Canada is a state in North America that lies between the Atlantic Ocean in the east and the Pacific Ocean in the west and extends northward to the Arctic Ocean. The federal capital is Ottawa, the most populous city is Toronto. The only state borders are those with the United States in the south and northwest, as well as the border across Hans Island to Greenland, created in 2022. Canada is the second largest country in the world in terms of area after Russia, has about 37 million inhabitants and a population density of only four people per square kilometer.
The settlement by the First Nations began at the latest 12,000 years ago, the Inuit followed about 5,000 years ago. At the latest in the 11th century and again from the late 15th century, Europeans reached today’s territory of the state and began colonization around 1600. Initially, the French and English settled. At that time, the name “Canada” spread, originally the name of an Iroquois village. France ceded its colony of New France to Great Britain in 1763. In 1867, three British colonies founded the Canadian Confederation. The Statute of Westminster in 1931 gave the state legislative independence; further constitutional ties with the United Kingdom were lifted in 1982.
Canada is a kingdom within the Commonwealth of Nations. The nominal head of state is Queen Elizabeth II, who is represented by the Governor-General of Canada. Canada is a parliamentary democratic state based on the British Westminster system and a parliamentary monarchy. The official languages are English and French.
Québec’s aspirations for independence, the position of francophone Canadians and the rights of indigenous peoples (in addition to the First Nations and Inuit, the Métis) are important lines of conflict in the state and society. The issues of climate change and environmental protection, immigration policy and dependence on raw materials, as well as the relationship with the United States – of which there is an ambivalent image culturally and historically – characterize public debates.
Geography
Extent and limits
With an area of 9,984,670 km², Canada is the second largest country in the world after Russia and almost as large as Europe. The state occupies about 41% of North America. To the south and northwest, Canada has the world’s longest land border with the United States. Another neighbor is the Danish autonomous region of Greenland, which is separated from the northernmost Canadian island, Ellesmere Island, by the approximately 30-kilometer-wide Kennedy Channel Strait. The tiny Hans Island was disputed between the two states until 2022 and has since had another land border about 1. 2 kilometers long. After all, with the archipelago of Saint-Pierre and Miquelon south of Newfoundland, there is a remnant of the French colony of New France.
The largest north-south extension, from Cape Columbia on Ellesmere Island in Nunavut to Middle Island in Lake Erie, is 4634 kilometers. The largest east-west distance is 5514 kilometers from Cape Spear in Newfoundland to the border of the Yukon Territory with Alaska. The total length of the border between Canada and the USA is 8890 kilometers. With 243,042 kilometers, Canada also has the longest coastline in the world. The largest island is the Baffin Island in the northeast, which with an area of 507,451 km² is also the fifth largest island in the world. The northernmost peninsula is Boothia. 9,093,507 km² of Canada are land and 891,163 km² of water.
Canada has a share of six time zones, see Time Zones in Canada.
Geology and landscape structure
The geological bedrock of the eastern provinces is ancient, eroded mountains alongside even older sections of the Canadian Shield, which are up to 4. 03 billion years old. This includes an extensive region with some of the oldest rocks. Located around Hudson Bay, it occupies almost half of the country’s territory.
Apart from some low mountains in eastern Quebec and Labrador, the landscape is flat and hilly. The water network is dense, the drainage of the region takes place via a large number of rivers. The southern half of the shield is covered with boreal forests, while the northern half, including the islands of the Arctic archipelago, lies beyond the Arctic tree line and is covered with rocks, ice and tundra vegetation. The eastern islands of the archipelago are mountainous, while the western ones are flat.
West and south of the Canadian Shield are the plains around the St. Lawrence River and the Great Lakes. The natural vegetation of the southern part of the prairie provinces of Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Alberta is the prairie grass. The northern part, on the other hand, is forested up to the tundra zone.
The partly volcanically active mountain ranges of the Coast Range and the Rocky Mountains, such as Mount Edziza or the Northern Cordilleran Volcanic Province in northern British Columbia, dominate western Canada. They run in a north-south direction through Yukon and British Columbia, the coastline there is deeply intersected by fjords. Off the coast lies Vancouver Island, a spur of the coastal mountains.
The highest Canadian mountain regions are located in the west with the Rocky Mountains – the highest mountain is the 5959 m high Mount Logan in the Yukon territory – and the chain of coastal mountains on the Pacific Ocean (Coast Mountains and Cascade Chain). Another important system runs along the northeast coast from Ellesmere Island (Arctic Cordillera) to the Torngat Mountains in Québec, as well as in Newfoundland and Labrador. In eastern Canada are the northern Appalachian Mountains and the Laurentian Mountains.
The most important river in Canada is the 3058-kilometer-long St. Lawrence River. It serves as a waterway between the Great Lakes and the Atlantic Ocean. Canada’s second longest river is the Mackenzie River (1903 kilometers) in the Northwest Territories. Other important rivers are the Yukon River and the Columbia River, some of which also run in the United States, the Fraser, the Nelson, the Churchill and the Manicouagan as well as tributaries such as the Saskatchewan River, the Peace River, the Ottawa and the Athabasca.
Canada is also a very lake-rich country. 7. 6% of its land mass is covered with a total of around two million lakes. 563 lakes are larger than 100 km². The largest lakes include the Great Bear Lake (31,153 km²), the Great Slave Lake (27,048 km²), Lake Winnipeg (24,420 km²), Lake Athabasca (7,850 km²) and the Great Lakes (together around 245,000 km²), through which, with the exception of Lake Michigan, runs the border to the southern neighboring country. The largest lake entirely in Canada is the Great Bear Lake in the Northwest Territories.
Climate
Canada includes different climate zones (from polar climate to temperate climate). For the most part, the boreal climate with long, cold winters and short, hot summers dominates the greater part of Canada. In the winter of 2004/2005, temperatures of −58 °C were recorded in Burwash Landing of the Yukon Territory; the lowest temperature ever recorded was recorded at −63 °C in Snag in the same territory on 3 February 1947. The highest temperature was determined in Lytton (British Columbia) with 49. 6 °C on 28 June 2021.
On the west coast, you will find a maritime climate with high rainfall, as the humid air coming from the ocean rains off on the western edge of the coastal mountains. The rainfall record is held by Ucluelet in British Columbia with 489. 2 mm in a single day (October 6, 1967). The seasons are most pronounced in the provinces of Québec and Ontario, with cold winters, mild springs and autumn months, and from July to September often very humid-hot summers with average temperatures around 25 °C.
Most often, the prairie provinces of Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba suffer from drought. One of the driest years was 1936, but the driest was 1961. Regina received 45% less rain than the average. 1988 was so dry that one in ten farmers had to give up. The warmest year in Canada was 1998.
Flora and fauna in Canada
Large natural areas, especially in the tundra and mountain regions, cover 70% of Canada. This corresponds to 20% of the world’s remaining wilderness areas (excluding Antarctica). More than half of the extensive forests are still virgin forest.
The northern tree line runs from the east coast of Labrador over the Ungava Peninsula south along the east shore of Hudson Bay and then continues in a snake-lined northwest to the lower reaches of the Mackenzie and on to Alaska. North of the tree line, there is little or no fertile soil (tundra). The vegetation of the southernmost tundra areas consists of low bush, grasses and reed grass. The northernmost areas are less than a tenth covered with the mosses typical of the polar region.
South of the tree line, from Alaska to Newfoundland, is one of the largest coniferous forest areas in the world. To the east, from the Great Lakes to the coasts, grow mainly mixed forests with sugar maple, beech, birch, pine and hemlock fir. The lowlands in the extreme south are covered with pure deciduous forests. In addition to hickory trees, oaks and elms, chestnuts, maple and walnut trees thrive here.
In the western mountain areas, the spruce, Douglas fir and Lodgepole pine are the most widespread, in plateaus also grow trembling poplar and yellow pine. The vegetation of the precipitation-rich Pacific coast is dominated by forests of dense, tall Douglas spruces, western red cedars and hemlock firs. The prairie land is too dry to produce more than isolated groups of trees. Little remains of the originally wide, hilly grasslands; it has given way to the now famous wheat belt of Canada.
The Arctic waters provide food for whales, walruses, seals and polar bears. In the tundra live musk oxen, caribou, polar wolves, arctic foxes, polar hares and lemmings, occasionally also wolverines; many migratory birds spend the summer here, including alke, ducks, gulls, terns and other seabirds. The forests in the north are an ideal habitat for caribou and moose, lynx, black and brown bears. However, the populations of the huge caribou herds are declining due to industrialization and winter leisure activities, especially due to the disturbances caused by motorized sleds. The importance of hunting is declining.
Five billion birds enter the boreal forests every summer. Therefore, in 1917, Canada, together with the United States, began to establish protected areas for migratory birds. Today there are 92 such areas with a total area of about 110,000 km². The species-rich bird life includes the cardinal, the warbler, the bald eagle and the mocking thrush as well as the rare marmelalk, which can only survive in ancient forests.
Beavers, martens, muskrats, mink are still the basis of the now-insignificant fur trade. Further south you can find Wapitis, while in more densely populated areas there are mainly smaller mammals, such as grey and cheeky squirrels, weasels and otters. The prairie areas are home to smaller animals, such as prairie hares, pocket rats and the pointed-tailed grouse, as well as bison and forkbucks. In the western mountains, there are bighorn sheep and snow goats.
The native flora and fauna is protected in 44 national parks, well over a thousand provincial parks and nature reserves. The largest protected area is the 44,802 km² Wood Buffalo National Park in the northern part of Alberta and the Northwest Territories, where numerous endangered species are represented. Remarkable is the largest population of free-living bison in the world with about 6000 animals. In many lake areas, humans need strict precautions against insect bites, especially in summer, as mosquitoes and mosquitoes live in very high density.
Agglomerations
Of the more than 38 million inhabitants, more than half of the population lives in the 30 largest cities. Based on the census metropolitan areas, this figure rises to over 70%. Toronto is the most important production center and with 5,928,040 inhabitants (as of 2016) the largest metropolitan area. The commercial metropolis of Montreal had 4,098,927 inhabitants and Vancouver had 2,463,431 inhabitants. Other metropolitan areas include Ottawa-Gatineau (1,323,783), Calgary (1,392,609), Edmonton (1,321,426), Quebec (800,296), Winnipeg (778,489) and Hamilton (747,545).
Origin of the name
The name Canada is most likely derived from the word Kanata, which in the language of the St. Lawrence Iroquois meant “village” or better “settlement”. In 1535, residents of the region around today’s Québec city gave the French explorer Jacques Cartier directions to the village of Stadacona. Cartier then used the name Canada not only for this village, but for the whole area, which was ruled by the chief Donnacona living in Stadacona.
From 1545, the name Canada for this region was common on maps and in books. Cartier also named the St. Lawrence River Rivière de Canada, a name that was in use until the early 17th century. Researchers and fur traders moved west and south, causing the area known as “Canada” to grow. In the early 18th century, the name was used for the entire present-day Midwest to Louisiana. The British colony of Québec, which had been British since 1763, was divided into Upper Canada and Lower Canada in 1791, which roughly corresponded to the later provinces of Ontario and Québec. They were reunited in 1841 to form the new province of Canada. In 1867, the newly formed states of the colonies in British North America were given the name “Canada” and the formal title Dominion. Until the 1950s, the official name Dominion of Canada was common.
With increasing political autonomy vis-à-vis Britain, the government increasingly used the term Canada in legally binding documents and treaties. The Canada Act 1982 refers only to Canada, now the only official (bilingual) designation.
History
Prehistory and Early History
Native Americans (called First Nations in Canada) settled North America at least 12,000 years ago, marking the beginning of the Paleoindian period. About 5000 years ago, the Inuit followed. In the Bluefish Caves in northern Yukon, the oldest human traces in Canada were found; In the Charlie Lake Cave there were tools from the time from about 10,500 BC. From the period from about 9000 BC come finds at Banff and in Saskatchewan, but also already in Québec.
From about 8000 BC the archaic phase followed. Groups from the west reached southern Ontario around 7500 BC. Spear slingshots were found there. Settlements focused in the east were the lower St. Lawrence River and the Great Lakes as well as the coast of Labrador (L’Anse Amour Site) on which the first major tombs were built in the 6th millennium, later Burial Mounds.
On the Great Plains, new weapon technologies and extensive trade emerged, for example with chalcedony from Oregon and obsidian from Wyoming. In some areas, horses were still hunted around 8000 BC; they disappeared, as did the megafauna. Only later did the huge cultural area recognizably divide into two large areas, the Early Shield and the Early Plains culture, whereby copper processing can already be shown around 4800 BC.
