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P:CA

Friday, October 4, 2024

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Introduction

Flag and Arms of Canada

Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's second-largest country by total area, with the world's longest coastline. Its border with the United States is the world's longest international land border. The country is characterized by a wide range of both meteorologic and geological regions. It is a sparsely inhabited country of just over 41 million people, the vast majority residing south of the 55th parallel in urban areas. Canada's capital is Ottawa and its three largest metropolitan areas are Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver.

Canada is a parliamentary democracy and a constitutional monarchy in the Westminster tradition. The country's head of government is the prime minister, who holds office by virtue of their ability to command the confidence of the elected House of Commons and is appointed by the governor general, representing the monarch of Canada, the ceremonial head of state. The country is a Commonwealth realm and is officially bilingual (English and French) in the federal jurisdiction. It is very highly ranked in international measurements of government transparency, quality of life, economic competitiveness, innovation, education and gender equality. It is one of the world's most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, the product of large-scale immigration. Canada's long and complex relationship with the United States has had a significant impact on its history, economy, and culture.

A developed country, Canada has a high nominal per capita income globally and its advanced economy ranks among the largest in the world, relying chiefly upon its abundant natural resources and well-developed international trade networks. Recognized as a middle power, Canada's strong support for multilateralism and internationalism has been closely related to its foreign relations policies of peacekeeping and aid for developing countries. Canada is part of multiple international organizations and forums. (Full article...)

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Featured article - show another

Ethical Oil: The Case for Canada's Oil Sands is a book written by Canadian talk-show host and political activist Ezra Levant, which makes a case for exploiting the Athabasca oil sands and its sister projects in Alberta. Published in 2010 by McClelland & Stewart in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, the book became a non-fiction best seller and won the National Business Book Award for 2011. (Full article...)

More featured Canadian content

See also: historic events and sites

Featured biography - show another

Belcourt c. 1860, approx. age 57

Georges-Antoine Belcourt (April 22, 1803 – May 31, 1874), also George Antoine Bellecourt, was a French Canadian Roman Catholic diocesan priest and missionary. Born in Baie-du-Febvre, Quebec, Belcourt was ordained in 1827. He established missions in areas of Quebec and Manitoba. On the frontier, he became involved in a political dispute between the local First Nations population and the Hudson's Bay Company, the monopoly fur trading company. (Full article...)

More featured Canadian biographies

See also: historically significant biographies

Selected panorama - show another

Winnipeg photographed from top of Union Bank Building, 1907

Credit: W. A. Cooper

More Canadian panoramas

National symbol - show another

A serving of poutine from Montreal, Quebec

Poutine (Quebec French: [puˈt͡sɪn] ^ⓘ) is a dish of french fries and cheese curds topped with a brown gravy. It emerged in Quebec in the late 1950s in the Centre-du-Québec region, though its exact origins are uncertain, and there are several competing claims regarding its invention. For many years, it was used by some to mock Quebec society. Poutine later became celebrated as a symbol of Québécois culture and the province of Quebec. It has long been associated with Quebec cuisine, and its rise in prominence has led to its growing popularity throughout the rest of Canada. (Full article...)

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The politics of Canada functions within a framework of parliamentary democracy and a federal system of parliamentary government with strong democratic traditions. Canada is a constitutional monarchy where the monarch is head of state. In practice, executive authority is entrusted to the Cabinet, a committee of ministers of the Crown chaired by the Prime Minister of Canada that act as the executive committee of the King's Privy Council for Canada and are responsible to the democratically elected House of Commons. (Full article...)

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Frozen lake, Toronto, Ontario
Credit: Mortadelo2005

More information

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Current events

October 4, 2024 –: At least one person is critically injured in a building fire at a three-story building in the Old Montreal neighbourhood of Montreal, Quebec, Canada. (CBC News)
September 25, 2024 –: Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau survives a no-confidence vote by a vote of 211–119. (BBC News)
September 24, 2024 –: Scientists from the University of Waterloo announce that they have positively identified bones found on King William Island in Nunavut, Canada, as those of James Fitzjames, captain of HMS Erebus during Franklin's lost expedition. (CBC News)
September 20, 2024 –: Three people are injured in a stabbing attack at a mosque in Châteauguay, Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The perpetrator is arrested and charged. (CTV News)
September 9, 2024 –: Finnish-Canadian sportswear mogul Peter Nygård is sentenced to 11 years in prison for sexual assault. (CBC News)
September 4, 2024 –: In Canada, New Democratic Party leader Jagmeet Singh announces that he has terminated the confidence and supply agreement his party made with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's Liberal government in 2022. (CBC News)

Past Canadian events

Did you know - show another

... that Robert Home was sent by the British Army to Canada in 1864 to report on the defence of the frontier against the eventuality of an American invasion?
... that 1.8 percent of people in Japan have used cannabis, compared to 44.2 percent of Americans and 41.5 percent of Canadians?
... that the first Miss Indigenous Canada contestants were judged on ambassadorship, character, community service, and cultural involvement?
... that Katherine Henderson led efforts to reverse the gender pay gap in Canadian curling?
... that the relative rarity of the radiodont Titanokorys (video featured) in Marble Canyon suggests that the deposits in which it was found may represent the outermost edge of its distribution in life?
... that Canadian paediatrician Gladys Boyd was one of the first physicians to treat diabetic children with insulin?
... that Gurdev Singh Gill was the first Canadian physician of Indian descent?

More Did you know facts

Featured list - show another

The Parliament of Canada is the legislative body of the government of Canada. The Parliament is composed of the House of Commons (lower house), the Senate (upper house), and the sovereign, represented by the governor general. Most major legislation originates from the House, as it is the only body that is directly elected. A new parliament begins after an election of the House of Commons and can sit for up to five years. The number of seats in parliament has varied as new provinces joined the country and as population distribution between the provinces changed; there are currently 338 House MPs and 105 Senators (when there are no vacancies). (Full article...)