.[91]
Climate
Further information: Temperature in Canada
Average winter and summer high temperatures across Canada vary according to the location. Winters can be harsh in many regions of the country, particularly in the interior and Prairie provinces, which experience a continental climate, where daily average temperatures are near −15 °C (5 °F) but can drop below −40 °C (−40 °F) with severe wind chills.[92] In noncoastal regions, snow can cover the ground almost six months of the year (more in the north). Coastal British Columbia enjoys a temperate climate, with a mild and rainy winter. On the east and west coasts, average high temperatures are generally in the low 20s °C (70s °F), while between the coasts, the average summer high temperature ranges from 25 to 30 °C (77 to 86 °F), with occasional extreme heat in some interior locations exceeding 40 °C (104 °F).[93]Government and politics
Main articles: Politics of Canada and Government of Canada
See also: Elections in Canada and List of Canadian political parties
The direct participation of the royal and viceroyal figures in any of these areas of governance is limited, though;[97][100][101][102] in practice, their use of the executive powers is directed by the Cabinet, a committee of ministers of the Crown responsible to the elected House of Commons and headed by the Prime Minister of Canada (presently Stephen Harper[103]), the head of government. To ensure the stability of government, the governor general will usually appoint as prime minister the person who is the current leader of the political party that can obtain the confidence of a plurality in the House of Commons and the prime minister chooses the Cabinet.[104] The Prime Minister's Office (PMO) is thus one of the most powerful institutions in government, initiating most legislation for parliamentary approval and selecting for appointment by the Crown, besides the aforementioned, the governor general, lieutenant governors, senators, federal court judges, and heads of Crown corporations and government agencies.[100] The leader of the party with the second-most seats usually becomes the Leader of Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition (presently Michael Ignatieff[105]) and is part of an adversarial parliamentary system intended to keep the government in check.
Canada's federal structure divides government responsibilities between the federal government and the ten provinces. Provincial legislatures are unicameral and operate in parliamentary fashion similar to the House of Commons.[108] Canada's three territories also have legislatures, but these are not sovereign and have fewer constitutional responsibilities than the provinces and with some structural differences.[109][110]
Law
Main article: Law of Canada
See also: Court system of Canada
The Constitution of Canada is the supreme law of the country, and consists of written text and unwritten conventions.[111] The Constitution Act, 1867 (known as the British North America Act prior to 1982) affirmed governance based on parliamentary precedent "similar in principle to that of the United Kingdom"[112] and divided powers between the federal and provincial governments; the Statute of Westminster, 1931 granted full autonomy; and the Constitution Act, 1982 added the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which guarantees basic rights and freedoms that usually cannot be overridden by any level of government—though a notwithstanding clause allows the federal parliament and provincial legislatures to override certain sections of the Charter for a period of five years—and added a constitutional amending formula.[111]
Common law prevails everywhere except in Quebec, where civil law predominates.[119] Criminal law is solely a federal responsibility and is uniform throughout Canada.[119] Law enforcement, including criminal courts, is a provincial responsibility, but in rural areas of all provinces except Ontario and Quebec, policing is contracted to the federal Royal Canadian Mounted Police.[120]
Foreign relations and military
Main articles: Foreign relations of Canada and Canadian Forces
Strong attachment to the British Empire and Commonwealth led to major participation in British military efforts in the Second Boer War, the First World War, and the Second World War. Since then, Canada has been an advocate for multilateralism, making efforts to resolve global issues in collaboration with other nations.[124][125] Canada was a founding member of the United Nations in 1945 and of NATO in 1949. During the Cold War, Canada was a major contributor to UN forces in the Korean War and founded the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) in cooperation with the United States to defend against potential aerial attacks from the Soviet Union.[126]
Canada joined the Organization of American States (OAS) in 1990 and hosted the OAS General Assembly in Windsor, Ontario, in June 2000 and the third Summit of the Americas in Quebec City in April 2001.[129] Canada seeks to expand its ties to Pacific Rim economies through membership in the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum (APEC).[130]
In February 2007, Canada, Italy, Britain, Norway, and Russia announced their funding commitments to launch a $1.5 billion project to help develop vaccines they said could save millions of lives in poor nations, and called on others to join them.[134] In August 2007, Canadian sovereignty in Arctic waters was challenged after a Russian underwater expedition to the North Pole; Canada has considered that area to be sovereign territory since 1925.[135] In July 2010 the largest purchase in Canadian military history, totaling C$9 billion for the acquisition of 65 F-35 fighters was announced by the federal government.[136] Canada is one of several nations that assisted in the development of the F-35 and has invested over C$168 million into the program.[137]
Provinces and territories
Main article: Provinces and territories of Canada
See also: Canadian federalism
Canada is a federation composed of ten provinces and three territories. In turn, these may be grouped into regions: Western Canada, Central Canada, Atlantic Canada, and Northern Canada (the latter made up of the three territories: Yukon, Northwest Territories, and Nunavut). Eastern Canada refers to Central Canada and Atlantic Canada together. Provinces have more autonomy than territories. The provinces are responsible for most of Canada's social programs (such as health care, education, and welfare) and together collect more revenue than the federal government, an almost unique structure among federations in the world. Using its spending powers, the federal government can initiate national policies in provincial areas, such as the Canada Health Act; the provinces can opt out of these, but rarely do so in practice. Equalization payments are made by the federal government to ensure that reasonably uniform standards of services and taxation are kept between the richer and poorer provinces.[138]A clickable map of Canada exhibiting its ten provinces and three territories, and their capitals.