In the West, the traces date back to before 8000 BC, often without any discernible cultural rupture. Thus, the culture of the Haida on Haida Gwaiiseit exists over 9500 years. The trade in obsidian from Mount Edziza dates back over 10,000 years.
Before 2500 BC, there were settlements in the west, as well as signs of social differentiation. House associations existed, which came together seasonally for hunting in large groups. Villages can also be found in the Plains.
The Cree, Ojibwa, Algonquian, Innu and Beothuk, which can be grasped in the early European sources, probably go back to groups of the Shield culture. The Plains cultures were characterized by bison, dogs were used as carrying and draught animals, the tipi prevailed as well as the production of pemmikan.
The most important cultural change in plateau culture in the western interior is the transition from non-sedentary to semi-sedentary with winter villages and summer hiking cycles around 2000 BC. A similar development used to take place on the coast, whose cultures can be related to the coastal Salish. Towards the end of the epoch, plank houses can be detected for the first time. Some Salish were already farmers before 1600 BC – as we know from the Katzie. The Nuu-chah-nulth on Vancouver Island developed ocean-going canoes with which they were (the only ones) to go whaling.
The production of clay vessels reached the area of today’s Canada probably from South America, bow and arrow came around 3000 BC from Asia and were probably first used by Paleo-Eskimos. It reached the east coast, but did not come to the west until about three millennia later.
With the ceramic vessels from about 500 BC, the archaic phase ended on the east coast, which was replaced by the Woodland Periods. Some villages, mostly consisting of longhouses, were probably already inhabited all year round. The Early Woodland period on the Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence River (about 1000 BC to 500 AD) probably goes back to the Iroquois, but also some of the Algonquian groups.
As far as central Labrador, the Canadian shield shows the influences of the Adena culture. Their typical mounds also appear in Western Shield culture, such as in Southern Ontario. Probably, as a result of the domestication of wild rice, there was a prominent layer of landowners (Psinomani culture). Southern Ontario was involved in the long-distance trade relations of the Hopewell culture. Copper was spread throughout eastern North America.
The late Plains culture lived to a large extent on bison. Long-distance trade was widespread, reaching westward to the Pacific. In the north, smaller nomadic groups prevailed, while in the south a cycle of seasonal migrations prevailed, centered on fixed villages.
The spawning migrations of salmon provided food for the late plateau culture, similar to the Pacific coast. From 2500 BC, the so-called Pit House can be found, which was partially dug into the earth and allowed better storage.
The coastal culture became stricter between 500 BC and 500 AD as a rank society from south to north. A layer of leading families dominated trade and access to resources and had political and spiritual power. Here, too, burial mounds appear for the first time. In some regions, cairns predominated, such as around Victoria. The villages became more numerous and many times larger, soon more strongly fortified. The culture was characterized by plank houses, often monumental carvings (totem poles), complex ceremonies and clan structures. Nowhere was the population density as high as on the West Coast.
In contrast, climatic conditions and strong volcanic activity in the northwest did not allow permanent settlement. The Athabasks are associated with sites in the catchment area of the Mackenzie River from 1000 BC to about 700 AD.
Around 2500 BC, part of the Paleo-Eskimos migrated from Alaska to Greenland; the pre-Dorset culture developed. Also, around 500 BC to 1000 AD, the “Dorset culture” (named after Cape Dorset on an island off Baffin Island) followed. Around 2000 BC to 1000 AD, the Neo-Eskimo culture existed. Around 1000, a new migration from Alaska to Greenland began. From the mixing of cultures probably emerged the Thule culture, which existed until about 1800. Their relatives are the ancestors of today’s Inuit.
Colonization
European settlers reached North America no later than the year 1000, when Vikings lived for a short time in L’Anse aux Meadows at the northernmost end of Newfoundland. Giovanni Caboto, an Italian navigator in English service, is considered the “discoverer” of North America. He landed in Newfoundland on June 24, 1497, and took possession of the land for England. Basque whalers and fishermen regularly came to the coast of Labrador from about 1525 and exploited the resources in the region between the Newfoundland Bank and Tadoussac for a century. An expedition led by Jacques Cartier explored the area around the Gulf of St. Lawrence and the St. Lawrence River in 1534/35 and declared it French property.
Samuel de Champlain founded the first permanent settlements in New France in 1605 with Port Royal (now Annapolis Royal) and in 1608 with Québec. The French colonists divided into two main groups: the Canadiens settled the valley of the St. Lawrence River, the Acadians (Acadiens) the present-day maritime provinces. French fur traders and Catholic missionaries explored the Great Lakes, Hudson Bay and the Mississippi River as far as Louisiana. The English founded settlements on Newfoundland from 1610 and settled the Thirteen Colonies further south. Cupids Plantation is the second oldest Anglo-American settlement in North America and was more successful than Jamestown in Virginia.
Between 1689 and 1763, there were four armed conflicts in North America between the English (or British) and the French, each part of wars of succession in Europe. King William’s War (1689–1697) brought no territorial changes, but after the end of Queen Anne’s War (1702–1713), Britain came into possession of Acadia, Newfoundland and the Hudson Bay region through the Treaty of Utrecht. The British conquered the French fortress of Louisbourg on Cape Breton Island at King George’s War in 1745, but returned it in 1748 in accordance with the Treaty of Aachen. The Seven Years’ War (in North America from 1754 to 1760 or 1763) finally brought the decision: With the Peace of Paris in 1763, France had to cede almost all its possessions in North America.
British rule
With the Royal Proclamation of 1763, the British province of Québec emerged from the former New France, in the same year Cape Breton Island became the colony of Nova Scotia. The rights of French Canadians were also restricted. In 1769, another colony called St. John’s Island (since 1798 Prince Edward Island) was established.
To avert conflict in Quebec, the British Parliament passed the Quebec Act in 1774. The area of Québec was expanded to the Great Lakes and the Ohio Valley. For the French-speaking majority of the population, French civil law applied and French was recognized as a language in the public; through the assurance of the free exercise of religion, the Roman Catholic Church could remain in the colony.
However, the law angered the inhabitants of the Thirteen Colonies, who saw it as an inadmissible restriction on their westward expansion. The Quebec Act was one of those “intolerable laws” that eventually led to the Declaration of Independence of the United States and the American Revolutionary War. The Treaty of Paris recognized American independence, and the areas south of the Great Lakes fell to the United States.
About 50,000 Loyalists fled to what is now Canada, in addition to Indian tribes allied with the British, such as the Mohawk. New Brunswick was separated from Nova Scotia in 1784 to better organize the loyalist settlement on the Atlantic coast. To accommodate the loyalists who had fled to Quebec, the British Parliament passed the Constitutional Act of 1791, which divided the province of Québec into French-speaking Lower Canada and English-speaking Upper Canada and granted both colonies an elected parliament.
Tensions between the United States and Britain erupted during the Anglo-American War (June 1812 to February 1815). The Peace of Ghent largely restored the status quo ante bellum. In Canada, the war is still regarded today as a successful defense against American invasion attempts. The British and French populations developed a Canadian national feeling by fighting a common enemy; loyalty to the British Crown was strengthened.
The desire for self-government and resistance to the economic and political domination of a small elite led to the rebellions of 1837, which were quickly crushed. Lord Durham then recommended in his investigative report the establishment of a self-responsible government and the gradual assimilation of French Canadians into British culture. The Act of Union 1840 merged Lower and Upper Canada into the Province of Canada and made English the sole official language. By 1849, the other colonies in British North America also received their own government.
Two trading companies, the Hudson’s Bay Company (HBC) and the North West Company (NWC), controlled trade in the vast areas of the Prairies and subarctic populated by only a few indigenous people. In 1670, the HBC had received Rupert’s land as a leasehold and had a monopoly on furs. But since the NWC also tried to gain a foothold there, there were repeated armed conflicts.
After the Pemmikan War in the Red River Colony (now Manitoba), the NWC was forcibly liquidated in 1821, and the HBC extended its monopoly to almost the entire northwest of the continent. In 1846, the United States and Great Britain concluded the Oregon Compromise, which established the 49th parallel west of the Great Lakes as the common border. This was followed by the founding of the colonies of Vancouver Island (1849) and British Columbia (1858) on the Pacific coast.
Canadian Confederation
During the Civil War in the United States, leaders recognized the need to counter possible American expansionist efforts with a strong federal state and discussed the creation of a Canadian Confederation in three constitutional conferences. This resulted in the Constitutional Act of 1867, which came into force on July 1, 1867, creating the Dominion Canada, which had a certain autonomy from the colonial power Great Britain. The province of Canada was divided into Ontario and Québec, with New Brunswick and Nova Scotia.
The new state bought the Northwest Territory and Rupert’s Land from the Hudson’s Bay Company in 1869 and united them into the Northwest Territories. After the suppression of the Red River Rebellion of the Métis, the Manitoba Act 1870 created the province of Manitoba in the troubled area. British Columbia and Vancouver Island (which had united in 1866) joined the Confederacy in 1871, followed two years later by Prince Edward Island.
To open up the West for immigrant settlement, the government participated in the financing of transcontinental railroads and established the North-West Mounted Police (now the Royal Canadian Mounted Police) to enforce state control over the prairies and subarctic regions. The Northwest Rebellion and the subsequent execution of Métis leader Louis Riel in 1885 led to a deep rift between the two language groups.
As a direct result of the Klondike Gold Rush, the Yukon Territory was created in 1898. Due to the increasing settlement of the prairie, the provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan emerged from the southern part of the Northwest Territories in 1905. Between 1871 and 1921, Canada concluded eleven treaties with the Indians, which assigned them reservations for small compensation, but guaranteed them their usual way of life. Until the 1960s, attempts were made to forcibly assimilate them and prohibited students from using their native languages. The Indigenous people were not allowed to participate in parliamentary elections at the national level until 1960.
On the side of Great Britain, Canada took part in the First World War from 1914 and sent volunteers to the Western Front. When the government tried to introduce compulsory military service against the resistance of the French-speaking population, the conscription crisis of 1917 ensued.
Autonomy and separatism
In the negotiations for the Treaty of Versailles, Canada acted as an independent state. It joined the League of Nations in 1919 independently of Great Britain. The Westminster Statute of 1931 guaranteed legislative independence; some constitutional obligations remained. The country was particularly hard hit by the global economic crisis; in response, a well-developed welfare state developed in the following decades.
Canada declared war on the German Reich in 1939. Despite another conscription crisis, Canadian troops played an important role during World War II, particularly in the Battle of the Atlantic, Operation Jubilee, the invasion of Italy, Operation Overlord (landing at Juno Beach), and the Battle of the Scheldt Estuary. Mackenzie King’s government did not dare to send soldiers abroad against their will. Thus, men in the scope of five divisions remained in Canada, where they guarded German prisoners of war. Among the Canadian volunteers who fought against Germany in Europe, this caused great displeasure. In 1945, Canadian soldiers were instrumental in the battles for the Netherlands.
The British colony of Newfoundland, which had not joined the state in 1867 and had been an independent Dominion from 1907 to 1934, joined the Canadian Confederation in 1949 as the last province after a long political and economic crisis. In 1965, the new maple leaf flag was introduced and since the entry into force of the Official Languages Act in 1969, Canada has officially been a bilingual state. Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau sought full formal independence from Britain; this was achieved with the Constitutional Act of 1982 and the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
During the 1960s, Quebec experienced a profound social and economic upheaval known as the “Silent Revolution. ” Quebec nationalists began to demand more autonomy or even independence. After the Front de libération du Québec carried out kidnappings and attacks, a state of emergency was briefly declared during the October crisis of 1970. Moderate nationalists formed the provincial government from 1976, and in 1980 the first independence referendum was rejected with 59. 6% of the vote. Another hallmark of this upheaval is the replacement of the Francophone population from the Catholic Church.
The Constitution Act / Loi Constitutionelle of April 17, 1982, with which constitutional amendments no longer have to be approved by the British Parliament, is considered the date of Canada’s formal independence (full sovereignty). In 1989, efforts by the federal government to recognize Québec as a “different society” with the Meech Lake Accord failed. The provincial government led by the separatist Parti Québécois launched the second independence referendum in 1995, which narrowly failed with 49. 4% approval. In 1999, Nunavut was created, the first Canadian territory with a majority indigenous population.
Canadian population
The last census of 2021 showed a population of 37.0 million. This results in a population density of about 4.2 inhabitants/km², one of the lowest in the world. The population is concentrated to a large extent on a strip up to 350 km wide along the border with the USA. Large parts of the north are almost uninhabited. Nearly four-fifths of Canadians live in cities. The largest cities are Toronto, Montreal, Calgary, Ottawa, Edmonton and Vancouver.
The majority of the population lives in the provinces of Ontario (14. 2 million) and Québec (8. 5 million) along the St. Lawrence River, i. e. around Toronto, Montreal, Québec, Ottawa, London and Hamilton (Québec-Windsor Corridor). 5.0 million people live in British Columbia, 4 3 million in Alberta, 1. 3 million in Manitoba and another 1.1 million in Saskatchewan. The four Atlantic provinces all have less than 1 million inhabitants. The least populous territories in Canada are Nunavut, the Yukon Territory and the Northwest Territories, which have between around 37,000 and 41,000 inhabitants.
Demographic structure and development
Canada is a country of immigration. In 2020, around 21% of the population was born abroad. Large immigrant groups have historically come from the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, Ireland, the Netherlands, Hungary, Ukraine, Poland, Croatia and the United States. Nowadays, the importance of immigrants from East Asia, especially from the People’s Republic of China, from South Asia (India and Pakistan), from the Philippines and from the Caribbean (especially Jamaica and Haiti) is growing.
Of the approximately six million German emigrants from 1820 to 1914, only 1. 3% went to Canada, of the 605,000 of the years 1919 to 1933, 5% of the 1. 2 million of the years 1950 to 1969 already 25% went there. In 2006, around 3. 2 million Canadians claimed to be of German origin. This makes the German-Canadians the third largest population group in the country after the inhabitants with roots in Great Britain/Ireland and those with roots in today’s France.
Canada’s population growth from 2016 to 2021 was the highest among the G7 countries at 5. 2%.
The life expectancy of a newborn Canadian in 2020 was 82. 5 years (women: 84. 5, men: 80. 6). 26% of Canadians are 19 years of age or younger, 13% are 65 years of age or older. The median age of the population in 2020 was 41. 1 years. In 2006, 4635 Canadians were over 100 years old.
Indigenous ethnic groups
In Canada, three groups of indigenous or autochthonous peoples are distinguished: the First Nations (also called “Indians”), the Inuit and the Métis, descendants of Europeans who had entered into a union with Native American women. They have developed their own language, michif. Numerous other Canadians have Native American ancestry. Their marriages were very often concluded according to the “custom of the country“, i. e. without church or state involvement – as was customary in marriages between men of the Hudson’s Bay Company and Indian women. Marriages of this kind were not fully valid until 1867.
At the 2006 census, 1,172,790 Canadians claimed to be members of an indigenous group. This corresponded to 3. 8% of the population, although this proportion varies greatly from region to region. The Indigenous people were divided into the following groups:
- 698,025 were members of the First Nations,
- 389,785 Métis,
- 50,485 Inuit,
- 6,665 indigenous people of mixed origin (as of 2001),
- 23,415 indigenous people without a clear ethnic assignment (as of 2001).
On average, the indigenous people are considerably younger than the rest of the population. For example, 50% of the Native American population is under 23. 5 years of age, compared to a median of 39. 5 years in the rest of Canada.
In 2001, 185,960 Canadians spoke one of the 50 indigenous languages, including First Nations languages and Inuktitut, the Inuit language.
The interests of the indigenous population are represented by the state by the Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development/Affaires Indiennes et du Nord, which is based on the Indian Law of 1876. However, they themselves are more likely to see themselves represented in their own organizations, such as the Assembly of First Nations or other organizations. They refer to the treaties concluded with Canada and Great Britain, such as the Numbered Treaties, to universal human rights and to decisions of the higher courts in Great Britain and Canada. The Indians have only had the full right to vote since 1960. Part of the special habitat of the Inuit was combined in 1999 into a separate territory called Nunavut.
Since 1996, June 21 has been celebrated as “National Aboriginal Day” or “Journée nationale des Autochtones”. At the same time, there are still disputes over land rights and the extraction of mineral resources, as the Grassy Narrows blockade, the dispute over the primeval forests on the Clayoquot Soundan on the west coast or the resistance of the Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug in Ontario show.
Languages
Canada’s official languages are English and French, with 20. 1% of the population stating neither as their mother tongue. The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, the Official Languages Act and the Official Language Regulations enshrine official bilingualism, which is enforced by the Official Language Commissariat. In the federal courts, in parliament and in all federal institutions, English and French have equal rights.
Citizens have the right to provide federal services in English or French. In all provinces and territories, linguistic minorities are guaranteed schooling in their own schools – a right that has long been controversial. The causes go back to the French and British colonization phase of North America and were at the same time related to cultural and religious contrasts.
English and French are the mother tongues of 56.9% and 21.3% of the population respectively, with 68.3% and 22.3% respectively being the most widely spoken languages at home (2006). 98.5% of all inhabitants speak English or French (67. 5% speak English only, 13.3% speak French only and 17.7% both).
While 85% of all French-speaking Canadians live in Québec, there are significant francophone populations in Ontario and Alberta, southern Manitoba, northern and southeastern New Brunswick (Acadians; 35% of the province’s population), as well as southwestern Nova Scotia and Cape Breton Island. Ontario has the largest French-speaking population outside of Quebec. The French Language Charter declares French the sole official language in Quebec, and New Brunswick is the only province whose constitution guarantees bilingualism.
Other provinces have not defined an official language as such; however, French is used in addition to English in schools, courts and for government services. Manitoba, Ontario, and Québec allow English and French to be spoken equally in provincial parliaments, and laws are enacted in both languages. In Ontario, some municipalities know French as a second official language. The choice of the capital of the then British North America by Queen Victoria (1857) probably fell on Ottawa because it was located on the border between Francophone and Anglophone territories.
All regions have non-English or French-speaking minorities, mainly descendants of the indigenous people. Official status is held by several First Nations languages in the Northwest Territories. In the mainly Inuit-populated territory of Nunavut, Inuktitut is the majority language and one of three official languages. More than 6. 1 million inhabitants do not refer to English or French as their first language. The most widely spoken are Chinese (1.012 million speakers), Italian (about 455,000), German (about 450,000), Punjabi (about 367,000) and Spanish (about 345,000).
Canadian Gaelic, still the third most common language in Canada around the middle of the 19th century, is now almost extinct with about 500 to 1000 mainly older speakers, but there are contacts with Scottish universities that offer language courses to Canadians. Several schools teach the language, as do three universities and the Atlantic Gaelic Academy, founded in 2006. It was not until 1973 that German schools in Ontario were again supported by the state. Between 1977 and 1990, schools received funding from the government’s multiculturalism program.
Canadian religion
With colonization, mainly French Catholics and Anglican Englishmen came to Canada. In addition, Great Britain encouraged the immigration of Protestant groups from the Middle Rhine and Württemberg, to a lesser extent also from Switzerland, France and the Netherlands, so that the south of Nova Scotia is still Protestant today.
But in 1774, with the Quebec Act, the colonial power abandoned any attempt to persuade Catholics to convert. After the independence of the United States, numerous Protestant loyalists came to present-day Ontario and formed the majority there. In later waves of immigration, Catholic Irish and Italians, but also Ukrainian Duchoborzen were added. Immigration from Scotland, in turn, eliminated the primacy of the Anglican Church in the East by numerous Presbyterians. In Toronto, the Methodists prevailed.
In opposition to the Catholics, who were more inclined to ultramontanism (les bleus), but also to the dominant Anglicans supported by the Orange Order, anti-clerical groups (especially les rouges) were formed. With the Lord’s Day Act of 1906, a far-reaching ban on work on Sundays was enforced, which claimed validity until the 1960s and which the Supreme Court only finally abolished in 1985.
A similar reduction in the importance of the religious in everyday life took place in Québec. Nevertheless, there are significant groups, especially in southern Manitoba and Ontario, Alberta, and inland British Columbia. These include the Mennonites in southern Manitoba, the Ukrainian Orthodox and Catholics in Manitoba and Saskatchewan, and the Mormons are a focal point in Alberta. In addition, there are Jehovah’s Witnesses and numerous other groups.
The Catholic missionaries were more successful among the natives than the Protestant ones, and so the Catholic part predominates there. In addition, there are indigenous faith organizations, such as the Shaker Church.
With the recent waves of immigration, non-Christian religious communities such as Hindus, Muslims, Jews, Sikhs and Buddhists have strengthened. They are concentrated in major cities, especially in the greater Toronto area. The oldest synagogue, Congregation Emanu-El, was built in Victoria in 1863, the first mosque in 1938 with the Al Rashid Mosque in Edmonton.
About 67.3% of the Canadian population belonged to a Christian denomination in 2011 (39.0% Catholic, about 24.1% Protestant). The two largest Protestant denominations are the United Church of Canada with 6.1% and the Anglican Church of Canada with 6.9%, plus 1.9% Baptists, 1.4% Lutherans, about 1.7% Orthodox and about 3.0% other Christian denominations. Muslims make up about 3.2% of the population, more than half of whom live in Ontario. About 1. 0% are Jews, of whom almost 60% live in Ontario, and about 1.1% are Buddhists, 1.5% Hindus and 1.4% Sikhs. About 23.9% said they did not belong to any religious community.
The censuses of 2011, 2001 and 1991 showed: In the percentage “change 1991–2011” (right column), it should be noted that the total population of the state has increased significantly in these 20 years; the “growth” among Catholics, for example, is thus considerably relativized.
| 2011 | 2001 | 1991 | ||||
| Number | % | Number | % | Number | % | |
| Christians | 22. 102. 700 | 67 | 22. 851. 825 | 77 | 22. 503. 360 | 83 |
| Roman Catholic | 12. 810. 705 | 39,0 | 12. 793. 125 | 43,2 | 12. 203. 625 | 45,2 |
| Protestant | 7. 910. 000 | 24,1 | 8. 654. 845 | 29,2 | 9. 427. 675 | 34,9 |
| United Church of Canada | 2. 007. 610 | 6,1 | 2. 839. 125 | 9,6 | 3. 093. 120 | 11,5 |
| Anglican Church of Canada | 1. 631. 845 | 5,0 | 2. 035. 495 | 6,9 | 2. 188. 110 | 8,1 |
| other Christians | 960. 000 | 3,0 | 780. 450 | 2,6 | 353. 040 | 1,3 |
| Baptist | 635. 840 | 1,9 | 729. 475 | 2,5 | 663. 360 | 2,5 |
| Lutheran | 478. 185 | 1,4 | 606. 590 | 2,0 | 636. 205 | 2,4 |
| other Protestants | 2. 000. 000 | 6,0 | 549. 205 | 1,9 | ||
| Presbyterian | 472. 385 | 1,4 | 409. 830 | 1,4 | 636. 295 | 2,4 |
| Orthodox | 550. 690 | 1,7 | 479. 620 | 1,6 | 387. 395 | 1,4 |
| other | 2. 703. 200 | 8,1 | 1. 887. 115 | 6,4 | 1. 093. 690 | 4,1 |
| Muslims | 1. 053. 945 | 3,2 | 579. 640 | 2,0 | 253. 265 | 0,9 |
| Jews | 329. 495 | 1,0 | 329. 995 | 1,1 | 318. 185 | 1,2 |
| Buddhists | 366. 830 | 1,1 | 300. 345 | 1,0 | 163. 415 | 0,6 |
| Hindus | 497. 960 | 1,5 | 297. 200 | 1,0 | 157. 015 | 0,6 |
| Sikh | 454. 965 | 1,4 | 278. 415 | 0,9 | 147. 440 | 0,5 |
| without confession | 7. 850. 605 | 23,9 | 4. 900. 090 | 16,5 | 3. 333. 245 | 12,3 |
Non-Christian groups are growing particularly fast due to immigration, but also numerous Christian groups that stand outside the large churches. According to a 2007 survey, Muslims in Canada felt much more integrated than in European countries. Overall, As part of its integration policy, Canadian policy focuses more on the preservation and use of ethnic and religious peculiarities than on adaptation. Since the 1960s, a change in school policy began, which until then had been based on segregation. With the Canadian Multiculturalism Act of 1988, this was formally ended.
Immigration policy/system
Canada has, measured by population, one of the highest immigration rates among the territorial states in the world. Immigration is managed by defined objectives set out in a program. For example, there are programs for refugees, immigration into the labor market, start-ups and family reunification. The immigration criteria are publicly available and can be checked before the application is submitted.
For people with professions that are in demand in Canada, for example, there is the Skilled Worker Program. Depending on the situation of the labor market, a minimum number of points is set that a person interested in immigration must achieve. The personal score consists of points for the current level of education and professional experience, points for the existing language skills in English and French, as well as for age, relatives and previous stays in Canada. A binding job offer from a Canadian employer significantly increases the score again.