Economy
Main article: Economy of Canada
As of October 2009, Canada's national unemployment rate was 8.6%. Provincial unemployment rates vary from a low of 5.8% in Manitoba to a high of 17% in Newfoundland and Labrador.[143] Between October 2008, and October 2010, the Canadian labour market lost 162,000 full-time jobs and a total of 224,000 permanent jobs.[144] Canada's federal debt is estimated to be $566.7 billion for 2010–11, up from $463.7 billion in 2008–09.[145] Canada’s net foreign debt rose by $40.6-billion to $193.8-billion in the first quarter of 2010.[146] The combined federal and provincial government deficit in the 2009–10 fiscal year could reach of $100-billion,[147] and the federal deficit is forecast to be C$49.2 billion in 2010–11.[148]
In the past century, the growth of the manufacturing, mining, and service sectors has transformed the nation from a largely rural economy to a more industrial and urban one. Like other First World nations, the Canadian economy is dominated by the service industry, which employs about three quarters of Canadians.[149] Canada is unusual among developed countries in the importance of its primary sector, in which the logging and petroleum industries are two of the most important.[150]
Canada is one of the few developed nations that are net exporters of energy.[151] Atlantic Canada has vast offshore deposits of natural gas, and Alberta has large oil and gas resources. The immense Athabasca Oil Sands give Canada the world's second-largest oil reserves, behind Saudi Arabia.[152]
Canada is one of the world's largest suppliers of agricultural products; the Canadian Prairies are one of the most important producers of wheat, canola, and other grains.[153] Canada is the largest producer of zinc and uranium, and is a global source of many other natural resources, such as gold, nickel, aluminium, and lead.[151] Many towns in northern Canada, where agriculture is difficult, are sustainable because of nearby mines or sources of timber. Canada also has a sizable manufacturing sector centred in southern Ontario and Quebec, with automobiles and aeronautics representing particularly important industries.[154]
In the 1980s, Prime Minister Brian Mulroney's Progressive Conservatives abolished the NEP and changed the name of FIRA to "Investment Canada" in order to encourage foreign investment.[157] The Canada – United States Free Trade Agreement (FTA) of 1988 eliminated tariffs between the two countries, while the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) expanded the free-trade zone to include Mexico in the 1990s.[153] In the mid-1990s, the Liberal government under Jean Chrétien began to post annual budgetary surpluses and steadily paid down the national debt.[158] The 2008 global financial crisis caused a recession, which could increase the country's unemployment rate to 10%.[159]
Science and technology
Main article: Science and technology in Canada
Canada is an industrial nation with a highly developed science and technology sector. Nearly 1.88% of Canada's GDP is allocated to research & development (R&D).[160] The country has eighteen Nobel laureates in physics, chemistry and medicine.[161] Canada ranks 12 in the world for Internet usage with 28.0 million users, 84.3% of the total population.[162]The Defence Research and Development Canada is an agency of the Department of National Defence ,whose purpose is to respond to the scientific and technological needs of the Canadian Forces. Over the years, DRDC have been responsible for numerous innovations and inventions of practical application both in civilian and military world. It has also contributed in the development of the most advanced Active Electronically Scanned Array in the world as part of an international effort involving Canada, Germany, and the Netherlands.[163]
Demographics
Main article: Demographics of Canada
See also: Ethnic groups in Canada
| Historical populations | ||
|---|---|---|
| Year | Pop. | %± |
| 1851 | 2,415,000 | — |
| 1861 | 3,174,000 | 31.4% |
| 1871 | 3,689,000 | 16.2% |
| 1881 | 4,325,000 | 17.2% |
| 1891 | 4,833,000 | 11.7% |
| 1901 | 5,371,000 | 11.1% |
| 1911 | 7,207,000 | 34.2% |
| 1921 | 8,788,000 | 21.9% |
| 1931 | 10,377,000 | 18.1% |
| 1941 | 11,507,000 | 10.9% |
| 1951 | 14,009,000 | 21.7% |
| 1961 | 18,238,000 | 30.2% |
| 1971 | 21,962,000 | 20.4% |
| 1981 | 24,820,000 | 13.0% |
| 1991 | 28,031,000 | 12.9% |
| 2001 | 31,021,000 | 10.7% |
| 2010 est. | 34,336,000 | 10.7% |
| Source: Statistics Canada[168] | ||
According to the 2006 census, the largest self-reported ethnic origin is Canadian (32%), followed by English (21%), French (15.8%), Scottish (15.1%), Irish (13.9%), German (10.2%), Italian (4.6%), Chinese (4.3%), North American Indian (4.0%), Ukrainian (3.9%), and Dutch (Netherlands) (3.3%).[172] There are 600 recognized First Nations governments or bands encompassing 1,172,790 people.[173]