The Immigration Program was amended on 1 July 2011 so that without an existing job offer, only persons who can demonstrate experience in one of 29 defined occupations will be admitted to the Skilled Worker Programme. In addition, an interested party in the Skilled Worker program must prove that he can provide for himself financially for a certain period of time. The required sum currently (September 2011) amounts to CAD 11,115 for a single person and CAD 20,654 for a family of four. In addition, police clearance certificates from all countries in which the candidate has lived for six months or more after his or her 18th birthday are required.
For professionals who want to immigrate to Canada, particular attention is paid to good language skills, a job offer and a low age. Immigration takes place in two stages. First, a permanent residence and work permit is issued. After three years as a “permanent resident” and corresponding residence in the country, the naturalization application can be submitted. Immigrants who have not yet been naturalized have a residence obligation. This means that you must provide proof for the specified time in Canada, or be married to someone who has Canadian citizenship. In the event of violations, the “permanent resident” status can be revoked and the immigrant can be sent back to his country of origin.
In addition to the program for qualified immigrants, there is a separate regulation for guest workers who do not get any prospects for naturalization. Since about 2006, the number of temporary workers admitted to Canada has exceeded that of immigrants. The guest workers receive work permits, which are usually valid for a few months and rarely exceed the duration of a year. They only apply to the employer who brings the workers into the country, a dismissal is associated with the loss of the residence permit. While the program for guest workers was originally introduced for caregivers in households, nannies and workers in agriculture, it is now used for all activities in the low-wage sector.
In addition to programs on immigration into the labor market, Canada also has humanitarian reception programs for the resettlement of people who have been recognized as refugees by the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR). Even before entering the country, these so-called contingent refugees are subjected to a health and safety check, including an iris scan for unambiguous identification. Unaccompanied minors are not given places, but families and women are preferred.
In 2018, Canada was the country with the world’s largest reception program for resettlement refugees. Each year, the Canadian government sets precise quotas for the resettlement programs. Around a third of the more than 30,000 places in 2019 were financed by the state, the remaining contingent refugees were fully or partially supported by organizations and private individuals.
More than 90 percent of migrant workers speak English, French or both before entering the country. Among the contingent refugees and their families, 54 percent are those to whom one of the three things applies. By far the largest of the 341,180 people who received permanent residency in Canada in 2019 were skilled workers. in addition to good language skills, a job commitment and a low age.
People who enter Canada across the BORDER and apply for asylum and do not have any qualifications are usually deported to the USA. However, if an asylum seeker is recognized, he or she generally receives a permanent residence permit – but is not assigned an apartment by the state. If necessary, the accommodation takes place in a prison. Refugees make up 14 percent of all immigrants in Canada.
| Rank | State | Number of migrants |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | People’s Republic of China | 711. 000 |
| 2 | India | 621. 000 |
| 3 | United Kingdom | 607. 000 |
| 4 | Philippines | 545. 000 |
| 5 | United States | 343. 000 |
| 6 | Italy | 282. 000 |
| 7 | Hong Kong | 227. 000 |
| 8 | Germany | 186. 000 |
| 9 | Viet Nam | 182. 000 |
| 10 | Pakistan | 175. 000 |
Politics
Constitution and Law in Canada
Canada is formally a constitutional monarchy within the Commonwealth of Nations with Queen Elizabeth II as head of state. She holds the title of “Queen of Canada” and is represented by the Governor-General. The state is also a representative parliamentary democracy organized in the form of a federal state. The Constitution of Canada consists of written sources of law and unwritten customary law.
The Constitutional Act of 1867 contains the law of state organization, established a parliamentary system of government based on the Westminster system of the United Kingdom, and divided power between the confederation and the provinces. The Westminster Statute of 1931 granted full legislative autonomy, and the Constitutional Act of 1982 broke the last constitutional ties to the British parent state. The latter contains a catalog of fundamental rights (the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms) as well as provisions on the procedure for constitutional amendments. Along with its status as a monarchy, there are a number of titles and orders awarded in Canada.
Executive
Theoretically, the executive power of the state lies with the monarch, but in practice it is exercised by the Cabinet (formally a committee of the Canadian Privy Council) and by the representative of the monarch, the Governor-General.
The monarch and his representatives are apolitical and perform predominantly ceremonial functions to guarantee the stability of the government. In accordance with customary law, they hand over all political business to their ministers in the cabinet, who in turn are responsible to the elected House of Commons. The executive power of the state thus lies de facto with the cabinet, but the monarch and governor-general can exercise their sovereign rights in the event of an extraordinary constitutional crisis.
The Prime Minister is usually the leader of the party that holds the most seats in the House of Commons and has the confidence of the majority of MPs. He is appointed by the Governor-General and heads the cabinet as head of government. Since he has extensive powers, he is considered the most powerful person in the state.
It appoints the other cabinet members, senators, supreme court judges, chairmen of state-owned enterprises and authorities, and may propose the Governor-General and the Lieutenant Governors of the provinces. The Federal Government is responsible, among other things, for foreign policy, defense, trade, money, transport and post as well as the supervision of the administration of the three federally dependent territories. Currently, the leader of the Liberal Party, Justin Trudeau, has been Prime Minister since November 4, 2015, and heads the 29th Canadian Cabinet.
From October 2, 2017, to January 21, 2021, Julie Payette was the 29th Governor General of Canada. She resigned as Governor-General after completing an independent investigation into the working environment she had created. During the period leading up to the appointment of a successor, the duties were performed by Richard Wagner, Chairman of the Supreme Court of Canada, as “Administrator of the Government of Canada”. On July 6, 2021, the appointment of Mary Simon as the new Governor-General of Canada was announced. Simon is the first Inuk to be appointed as the Queen’s representative.
Legislature
The Canadian federal parliament consists of the monarch and two chambers, the democratically elected House of Commons. Chambre des communes) and the appointed Senate of Canada (Sénat de Canada).
Each member of the House of Commons is elected by relative majority voting in one of 338 constituencies. General elections are called by the Governor-General if the Prime Minister so proposes or if the government loses a vote of no confidence. According to a law passed in 2006, the duration of the legislative period is four years. Previously, the Prime Minister could set the election date at will, but a new election had to take place after five years at the latest. The government currently consists of the Liberal Party, while the Conservative Party plays the role of “official opposition”. Other parties represented in Parliament are referred to as ‘third parties’. These are the New Democratic Party, the Bloc Québécois and the Green Party.
In the Senate of Canada, there are 105 deputies appointed by the Governor-General on the recommendation of the Prime Minister. The seats are divided by region, although these have not been adjusted since 1867 and therefore there are great disproportionalities in representation in relation to the number of inhabitants. Senators do not have a fixed term of office, but can hold office until the age of 75. The influence of the Senate is significantly less than that of the House of Commons.
Development of women’s suffrage in Canada
The states introduced women’s suffrage successively from 1916 onwards and in some cases earlier than was the case at the federal level. Québec was at the bottom: The law, which also gave Indians the right to vote, was not introduced into parliament until April 9, 1949, and came into force on April 25, 1949.
In 1917, against the background of the war, the Wartime Elections Act granted the right to vote at the national level to certain groups of women whose exact composition can be found in the literature: nurses who served in the war; Euro-American women who worked in the army or had close relatives (father, husband or son) or their fathers, men or sons had been killed or wounded in the war; women whose husbands, sons or fathers had been killed or wounded in the war; Another source also mentions the requirement that the admitted women were equal to men at the level of their state.
On 24 May 1918, the active national right to vote was extended to all women of British and French descent from the age of 21, thus applying the same criteria for women and men. Indians were excluded.
In 1919, women were given the right to stand for election. It is true that other sources cite later data and speak of a limited right to vote; but this is probably due to the fact that it was not until 1929 in a court case brought by The Famous Five that it was finally clarified that the right to stand as a candidate in the Constitution also applied to the Senate, not only to the House of Commons.
Also, in 1920, property restrictions were lifted.
In 1950 and 1951, amendments to the Indian Act and the Canada Elections Act extended the right to vote nationally to Veterans of the Indian circle and their wives, as well as Indians who normally lived outside the reservations, if they waived the tax exemptions provided to them by the Indian Act. granted. Moreover, in 1950 the Inuit had been given the right to vote, in 1951 all inhabitants of the Northwest Territories. Ballot boxes for the Inuit were not set up in the eastern Arctic until 1962.
It was not until August 1960 that the Act to Amend the Canada Elections Act extended the right to vote to all Canadians. Women the right to stand for election. It is true that other sources cite later data and speak of a limited right to vote; but this is probably due to the fact that it was not until 1929 in a court case brought by The Famous Five that it was finally clarified that the right to stand as a candidate in the Constitution also applied to the Senate, not only to the House of Commons.
In 1920, property restrictions were lifted.
Moreover, in 1950 and 1951, amendments to the Indian Act and the Canada Elections Act extended the right to vote nationally to Veterans of the Indian circle and their wives, as well as Indians who normally lived outside the reservations, if they waived the tax exemptions provided to them by the Indian Act. granted. In 1950 the Inuit had been given the right to vote, in 1951 all inhabitants of the Northwest Territories. Ballot boxes for the Inuit were not set up in the eastern Arctic until 1962.
It was not until August 1960 that the Act to Amend the Canada Elections Act extended the right to vote to all Canadians.
Judiciary
Canada’s legal system plays an important role in the interpretation of laws. It takes into account changing societies and has the power to revoke laws that violate the Constitution. The Supreme Court is the highest court and the last instance. The nine members are appointed by the Governor-General on the proposal of the Prime Minister and the Minister of Justice. Since 2017, Richard Wagner has been Chairman of the Supreme Court (Chief Justice of Canada, Juge en chef du Canada). The federal government also appoints judges of the supreme courts of the provinces and territories. The appointment of judges at lower levels is the responsibility of the provincial and territorial governments.
In the provinces, the supreme courts are the courts of appeal. However, unlike those of the Supreme Court in Ottawa, their rulings are not binding in the other provinces, although they are not without influence. Other sources of law are still occasionally the London Court of Appeal and the British House of Lords. Their pre-1867 rulings are still binding unless overturned by the Canadian Supreme Court. The same applies to decisions until 1949 for the Jurisprudence Committee of the Privy Council. This is of considerable importance for the legal status of the indigenous and francophone populations, as older treaties with the British Crown remain valid.
Political indices
| Name of the index | Index | Worldwide rank | Interpretation aid | Year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fragile States Index | 21. 7 out of 120 | 171 of 179 | Stability of the country: sustainable 0 = very sustainable / 120 = very alarming | 2021 |
| Democracy Index | 8. 87 out of 10 | 12 of 167 | Full democracy 0 = authoritarian regime / 10 = complete democracy | 2021 |
| Freedom in the World Index | 98 of 100 | — | Freedom status: free 0 = non-free / 100 = free | 2022 |
| Ranking of press freedom | 15. 25 out of 100 | 14 of 180 | Satisfactory situation for freedom of the press 0 = good situation / 100 = very serious situation | 2021 |
| Corruption Perception Index (CPI) | 74 of 100 | 13 of 180 | 0 = very corrupt / 100 = very clean | 2021 |
Provinces and territories
Canada is a federal state divided into ten provinces and three territories. These subnational units can be divided into geographical regions. Western Canada consists of British Columbia and the three prairie provinces of Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba. Central Canada includes the two most populous provinces of Ontario and Québec. The Maritime Provinces are New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia; together with Newfoundland and Labrador, they form the Atlantic Provinces. The three territories Yukon, Northwest Territories and Nunavut include all areas north of the 60th parallel and west of Hudson Bay.
The provinces have a high degree of autonomy, whereas in the territories the federal government takes on numerous administrative tasks itself. All provinces and territories have a unicameral parliament and a prime minister as head of government. The Canadian monarch is represented in all provinces by a Lieutenant Governor, who is on an equal footing with the Governor General and performs predominantly ceremonial duties. In the territories, a commissioner appointed by the Federal Government takes over the duties of a Lieutenant Governor.
While in most federal constitutions of federal states, only the legislative powers of the federation are explicitly enumerated, the Constitutional Act of 1867 (Constitution Act, 1867, french: Constitution Act, 1867, French: Constitution Act, 1867, French Constitution Act, 1867, French Constitution Act, 1867, French Constitution Act, 1867, French Constitution Act, 1867, French Constitution Act, 1867, French Constitution Act, 1867, French Constitution Act, 1867, French Constitution Act, 1867, Loi Constitutionnelle de 1867) not only in Article 91 the exclusive competences of the Confederation, but in Articles 92, 92A and 93 also the exclusive competences of the provinces.
According to this, the provinces have the right to legislate in areas such as direct taxation, civil servants’ salaries, public institutions, municipalities, education, hospitality and other local trades, property and civil law, judicial constitutional law, civil procedure law, mining, forestry and energy.
| Province or territory | Capital | Area in km² | Population2016 | Official languages |
| Alberta | Edmonton | 640. 082 | 4. 252. 879 | English |
| British Columbia | Victoria | 922. 510 | 4. 751. 612 | English |
| Manitoba | Winnipeg | 552. 330 | 1. 318. 128 | English |
| Newfoundland and Labrador | St. John’s | 370. 511 | 530. 128 | English |
| New Brunswick | Fredericton | 71. 377 | 756. 780 | English, French |
| Northwest Territories | Yellowknife | 1. 143. 794 | 44. 469 | English, French |
| Nova Scotia | Halifax | 52. 939 | 949. 501 | English |
| Nunavut | Iqaluit | 1. 877. 788 | 37. 082 | English, French |
| Ontario | Toronto | 908. 608 | 13. 982. 984 | English |
| Prince Edward Island | Charlottetown | 5. 686 | 148. 649 | English |
| Quebec | Quebec | 1. 356. 547 | 8. 326. 089 | French |
| Saskatchewan | Regina | 588. 240 | 1. 150. 632 | English |
| Yukon | Whitehorse | 474. 713 | 37. 492 | English, French |
In the Northwest Territories and Nunavut territories, other languages have the status of an official language.
In 1974, there were efforts in the Canadian Parliament to include the British overseas territory of the Turks and Caicos Islands in the Caribbean as the eleventh province in the Canadian state association. However, the bill did not find a majority and was therefore rejected. Since 2003, however, there have been renewed efforts in this direction. For this, however, firstly, Great Britain would have to release the islands into independence and secondly, every single Canadian province would have to agree. The latter in particular, however, is unlikely as a result of Canada’s very complicated constitutional procedures.
Legal system and police in Canada
Although Canada is a relatively young state, the legal system has a long tradition. Common law, which applies in all provinces except Quebec, is based on principles that developed over centuries in England and are a legacy of the British colonial era. The Civil Code, which applies in Québec in the field of private law, reflects the principles of the French legal system. Criminal law, on the other hand, is a matter for the federal state and uniform in all provinces. Over time, both jurisdictions have been adapted to the needs of Canada.
Both legal systems have been incorporated into the Constitution. Its core was created in 1867 with the founding of Canada and was last fundamentally supplemented in 1982 by the Constitutional Act of 1982 and the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
Canada abolished the death penalty for peacetime crimes in 1976 and in war criminal law in 1998. The trigger was the 1959 conviction of the then 14-year-old Steven Truscott to death. He was released on parole after ten years in prison and acquitted in 2007.
The prosecution is the responsibility of the provinces. The police authorities are structured in several stages. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) is the national police force. The two largest provinces, the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) and the Sûreté du Québec, have their own provincial police forces, where the RCMP’s mission is limited to the protection of federal institutions. There are also other police departments at the provincial level (e. g. British Columbia Sheriff Service, Royal Newfoundland Constabulary) and at regional or local level (e. g. Toronto Police Service, York Regional Police).
There are also federal police departments with specific responsibilities (e. g. Parks Canada Warden). Similar to the United States, the territories of Native American tribes and other Native Americans have their own police departments. The two large private railway companies (CP and CN) each have their own police force to secure their facilities. Some local transport operators and some universities have set up their own auxiliary police forces (so-called Special Constables).
Foreign policy
The United States and Canada share the longest undefoliated state border in the world. Cooperation in the military and economic fields is close; both countries are each other’s largest trading partners under the North American Free Trade Agreement.
Nevertheless, Canada pursues an independent foreign policy. It maintains diplomatic relations with Cuba and did not participate in the Vietnam or Iraq wars. The state has traditionally maintained close relations with the United Kingdom and France, through membership of the Commonwealth of Nations and in the International Organization of La Francophonie also with other former British and French colonies.
Another focus of foreign policy relations is the States of the Caribbean Community. In the International Policy Statement published in 2005, the government laid down the guidelines for foreign policy. Canada sees the European Union as a strategic partner in the areas of climate change, energy supply, trade and environmental protection, as well as foreign and security policy issues.
An important part of Canada’s identity is support for multilateralism. In 1945, Canada was one of the founding members of the United Nations. The later Prime Minister Lester Pearson contributed significantly to the settlement of the Suez crisis and was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1957. Until then, if one spoke of the “birth of the Canadian nation on the battlefields of Europe”, a peacekeeping myth developed under the impression of numerous UN peacekeeping missions, which understands Canada’s role in contrast to the USA.
“Canadians were middlemen, honest brokers, useful helpers in a world where these qualities were rare. Peacekeeping changed us, made us better in a way. “
– Jack Granatstein, historian: none
Canada is a member of numerous international organizations such as the OSCE, the World Trade Organization, the OECD, the OAS, APEC and the Group of Seven (G7).
Various international agreements arose on Canadian initiative and were adopted in that country. These include the Ottawa Convention on the Prohibition of Anti-Personnel Mines and the Montreal Protocol for the Protection of the Ozone Layer.
Military
The Canadian Forces (French: Canadian Forces) are the Order of the United Kingdom. Forces Canadiennes) were created in their present form in 1968, when the Army, navy and air force were merged organizationally. The troops in 2020 included around 67,490 volunteer professional soldiers and around 31,000 reservists. In addition, there were (as of 2012) 5000 Canadian Rangers, whose main task is to show military presence in remote Arctic areas. The armed forces have around 1400 armored vehicles, 34 warships and 300 combat aircraft. Canada spent just under 1. 3 percent of its economic output, or $20. 6 billion, on its armed forces in 2017, ranking 14th in the world.
Due to the close ties to the British motherland, Canadian troops were involved in the Boer War, the First World War and the Second World War. Since 1948, Canada has provided a significant portion of the United Nations peacekeeping forces and has been involved in more peacekeeping missions than any other nation (without exception since 1989). In principle, the state only participates in acts of war sanctioned by the United Nations, such as the war in Korea, the Persian Gulf, Afghanistan, but without a UN mandate in Kosovo. Canada is a founding member of NATO and a party to the North American airspace defense alliance NORAD.
Educational policy
Federalist Canada does not have a uniform national education system, but tertiary education is subject to uniform state quality control and most Canadian universities are members of the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada (AUCC), which is why the standard is generally considered balanced.
The provinces and territories are exclusively responsible for the education system; there is no national Ministry of Education. Therefore, in some provinces, school entry age (fifth or sixth year of life) and duration of primary school time (up to grade 6 or 7) differ. The secondary level (called École polyvalente in Québec ) comprises in the form of a comprehensive school the three-year Junior High School (lower secondary education) and the two- to four-year Senior High School (upper secondary education). Since the education system strives for equal opportunities, the transition from one school level to another takes place without a performance test.
Only within the Senior High School is the acquisition of the final certificate (High School Diploma or High School Diploma). Diplôme d’Études Secondaire) depends on whether a certain number of credit points is achieved. Two percent of the schools are in private, predominantly church hands. About ten percent of the students attend a private school. The performance level of private schools was considered very high in 2006 and Canada was the only OECD country in which their students learned more than students in public schools, even after comparing their family and socio-economic backgrounds.
While school attendance is free of charge, tuition fees of varying amounts are due at the universities. Of the more than 80 universities, the University of Toronto and the University of Montreal are among the largest. The oldest are the University of Laval in Québec from 1663, a Jesuit institution named after Bishop Laval. This touches on a fundamental feature of Canadian higher education development, because the early institutions were almost all of ecclesiastical origin.
It was not until 1818 that Canada’s first secular college and the second, Dalhousie University in Halifax, were established. It was followed by the two English-language institutes, McGill University in Montreal (1821) and the University of Toronto (1827). They were followed in the 1840s by Queen’s University in Kingston (1841) and the University of Ottawa (1848).
The latter, like Laval University, goes back to a missionary order, in this case to the Oblates of the Immaculate Virgin Mary. Independence in 1867 was followed by the University of Western Ontario in London (1878), founded by an Anglican bishop, and the University of Montreal (the second of four colleges in the city), founded in the same year, as well as McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario. The latter was originally founded in Toronto and did not move to Hamilton until 1930. It dates back to the Baptist Convention of Ontario.
Colleges usually only award 3- to 4-year bachelor’s degrees (e. g. minors, majors, specialization, honors), universities also 1-year consecutive post-bachelor bachelor’s degree with honors/Baccalaureatus Honore, 1- to 3-year master’s and 3- to 5-year Ph. D. degrees. In various university rankings, some Canadian universities occupy top positions: For example, in the long-term average rating of the most widespread ranking in North America, the QS World University Rankings, McGill University was ranked No. 1 within Canada and No. 28 worldwide in 2018.
According to the 2018 Academic Ranking of World Universities (Shanghai Ranking), the University of Toronto ranks 23rd and the University of British Columbia in Vancouver 43rd. The First Nations has had its own university since 2003, the First Nations University of Canada in Regina, the capital of the province of Saskatchewan. In 1989, the most important universities began to join forces to coordinate research projects. Since 2011, the group has existed as the U15 Group of Canadian Research Universities, which now includes a closed circle of 15 universities. In 2016, over half a million foreign students studied at Canadian educational institutions. The largest group of them came from the People’s Republic of China.
In the 2015 PISA ranking, Canada’s students ranked 10th out of 72 countries in math, 7th in science, and second in reading comprehension. Canadian students were among the best of all participating countries and performed significantly better than those from the neighboring United States. The study also found that students from Ontario and British Columbia performed best.
Environmental policy
Canada’s environmental policy has unusual natural foundations, but above all the mixture of interests is specifically Canadian. Canada’s nature has become the most significant factor for tourism. 43 national and well over 1500 provincial parks as well as other protected areas, which mainly contain huge forest areas, contribute to this. The oldest of them is the Banff National Park from 1885, which is now accessible to mass tourism via highway-like roads. In 1911, Parks Canada (Parcs Canada) was established as the oldest national park administration in the world. However, tourism, conservation, recreation and scientific interests collide with the exploitation interests of the extractive industries and occasionally the interests of the indigenous people.
Intact primeval forests (old growth) still exist in Canada even after three centuries of overexploitation due to the low population density on enormously large areas. According to Global Forest Watch Canada, 62% of boreal forests and 30% of temperate forests are still intact (natural ecosystems that are essentially unaffected by humans). However, the overexploitation on the border to the populated areas is immense and has left only small remnants of primeval forest there.
Without the resistance of environmental organizations such as Greenpeace, which was founded in Vancouver, or the Western Canada Wilderness Committee, as well as the local Indians, these primeval forests would certainly no longer exist. The companies of the timber industry are so closely linked to the political elites of the provinces that only international pressure and often coercion by the federal government and the courts have been able to save the stocks in some cases (cf. Clayoquot Sound). On the other hand, scientists and numerous environmental groups have joined forces, and the long-insignificant Green Party of Canada won almost seven percent of the vote in the 2008 election.
According to a study by Simon Fraser University conducted at the instigation of the David Suzuki Foundation, Canada ranks at the bottom of thirty countries surveyed in the production of nuclear waste and carbon monoxide. In addition, it occupies the 29th place in terms of water consumption. Overall, Canada, Belgium and the USA rank at the lower end of the group of states. In October 2008, several hundred scientists tried to defend themselves against the government’s discrediting of their work. At the same time, Victoria hosted the largest demonstrations in the last 15 years against the deforestation of the last virgin forests on Vancouver Island.
Another danger for the primeval forests, but just as much for the huge regrown forests, was the mountain pine beetle called the mountain pine beetle in Canada. It destroyed several million hectares of forest.
The more than 250 dams, which helped produce around 58% of the 612. 6 billion kilowatt hours of electricity produced in Canada in 2007 (of which Canada exported 73 billion kilowatt hours over 2016), are now viewed just as critically with regard to their environmental balance as the extraction of mineral resources. In both cases, there were not only frequent forced resettlements of the indigenous people such as the Innu in Labrador, but also significant environmental and health burdens such as the mining of the Athabasca oil sands in Alberta.