Canada's Aboriginal population is growing at almost twice the national rate, and 3.8% of Canada's population claimed aboriginal identity in 2006. Another 16.2% of the population belonged to non-aboriginal visible minorities.[174] The largest visible minority groups in Canada are South Asian (4%), Chinese (3.9%) and Black (2.5%).[175] In 1961, less than 2% of Canada's population (about 300,000 people) could be classified as belonging to a visible minority group and less than 1% as aboriginal.[176] In 2006, 51.0% of Vancouver's population and 46.9% of Toronto's population were members of visible minority groups.[177][178] Between 2001 and 2006, the visible minority population rose by 27.2%.[175] According to a 2005 forecast by Statistics Canada, the proportion of Canadians belonging to a visible minority group in Canada could reach as much as 23% by 2017. As of 2007, almost one in five Canadians (19.8%) were foreign-born.[179] Nearly 60% of new immigrants hail from Asia (including the Middle East).[179] In 2009, close to one-third of all new immigrants to Canada came from just three countries – China, Philippines and India.[180] By 2031, one in three Canadians could belong to a visible minority group.[181]
Canada has one of the highest per-capita immigration rates in the world,[183] driven by economic policy and family reunification, and is aiming for between 240,000 and 265,000 new permanent residents in 2011, the same number of immigrants as in recent years.[184] New immigrants settle mostly in major urban areas like Toronto and Vancouver.[185] Canada also accepts large numbers of refugees.[186] The country resettles over one in 10 of the world’s refugees.[187]
In common with many other developed countries, Canada is experiencing a demographic shift towards an older population, with more retirees and fewer people of working age. In 2006, the average age of the population was 39.5 years.[188] The census results also indicate that despite an increase in immigration since 2001 (which gave Canada a higher rate of population growth than in the previous intercensal period), the aging of Canada's population did not slow during the period.
Support for religious pluralism is an important part of Canada's political culture. According to the 2001 census, 77.1% of Canadians identify as being Christians; of this, Catholics make up the largest group (43.6% of Canadians).[182] The largest Protestant denomination is the United Church of Canada (9.5% of Canadians), followed by the Anglicans (6.8%), Baptists (2.4%), Lutherans (2%), and other Christians (4.4%).[182] About 16.5% of Canadians declare no religious affiliation, and the remaining 6.3% are affiliated with non-Christian religions, the largest of which is Islam (2.0%), followed by Judaism (1.1%).[182]
Education
Main article: Education in Canada
Canadian provinces and territories are responsible for education. Each system is similar, while reflecting regional history, culture and geography.[189] The mandatory school age ranges between 5–7 to 16–18 years,[189] contributing to an adult literacy rate of 99%.[82] Post-secondary education is also administered by provincial and territorial governments, which provide most of the funding; the federal government administers additional research grants, student loans, and scholarships. In 2002, 43% of Canadians aged 25 to 64 possessed a post-secondary education; for those aged 25 to 34, the rate of post-secondary education reached 51%.[190]Urbanization
See also: List of Canadian cities
| Largest metropolitan areas in Canada by population (2006 Census) | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name | Province | Pop. | Name | Province | Pop. | ||
| Toronto | Ontario | 5,113,149 | Kitchener–Waterloo | Ontario | 451,235 | ||
| Montreal | Quebec | 3,635,571 | St. Catharines–Niagara | Ontario | 390,317 | ||
| Vancouver | British Columbia | 2,116,581 | Halifax | Nova Scotia | 372,858 | ||
| Ottawa–Gatineau | Ontario–Quebec | 1,130,761 | Oshawa | Ontario | 330,594 | ||
| Calgary | Alberta | 1,079,310 | Victoria | British Columbia | 330,088 | ||
| Edmonton | Alberta | 1,034,945 | Windsor | Ontario | 323,342 | ||
| Quebec City | Quebec | 715,515 | Saskatoon | Saskatchewan | 233,923 | ||
| Winnipeg | Manitoba | 694,898 | Regina | Saskatchewan | 194,971 | ||
| Hamilton | Ontario | 692,911 | Sherbrooke | Quebec | 186,952 | ||
| London | Ontario | 457,720 | St. John's | Newfoundland and Labrador | 181,113 | ||
Language
Main article: Spoken languages of Canada
Canada's two official languages are English and French. Official bilingualism is defined in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, the Official Languages Act, and Official Language Regulations; it is applied by the Commissioner of Official Languages. English and French have equal status in federal courts, Parliament, and in all federal institutions. Citizens have the right, where there is sufficient demand, to receive federal government services in either English or French, and official-language minorities are guaranteed their own schools in all provinces and territories.[191]
The Charter of the French Language makes French the official language in Quebec.[195] Although more than 85% of French-speaking Canadians live in Quebec, there are substantial Francophone populations in Ontario, Alberta, and southern Manitoba; Ontario has the largest French-speaking population outside Quebec.[196] New Brunswick, the only officially bilingual province, has a French-speaking Acadian minority constituting 33% of the population. There are also clusters of Acadians in southwestern Nova Scotia, on Cape Breton Island, and through central and western Prince Edward Island.[197]