On October 14, 2008, the Cree, aware of the legally privileged role of the provinces vis-à-vis the federal government in matters of mineral resources and electricity generation and vis-à-vis the Indian nations, therefore rejected the “Green Plan” of the Quebec provincial government. He would also have given Quebec back the administration of the vast James Bay area, which the Cree had only won in 2002 after long negotiations. Since 2009, three local Cree groups have been fighting with international support for the forest in the Broadback Valley, a large contiguous boreal jungle on the edge of the logging zone.
In northeastern British Columbia, from 2005 to 2008 alone, there were seven attacks on gas pipelines of the Encana Corporation, in which highly toxic hydrogen sulfide is transported, which were considered by the police to be highly dangerous.
On April 29, 1998, the government signed the Kyoto Protocol and pledged to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by six percent by 2012. Instead, emissions increased by more than a quarter from 1990 to 2004. In the 2008 Climate Protection Index, Canada ranked 53rd out of 56 countries surveyed, placing it only ahead of Saudi Arabia, the USA and Australia in terms of carbon dioxide emissions.
In December 2011, shortly after the UN Climate Change Conference in Durban, the state announced its withdrawal from the Kyoto Protocol. This saved Canada $14 billion (€10. 5 billion) in fines for failing to meet the targets set out in the protocol. Among other things, the oil sands industry contributes significantly to the country’s rising greenhouse gas emissions.
Legally, environmental policy is primarily based on the Canadian Environmental Protection Act of 1999. The responsible ministry is the Department of the Environment under the direction of Jim Prentice (since 2008). Among other organizations, he reports to Parks Canada and the Canadian Wildlife Service. Each province also has its own Ministry of the Environment.
Canadian Economy
Canada is one of the most prosperous countries in the world. Measured in terms of nominal gross domestic product, it was in 9th place in 2020 with the equivalent of 1.6 trillion US dollars, and 15th in terms of purchasing power parity with 1. 9 trillion international dollars. In terms of gross domestic product per capita, the state is in 20th place in 2020 with 43,295 US dollars, and in 25th place adjusted for purchasing power with 48,759 US dollars.
The United Nations Development Programme rates Canada as a country with “very high human development” based on its Human Development Index. The state is also regarded as a social market economy. In the Global Competitiveness Index, which measures a state’s competitiveness, Canada ranks 14th out of 141 states (as of 2019). In the Economic Freedom Index, the country ranks 15th out of 161 countries in 2022.
According to a 2017 study by Bank Credit Suisse, Canada was the country with the eighth largest national total assets in the world. Canadians’ total ownership of real estate, stocks and cash totaled $7,407 billion. The average net worth per adult is $259,271 and the median $91,058 (Germany: $203,946 and $47,091, respectively). The Gini coefficient for wealth distribution was 73. 0 in 2016, indicating a median wealth inequality. Both income and wealth are more evenly distributed in Canada than in the neighboring U. S.
The minimum wage differs in each province and is set by the individual provinces themselves. Employees of the State of Canada receive at least the minimum wage applicable in the province in which they are employed. In 2017, it ranged from $10. 72 (Saskatchewan) to $13. 00 (Nunavut). This minimum wage may be waived in some states for different employment groups (e. g. for employees who receive tips or for young people). Some states have also introduced annual automatic adjustments (e.g. adjustments to inflation rates).
The proportion of primary production, i. e. the primary economic sector, is above average, which is due to the wealth of natural resources. The amounts of nickel mined in the province of Ontario account for about 20% of the world’s demand, Canada has the third largest oil reserves after Venezuela and Saudi Arabia (as of 2017) with around 28 billion tons, has ten percent of the world’s forest stock, as well as significant deposits of sulfur, asbestos, aluminum, gold, lead, coal, copper, iron ore, potassium carbonate, tantalum, uranium and zinc. Off the coast of the Atlantic provinces are extensive deposits of natural gas, in the Albertadie Athabasca oil sands. Forests and hydropower form the basis for the pulp and paper industry.
Numerous reservoirs supply electricity and thus form the backbone of energy production. 360,000 GWh came from hydropower alone, making Canada the second most important electricity producer in this sector just behind China. Canada accounts for over eleven percent of the world’s electricity needs, and it is one of the few developed countries that are net exporters of energy.
The connection within North America is now so close that huge, cross-border supply networks have developed, such as the Western Interconnection, which reaches as far as Mexico. Other energy suppliers are gas, oil, uranium (18 producing nuclear power plants) and renewable energies. In 2010, nuclear power plants supplied exactly 85,219,889 of a total of 565,519. 793 GWh of electricity, i. e. around 15% of electricity. In total, wind turbines with a capacity of 13. 58 GW were installed in Canada at the end of 2020 (2017: 12. 24 GW, 2018: 12. 82 GW, 2019: 13. 41 GW). This put the state in 9th place worldwide. The largest wind farm with 364 MW is located in the province of Québec in the association of municipalities La Côte-de-Beaupré.
Canada is one of the largest suppliers of agricultural products due to its high surpluses, but the product range in the prairie provinces is very narrow; the focus is predominantly on wheat, whose production in 2003 was Canada in eighth place after France with 50. 168 million tonnes. In addition, there is livestock farming, especially cattle breeding, in recent years also the commercial breeding of bison. Fish farming is carried out on the coasts, but this is in conflict with the catch of wild fish. British Columbia is the largest exporter of salmon and halibut.
The centers of industry are located in the south of the provinces of Ontario and Québec, especially in the greater Toronto and Montreal areas. The automotive and aerospace industries play an important role in this, in addition to the metal industry, food processing as well as the wood and paper industries. The chemical and electrotechnical industries also play an important role, but above all the high-tech sector.
This is due to the decline of the large automotive companies in the USA, which mainly affects the suppliers and dépendances in the Toronto metropolitan area. All industries that are attached to the gas and oil production sector, on the other hand, are concentrated in the Greater Calgary area, but this prosperous industry has recently suffered from rapid price declines with rising exploration costs. This is partly due to geological barriers, the now very high wage level and the growing resistance to the destruction of the environment. Nevertheless, Canada became the world’s fourth-largest producer of crude oil in 2018.
Exports amounted to 36. 7% of GDP and imports to 32. 8% of GDP in 2007. By far the most important trading partner was the USA with 76. 4% of exports and 65. 0% of imports. Canada ranks fifth in world foreign trade statistics after the EU, the USA, Japan and the People’s Republic of China. Foreign trade is largely free, with only a few key areas where foreign investment is limited to minority shareholdings.
The service sector is by far the most important with 66% (2008) of the gross domestic product, followed by industry with 32% and agriculture with just under 2%. Seven of Canada’s ten largest companies – based on revenue – are banking and insurance alone. While in the first half of the 20th century, the economy was still largely oriented towards exports to Europe, especially to the British Empire, the trade barriers to the neighboring state of the USA were gradually largely dismantled after the Second World War.
The first important step was the Canada-United States Automotive Agreement (also known as the Auto Pact) in 1965, which completely opened the borders to the automotive industry. The 1988 Canadian-American Free Trade Agreement abolished tariffs between the two countries and led to a significant increase in the volume of trade and U. S. investment in Canada. With the North American Free Trade Agreement in 1994, this free trade area was extended to Mexico. Other free trade agreements exist with EFTA, among others. Canada is a member of numerous economic policy organizations, such as the World Trade Organization, the OECD, the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and the G7.
As one of the biggest weaknesses of the Canadian economy, the OECD has assessed the lack of translation of inventions into exploitable patents. Therefore, in 2007, the government launched a program called Mobilizing Science and Technology to Canada’s Advantage. It is intended to increase the low number of patents and encourage more investment in research and development. At the same time, it is intended to promote cooperation between state educational institutions and industrial complexes. In addition, Centres of Excellence in Commercialisation and Research and a College and Community Innovation Program have been established.
The largest employee representative body is the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC) or the French Congrès du travail du Canada (CTC) with its approximately one hundred individual unions in 136 districts, which claim to have three million members. It emerged in 1956 from the merger of the Trades and Labour Congress of Canada (TLC) and the Canadian Congress of Labour (CCL).
While the TLC was organized by industry similar to Europe, the CCL was organized by location and included all trades there. In addition, the TLC had supported the Liberals, while the CCL had supporters of the socialist Co-operative Commonwealth Federation. At the same time, it integrated the Communist Workers Unity League (WUL) when it formed an alliance against fascism in 1939. The British Columbia-based International Woodworkers of America were also considered communist, but were integrated in 1948. A little later, the Communists were expelled. The CLC played an important role in the founding of the New Democratic Party in 1962 and fought together with it the free trade agreement with the USA. Kenneth V. Georgetti has been chairman of the CLC since 1999. Closed shops are legally permissible and common in many industries.
The financial crisis from 2007 onwards has had an impact on the Canadian economy. Initially affected were the financial service providers, which are concentrated in Toronto, where the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) is the third largest stock exchange in America, but also the real estate industry, and with the insolvency of Nortel in January 2009 also the equipment suppliers for telecommunications companies. Among these companies, BCE (Bell Canada Enterprises) is the oldest and largest. In the 4th quarter of 2008, exports fell by 17. 5%. Unemployment stood at 8. 7% in August 2009 (September 2007 5. 9%). In April 2022, it was 5. 2%.
Key figures
| Export to | (in percent) | Import of | (in percent) |
|---|---|---|---|
| United States | 73,4 | United States | 48,2 |
| People’s Republic of China | 4,6 | People’s Republic of China | 14,0 |
| United Kingdom | 2,6 | Mexico | 5,4 |
| Japan | 2,3 | Germany | 3,1 |
| Mexico | 1,3 | Japan | 2,5 |
| Germany | 1,0 | Italy | 1,7 |
| India | 0,8 | South Korea | 1,7 |
| other countries | 12,7 | other countries | 23,0 |
Budget
The state budget in 2016 included expenditures of the equivalent of 594. 0 billion US dollars, compared to revenues of the equivalent of 514. 5 billion US dollars. This results in a budget deficit of 2. 4% of GDP. Public debt in 2016 was $1,406 billion, or 92% of GDP. Despite the high level of public debt, Canadian government bonds are rated AAA by the rating agency Standard & Poor’s (as of 2018).
The state budget finances the functioning system of Canadian fiscal equalization.
Media
Press
The first newspaper on the territory of Canada was John Bushell’s Halifax Gazette, which appeared in 1752. There were no newspapers in New France, but William Brown and Thomas Gilmore of Philadelphia founded the bilingual Quebec Gazette in Québec. In 1785, Fleury Mesplet, who had been imprisoned by the British for his request to join the United States, created what is now the oldest newspaper, the Montreal Gazette. In 1793, the first newspaper in Ontario, the Upper Canada Gazette, followed in Niagara-on-the-Lake. These early papers largely depended on government grants and ad revenue, hardly on buyers and subscribers. This should prove to be a permanent condition in Canada.
In Québec, the City Mercury was created in 1805 and 1811 and in Montreal the Herald as mouthpieces of the local merchant elites, while Le Canadien (1806) and La Minerve (1826) represented the Francophones. These colonial and merchant elites were opposed in Upper Canada by the Colonial Advocate, published by William Lyon Mackenzie, who represented the reform and farming groups. The same was true of Joseph Howes Novascotian (1824) in Halifax.
Most newspapers depended on parties, especially the reformers (today’s liberals) and the conservatives, mostly as organs of designated political leaders. Thus, the Toronto Globe (1844) was the voice of the reformer George Brown, while the Toronto Mail (1872) soon became the voice of John Macdonald, the first prime minister of Canada. Similarly, in 1899, businessmen reorganized the Toronto Star in favor of Wilfrid Laurier. On the other hand, the Conservatives there bought the Toronto News in 1908 as a party organ. Every major city, therefore, had a liberal and a conservative paper that supplied the respective clientele. Until the 1930s, the Quebec leaves remained dependent on the respective government.
Papers that did not belong to one of the leading groups, such as the communist press, were repeatedly banned. Founded by striking printers in 1892, the Toronto Star went down, like most working-class newspapers. In Quebec, Maurice Duplessi’s government enacted the Padlock Act, which hit its newspapers. As late as 1970, the government exercised a kind of censorship when kidnappings occurred during the October crisis.
The first attempt by a daily newspaper, the Montreal Daily Advertiser, went bankrupt after a year in 1834. But in 1873 there were already 47 daily newspapers, in 1913 even 138. In the far west, the British Colonist appeared from 1858, the Manitoba Free Press in 1872, the Saskatchewan Herald in 1878, and the Edmonton Bulletin in 1880. The distribution of radio from the 30s and television from the 50s cost the newspapers many advertisers, so in 1953 only 89 daily newspapers existed. In 1986, the number recovered to 110, but only eight cities had two or more daily newspapers.
Today, most newspapers belong to large conglomerates of the media industry. Permission to acquire companies in both areas of media, television and print, has long been controversial, but since Brian Mulroney there has been no limit to it. Postmedia Network is a leader in the English-speaking world, offering the leading daily newspaper in most provincial capitals. 90% of francophone newspapers are owned by three media companies: Pierre Karl Péladeaus Quebecor Inc., which alone provides half of the total circulation, Paul Desmarais’ Gesca and Jacques Francœur’s UniMédia. As early as 1950, the four largest media companies dominated 37. 2% of the total market, in 1970 this was 52. 9%, in 1986 even 67%. 80% of the revenue comes from advertising, only 20% from sales revenues.
Radio
Guglielmo Marconi first experimented with radio from 1896, and in 1901 he succeeded in transmitting the first wireless signal across the Atlantic from Cornwall to Newfoundland. Because radio technology was initially used to contact ships, the supervision of the Radiotelegraph Act of 1913 was subject to the Minister of the Navy and Fisheries. The survivors of the Titanic owed their rescue to the radio waves sent by Marconi. He was also the first to receive a private broadcasting license in Canada in 1919. By 1928 there were already 60 radio stations.
Still, a commission led by John Aird this year found that many Canadians were listening to U. S. stations. It was not until 1932 that the British Judicial Committee of the Privy Council ruled that the state rightly claimed oversight of radio communications. In 1936, the public Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) began broadcasting, which had been started by the Radio Commission since 1932. By then, the number of radio receivers had doubled to one million within five years.
The current structure of the CBC is a product of the Great Depression: only five central stations were created, whose broadcasts were forwarded by private distributors. This resulted in a mixed system of state and private broadcasters, in which private broadcasters were only allowed to broadcast regionally. Canada became one of the countries with the most radio stations, and one of the first with satellite stations. Nevertheless, the US competition is strongly represented.
Television
Television has existed in Canada since 1952, with the CBC taking over the regulatory tasks and at the same time becoming the most important broadcaster. Here, too, private networks served as distributors for CBC TV. A campaign by private broadcasters against the CBC monopoly was followed by the Broadcasting Act of 1958 under John Diefenbaker. A 15-member Board of Broadcast Governors (BBG) was formed, which accepted the applications for new stations and promoted more private broadcasters. TV expanded rapidly, and in 1961 a second network, CTV, was created.
There were fierce disputes between BBG and CBC, so in 1968 the license was awarded to the Canadian Radio-Television Commission (now the Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission, CRTC), which also attracted cable TV established in 1968. The right to “protect, enrich and strengthen Canada’s cultural, political, social and economic structure,” as the law states, should be upheld. Nevertheless, austerity measures over the past four decades have led to an increasing reliance on advertising budgets and ratings.
US channels can be received via cable practically everywhere. As a result, they occupy around 75% of prime airtime in English-speaking Canada, compared to only 40% in Québec. This is where TVA plays the most important role.
The extent to which the Internet can relativize the resulting media power is still open, especially since all established media are increasingly involved in this new market. The interests of independent media companies have been represented by the Association of Canadian Film and Television Production since 1948.
Traffic in Canada
The main traffic axis of the east runs along the St. Lawrence River through Ontario and Québec, connecting Toronto, Montreal, Québec and Ottawa. The entire north of the country has little access in terms of transport, as there is hardly any need here, except in the areas of raw material extraction. The conurbations of the West, as in the East, are mainly connected by transport systems near the American border, apart from the connection to Edmonton. This is mainly due to the political will of the Canadian government, which wanted to connect the widely separated provinces by three transcontinental railway lines and various branch lines. Before that, this had been done through canals, after the railway era followed road constructions, finally airlines.
Roads
Canada’s road system had a total length of 1,042,300 km in 2011, making it the seventh-longest in the world. Paved roads had a length of 415,600 km, of which 17,000 km were motorways. After China and the United States, Canada had the third longest highway network.
The densest road network is located in the area of the highest population densities in the Atlantic provinces, in southern Ontario, in Québec along the St. Lawrence, in the southern prairie provinces and in the area of the Fraser estuary around Vancouver. As an element connecting all provinces, the Trans-Canada Highway was built from Victoria on the Pacific to St. John’s on the Atlantic, with 8000 km one of the longest roads in the world. In the conurbations and as a connection between larger centers, this road is developed as a highway. There are two routes of this road through Ontario, one more northern and one more southern. The Trans-Canada Highway is the only federal highway in Canada.
The other country roads, including the motorways, are built and maintained by the provinces. The busiest highway in Canada forms the backbone of the Québec-Windsor corridor, in Ontario with the road number “401”. With 16 lanes through the Toronto metropolitan area, the 401 is one of the widest highways in the world. Only a few roads lead north, most of which were built due to major construction measures (dams, mining, etc. ) or were built for military reasons (for example, the Alaska Highway).
In Canada, intercity buses are important. Each region has an extensive bus network; however, the largest bus company Greyhound Canada ceased national operations in May 2021 following the economic consequences of the Corona crisis. Only cross-border traffic to the U. S. A. will be maintained.
In Canada, there is right-hand traffic and speeds are given in km/h. The nationality mark is CDN (not CND for Canada) and stands for Canadian Dominion. This is also used as an abbreviation in indications of origin, e. g. for feature films.
The country’s road traffic is considered to be largely safe. In 2013, there were a total of 6. 1 traffic fatalities per 100,000 inhabitants in Canada. By way of comparison, there were 4. 3 deaths in Germany in the same year. The country has a high motorization rate compared to the rest of the world. In 2016, there were 662 motor vehicles per 1000 inhabitants in the country.
Air traffic
Domestic air traffic is of considerable importance for overcoming the long distances. About 75 airlines, including Air Canada, Canada’s largest airline with 34 million passengers transported, Westjet Airlines and Porter Airlines provide regional flight connections. In Western Canada, Air BC, which is now part of Jazz Aviation, and Horizon Air, air alliance (based in Québec) and Air Ontario (Ontario) fly in Eastern Canada. In the North, airlines such as Air Creebec (owned by Cree), Air North (Whitehorse), Bearskin Airlines, Canadian North (Yellowknife) or Air Inuit (Dorval) and First Air (Ottawa), which are owned by Inuit, fly.
Air Transat and Air Canada fly on international and intra-Canadian routes, with Air Canada emerging from a railroad company in 1937. Airports with intercontinental connections are located in Toronto, Montreal, Calgary, Ottawa, Edmonton, Vancouver, Québec, Halifax and Winnipeg.
In 1909 the first Canadian aircraft flew 800 m (in Baddeck), in 1915 the Curtiss JN-3 was the first production aircraft. During World War I, Canada already provided 22,000 air force personnel, although the Canadian Air Force did not emerge until 1920. In the 30s, a massive expansion of the airports took place, so that more than half of the total air freight was moved in Canada and the country had 587 airfields in 1945. Trans-Canada Airlines was founded in 1937, which became Air Canada in 1964, and in 2009, February 23 was declared National Aviation Day.
The city of Montreal is home to the two global civil aviation organizations, IATA and ICAO.
Railroad
The railroad was extensively promoted by the Canadian state in the 19th century to support settlement policies and ensure national unity. To this end, the distances between the provincial metropolises were to be overcome by transcontinental railway lines. However, since the 1930s, their importance in favour of road transport has declined considerably and since then has only been of great importance in passenger and freight transport within the Québec-Windsor corridor.
Outside this area, the importance is limited to bulk freight transport and tourism, comparable to rail cruises in Europe. The supra-regional transcontinental freight traffic is carried out by the two railway companies Canadian Pacific Railway and Canadian National Railway. The operator of public rail passenger transport is VIA Rail Canada, the regional freight transport is operated by many private companies. In addition to these main lines, there are numerous branch lines, some of which have been revived on private initiative, such as the Esquimalt and Nanaimo Railway on Vancouver Island.
Inner-city transport
In contrast to the United States, Canadian cities have a variety of very well-developed public transport systems. While classic subways built in the metropolises of Toronto and Montreal since the 1950s form the backbone of inner-city public transport, light rail systems have been built in smaller cities such as Calgary and Edmonton since the 1980s. In the other cities, mainly diesel and partly trolleybuses are used; Ottawa has a bus rapid transit network.
The two largest public transport networks are located in Toronto with the Toronto Transit Commission and Montreal with four high-speed rail lines each and about 150 bus lines each. In Toronto, there is also a larger tram network with eleven lines in operation. Opened in the course of the Expo 86 world exhibition, the fully automatic SkyTrain in Vancouver has long been the longest automatic transport system in the world.
Navigation
Major seaports are located in the cities on the St. Lawrence River and in Vancouver. In addition, there is an important inland navigation on the Great Lakes. Where there were no natural waterways, canals were built from the beginning of the 19th century. For the economic development of Canada from 1821, the Lachine Canal was of crucial importance. In central Canada, the canoe has always been the given means of transport, and even today many lakes are equipped with ferries and the movement of goods follows the water.
Some places can only be reached by sea, such as along the west coast from Vancouver to Port Hardy on Vancouver Island or Prince Rupert opposite Haida Gwaii.
The early development of the country was carried out by the canoe and by canal construction, which enabled extensive inland traffic. Until the 1950s, ships carried a significant portion of passengers, especially in remote areas, but most lines, much like many railroads, stopped traffic when major interurban roads such as the Alaska Highway emerged.
Telecommunication
In 2017, 93 percent of Canada’s residents used the Internet. The digital infrastructure is considered to be very powerful, especially in cities, and one of the best in the world.
Culture
Today’s Canada is predominantly shaped by the European influences of pioneers, researchers, traders and fishermen from Great Britain, France and Ireland, regionally also from Germany and Eastern Europe. More recently, in larger cities, the image is also complemented by Asians (for example, Vancouver, Toronto) and blacks from the Caribbean and Africa.
Many of their traditions remain part of Canada, such as their food, language, narratives, history, holidays, and sports. The cultural festivals of these immigrants are an integral part of Canadian life, for example, the Chinese New Year in Vancouver or the Caribana parade in Toronto. Many Canadians can still trace their roots back to these countries and are proud of their origins. The original British spirit prevailing in many cities has been largely blurred with increasing immigration from other countries. It is most clearly visible in Victoria. This also applies to francophone Canada, which is also heavily influenced by immigration.
Canada and the UK share a period of their history and Canada is a member of the Commonwealth of Nations. Both countries are linked in personal union. The UK is Canada’s third largest trading partner, and it is from there that most foreign tourists come to the US. Canada’s ties to other Francophone countries are institutionalized in the Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie and there is a lively cultural exchange with France. For example, Canada is involved in the French-language television channel TV5 Monde.
German influences are mainly present in southern Ontario around the city of Kitchener (formerly Berlin). Throughout Southern Ontario, especially in the Kitchener area, places with German names are scattered. Kitchener advertises that the largest Oktoberfest outside of Munich is celebrated there.
Since the 1970s, many Asians have immigrated to Canada, mainly from Hong Kong, China and Korea. Especially in Vancouver (mocking name: Hongcouver) and Toronto they form strong ethnic minorities and the Chinatowns with their Chinese street and advertising signs are among the sights.
The creation and protection of a distinct Canadian culture is supported by federal government programs, laws and institutions, such as the CBC/Radio-Canada, the NFB (National Film Board of Canada/Office National du film du Canada) and the CRTC (Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission/Conseil de la radiodiffusion et des télécommunications canadiennes).
Indigenous culture
The cultural forms of the well over 600 First Nations, as the Indians predominantly call themselves, are not uniform. Within the country, between city and country, between ethnic groups, the differences are very great. The different groups developed their own identities and cultural structures. Large cultural areas can be distinguished.
On the Pacific coast, the culture was dominated by fishing, especially salmon, or whaling, as with the Nuu-chah-nulth on Vancouver Island. There are also the huge totem poles, the largest of which is over 50 m high. Inland, hunting, gathering and river fishing dominated. In great plains, plains, bison hunting was of central importance, in others the moose. Due to the spread of the horse, an equestrian nomadism developed after 1700. The Great Lakes, on the other hand, were dominated by an agrarian culture with large villages.
The unrelated Inuit in the north of the country, of which exactly 50,485 were counted in 2006, developed a culture predominantly shaped by the Arctic living conditions, which in many ways affects the whole of Canada. An example of this is the emblem of the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, an inuksuk made of stones stacked on top of each other and symbolizing a human figure.