Other provinces have no official languages as such, but French is used as a language of instruction, in courts, and for other government services in addition to English. Manitoba, Ontario, and Quebec allow for both English and French to be spoken in the provincial legislatures, and laws are enacted in both languages. In Ontario, French has some legal status but is not fully co-official.[198] There are 11 Aboriginal language groups, made up of more than 65 distinct dialects.[199] Of these, only Cree, Inuktitut and Ojibway have a large enough population of fluent speakers to be considered viable to survive in the long term.[200] Several aboriginal languages have official status in the Northwest Territories.[201] Inuktitut is the majority language in Nunavut, and one of three official languages in the territory.[202]
Over six million people in Canada list a non-official language as their mother tongue. Some of the most common non-official first languages include Chinese (mainly Cantonese; 1,012,065 first-language speakers), Italian (455,040), German (450,570), Punjabi (367,505) and Spanish (345,345).[192]
Culture
Main article: Culture of Canada
Canada has a diverse makeup of nationalities and cultures and constitutional protection for policies that promote multiculturalism rather than a single national myth.[203][204] In Quebec, cultural identity is strong, and many French-speaking commentators speak of a Quebec culture as distinguished from English Canadian culture,[205] however as a whole Canada is a cultural mosaic — collection of several regional, aboriginal, and ethnic subcultures.[206][207] It is often asserted that Canadian Government policies such as publicly-funded health care, higher taxation to distribute wealth, outlawing capital punishment, strong efforts to eliminate poverty, an emphasis on multiculturalism, imposing strict gun control, leniency in regard to drug use and most recently legalizing same-sex marriage are social indicators of how Canada's political and cultural evolution differ from that of the United States.[208]
Many Canadians value multiculturalism and see Canada as being inherently multicultural.[69] However, the country's culture has been heavily influenced by American culture because of its proximity and the high rate of migration between the two countries. The great majority of English-speaking immigrants to Canada between 1755 and 1815 were Americans from the Thirteen Colonies; during and immediately after the American Revolutionary War, 46,000 Americans loyal to the British crown came to Canada.[211] Between 1785 and 1812, more Americans emigrated to Canada in response to promises of land.[212]
American media and entertainment are popular, if not dominant, in English Canada; conversely, many Canadian cultural products and entertainers are successful in the United States and worldwide.[213] Many cultural products are marketed toward a unified "North American" or global market. The creation and preservation of distinctly Canadian culture are supported by federal government programs, laws, and institutions such as the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), the National Film Board of Canada, and the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission.[214]
The Canadian music industry has developed a music infrastructure, that includes church halls, chamber halls, conservatories, academies, performing arts centers, record companies, radio stations, television music video channels.[218] The Canadian music industry has produced internationally renowned composers, musicians and ensembles.[219] Canada's music broadcasting is regulated by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC). The Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences administers Canada's music industry awards, the Juno Awards, which commenced in 1970.[220] The national anthem of Canada O Canada adopted in 1980, was originally commissioned by the Lieutenant Governor of Quebec, the Honourable Théodore Robitaille, for the 1880 St. Jean-Baptiste Day ceremony.[221] Calixa Lavallée wrote the music, which was a setting of a patriotic poem composed by the poet and judge Sir Adolphe-Basile Routhier. The text was originally only in French, before it was translated to English in 1906.[222]
Canada has hosted several high-profile international sporting events, including the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary, and the 2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup. Canada was the host nation for the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver and Whistler, British Columbia.[225]
Canada's National symbols are influenced by natural, historical, and Aboriginal sources. The use of the maple leaf as a Canadian symbol dates to the early 18th century. The maple leaf is depicted on Canada's current and previous flags, on the penny, and on the Coat of Arms.[226] Other prominent symbols include the beaver, Canada Goose, Common Loon, the Crown, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police,[226] and more recently, the totem pole and Inukshuk.[227]
See also
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