However, the earliest commercial successes were celebrated by the Visual Arts of the Inuit since the late 1940s. Serpentine and marble sculptures, works in bones and caribou antlers, but also art graphics, wall hangings and carpets, jewelry, ceramics and dolls were the focus. Their motifs and materials traced back to the natural environments and existing traditions, with the forced sedentary nature now allowing for considerably larger works. In addition, the approximately 25 communities whose inhabitants no longer lived self-sufficient and nomadic were now dependent on money income, which the art trade helped them.
Among the best-known Inuit authors are the former “Commissioner of Nunavut” Peter Irniq, the writer, poet, cartoonist and photographer Alootook Ipellie (1951–2007) and Zebedee Nungak (b. 1951). From the combination of Inuit music and American-Canadian pop music, the Inuit formed their own music. In addition, there are still simple vocal forms and throat singing. The most successful singer in Canada is Susan Aglukark, born in Churchill in 1967.
The successes of the Inuit and those of the American Indians inspired the Native American artists of Canada to independently enter into an extra-Indian public. The masks and totem poles of the Pacific coast were known early on, which still play an important role in the self-image, but also on the art market. Similar to literature, the Native American art scene not only pursues traditional elements, but also combines them with Euro-Canadian means.
Other Indian artists produce detached from these traditions in their genres and with their means. Nevertheless, artists with a specifically Indian path, such as Norval Morrisseau, or the sculptor and carving artist Bill Reid, who continued the work of Charles Edenshaw, have only been recognized since the 60s. Most of the literature focuses on ecological problems, poverty and violence, dehumanized technology or spirituality. Most of them are reluctant to be labeled as “Indian artists”.
Canadian music
Since colonization from the early 17th century, immigrants brought various European musical traditions to Canada, depending on their ethnic composition. The parallel development to European music has never been broken, from Baroque to Classical and Romantic to contemporary music. For a long time, however, the New World lacked the necessary resources to be able to carry out major performances such as operas on a significant scale. Only the adaptation of texts, but also the exchange of elements between the immigrant groups, produced Canadian peculiarities, to which influences from the USA came.
John Braham was one of the first singers to become known throughout the country (from 1841), similar to Jenny Lind. In addition, there were numerous church choirs and philharmonic societies. The first societies of this kind were the New Union Singing Society from Halifax (1809) and the Québec Harmonic Society (1820). Popular were ballads, dance music and patriotic hymns. Germans brought piano making to Canada for the first time (Thomas Heintzman), followed by organ building (Joseph Casavant).
In 1903, C.A.E. Harriss organized the Cycle of Musical Festivals of the Dominion of Canada, which featured over 4,000 singers and musicians in 15 cities nationwide. With the First World War and the subsequent growth of the record industry, the peak of self-made music, but also of the opera companies, was exceeded. Nevertheless, symphony orchestras emerged before and after the Great Depression, especially in the three largest cities of Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver. Sir Ernest MacMillan was the first and only Canadian musician to be knighted, and other singers sang on the main stages.
Only field researchers such as Marius Barbeau, W. Roy Mackenzie, Helen Creighton and numerous others discovered folk music and indigenous music. Speaking of Canadian music, it was now the totality of folk music that one encountered in the country. However, music education remained conservative, i. e. strongly linked to Great Britain and France.
Nevertheless, in the 1930s, musical associations emerged, which strengthened the search for Canadian identity in music after the war. Also, this music was promoted by the state, collections of traditional and Native American music inspired the more open-minded generation. Publications such as The Canadian Music Journal (1956–1962), Opera Canada (since 1960) and The Canada Music Book (1970–1976) underpinned this development. The decoupling of Canadian music from the foreign avant-garde ended.
Canadian musicians influenced Western music, such as rock and pop music, to a considerable extent, for which names such as Bryan Adams, Paul Anka, Michael Bublé, Leonard Cohen, Céline Dion, Nelly Furtado, Avril Lavigne, Joni Mitchell, Alanis Morissette, Shania Twain or Justin Bieber stand for.
Well-known representatives of rock music are Rush, Alannah Myles, Billy Talent, the Crash Test Dummies, Nickelback, Saga, Steppenwolf and Neil Young.
Important jazz musicians include Paul Bley, Maynard Ferguson, Diana Krall, Moe Koffman and Oscar Peterson.
Avril Lavigne, Sarah McLachlan, Sloan and other musicians have joined the Canadian Music Creators Coalition (CMCC) initiative and announced in a policy statement that they want to speak for themselves again in the future. Processes and Digital Rights Management (DRM), but above all state funding, must be improved. The CMCC called on the government to support the artists against the marketing policies of mostly foreign and foreign market-oriented music corporations.
Still of great importance is country music, which is also played by numerous Indians. The Canadian Country Music Association annually honors the most important artists with induction into the Canadian Country Music Hall of Fame. Important performers are or were Wilf Carter, Hank Snow and Gordon Lightfoot.
In the field of classical music, the most famous Canadian is certainly Glenn Gould (1932–1982), who is known to a wider public as a gifted interpreter of the works of Johann Sebastian Bach. The then 22-year-old became famous in 1955 with a sensational recording of the Goldberg Variations. Since 1987, a foundation named after the musician has awarded the Glenn Gould Prize.
The symphony orchestras in Montreal and Toronto also have a worldwide reputation, chamber music has a first-class rank: Tafelmusik and the St. Lawrence String Quartet have won various prizes. Singers such as Jon Vickers, Russell Braun and Michael Schade, the flutist Robert Aitken as well as the pianist Marc-André Hamelin and the accompanist Céline Dutilly are well-known performers. Works by the composers R. Murray Schafer and Claude Vivier are also performed regularly.
Movie
The first filmmaker is James Freer (1855–1933), a farmer who showed documentaries from 1897 onwards. In 1917, the Province of Ontario established the Ontario Motion Picture Bureau to make films for educational purposes. The following year, the Canadian Government Motion Picture Bureau was established.
On the advice of John Grierson, who is considered the father of British and Canadian documentary film, the National Film Act was passed in 1939, a law that allowed propaganda films to be made for war purposes. In 1950, the National Film Board of Canada was tasked with explaining Canada to Canadians, but also to non-Canadians. With the Canadian Film Development Corporation, which later became Telefilm Canada, the state promoted film productions. The Department of Canadian Heritage, responsible for cultural heritage, increased funding for Telefilm Canada in 2001. The same goals are served by the Genie Award, which is presented each year for the best Canadian films.
Canada is also known as the Hollywood of the North. The most important production sites for Canadian and AMERICAN films today are Vancouver, followed by Montreal and Toronto. Alliance Films is once the largest media company, today only a rights dealer. French film is often more successful within Canada than the English one, because the Quebec film market is hardly directly reached by US productions.
Canadian auteur cinema is becoming increasingly important thanks to experienced cineastes such as Atom Egoyan (who was president of the jury at the Berlinale 2002), David Cronenberg, Denys Arcand and Léa Pool, but also through young filmmakers such as Jean-François Pouliot, Denis Villeneuve, Don McKellar, Keith Behrman and Guy Maddin.
Film directors such as Jean-Claude Lauzon (“Night Zoo” (1987), Léolo (1992)) and Denys Arcand (including “The Fall of the American Empire” (1986), “Jesus of Montreal” (1989) and “Joyeux Calvaire” (1996), “The Invasion of the Barbarians” (2003)) have helped Canadian film to international recognition.
Notable Canadian actors include: Mary Pickford, Glenn Ford, Lorne Greene, Raymond Massey, Walter Huston, Jack Carson, Raymond Burr, Christopher Plummer, Donald Sutherland, Kiefer Sutherland, Geneviève Bujold, Keanu Reeves, Dan Aykroyd, Pamela Anderson, Hayden Christensen, Leslie Nielsen, John Candy, Jim Carrey, Michael J. Fox, Mike Myers, William Shatner, Bruce Greenwood, Ryan Gosling, Ryan Reynolds, Carrie-Anne Moss and Sandra Oh. As you can see from this enumeration, many Canadian actors are often active in Hollywood productions and enjoy international renown.
Theatre
Canadian theatre, which stems from a strong oral tradition, has not only produced world-renowned directors such as Robert Lepage or Denis Marleau, but also a large number of playwrights who are translated into various languages, including German. For example, texts by Michel Marc Bouchard, Daniel Danis, Michel Tremblay, George F. Walker, David Young and Colleen Wagner have recently been performed by German ensembles.
Literature
Canadian literature is initially characterized by the fact that it often comes from authors who brought certain expectations to the country according to their ethnic origin. Therefore, the country often appears as dismissive with regard to its nature, as a cultural desert revived from the outside, and as a raw material for career and investment. Expectations and stereotypes of the audience of the wilderness, unimaginable vastness, of the introduction of civilization, especially by Europeans, also played a major role. But in the meantime, the urge to grasp one’s own culture, which has developed, prevails in its wealth without cutting off the roots.
Historically, French, English and Irish styles in particular flowed together, which were en vogue in their home countries. But already in the travelogues a Canadian-influenced genre developed, as with Samuel Hearne (1745–1792), Alexander MacKenzie, David Thompson, Catharine Parr Traill (1802–1899) or Anna Jameson (1794–1860), whereby the spectrum ranges from the romanticized adventure report (John R. Jewitt, 1783–1821) to precise analysis (Susanna Moodie: Roughing It in The Bush, or Forest Life in Canada, 1852). With the Confederation (1867) the question of national culture arose. From the end of the 19th century, four figures dominated the literary scene: Duncan Campbell Scott (1862–1947), Charles G. D. Roberts (1860–1943), Archibald Lampman (1861–1899) and Bliss Carman (1861–1929), also known as Confederation Poets (or “Confederation Group”).
During the 19th century, indigenous (igloo) and local word creations (moose) penetrated into literature, but also French (gopher) into English and vice versa. Nevertheless, the English language is understood throughout the country and dominated by overarching language standards. In French literature, a further element is a strong connection to France and its lifestyle, which partly explains a scepticism towards the rest of Canada, which is regarded as British.
A salient feature of Canadian literature is the humor, which, however, is rather subliminal, sometimes black, and often used as an understatement. Regional traditions of storytelling and anecdotes play an important role, rather than the choice of topic – unless it concerns local peculiarities or differences between ethnic groups. Among the frequently encountered motifs are the “garrison mentality”, the alienation from the homeland to which one returns, the strangeness in one’s own country or the specific culture, but also the celebration of the wilderness, which provides spiritual recovery.
Canadians are particularly interested in the history of their ancestors, and so there are a large number of biographical attempts on historically significant men and women. But even there, clichés are almost inevitable. Thus, Catholic Quebec is considered mysterious, Ontario is torn between moral clarity and lavishness, the prairies as isolating and possessive, the West Coast as a projection screen for hopes and expectations that you have to expose yourself.
Rural life is disproportionately in the foreground, while the cities were almost ignored for a long time. By contrast, authors such as Frances Brooke (1724–1789), Susanna Moodie (1803–1885), Sara Jeannette Duncan (1861–1922) and Nellie McClung (1873–1951) were the analysts of political life that is concentrated in the cities.
There is a contrast between the perception of Europe and that of its neighbor the USA. Europe is regarded as a haven of refinement, but also of extreme regionalization, the neighbor as a country of social hardship and fixation on economic success.
The First World War brought the outside world back into focus, and at the same time immigration sharpened attention to the numerous cultures, including those of the Indians, who now began to express themselves. The painter and author Emily Carr (1871–1945) was of utmost importance for the West here, although she was long rejected in British Columbia.
The Great Depression brought with it an increasing preoccupation with social problems, the Second World War in turn forced us to deal with questions of power, hardship, death and, in turn, return home. After the war, Merrill Denison (1893–1975) subjected exaggerated nationalism to satirical scrutiny, and leftist writers also criticized the political and economic path and the increasing dominance of the United States. At the same time, anticlerical authors made themselves more noticeable in Québec. Under the public optimism of the 1950s and 1960s, Malcolm Lowry (1909–1957) (Under the Volcano, 1947) and Ethel Wilson (1888–1980) (Swamp Angel, 1954) discovered alcohol problems and the narrowness of women’s lives during this period.
Material support and a larger audience led to an increase in the literary market in the 60s, magazines such as Canadian Literature and Journal of Canadian Studies appeared, as well as paperback editions that were more affordable. Niche markets emerged, whose audience could nevertheless feed authors. Both the individual cultures and women increasingly spoke up, such as Margaret Atwood.
Since the 70s, interest in Canadian literature has steadily increased. Authors such as Leonard Cohen, Pierre Vallières, Margaret Atwood, Michel Tremblay and Michael Ondaatje are also known outside national borders. At the same time, a huge market for popular literature emerged within the country, such as that of Joy Fielding or Douglas Coupland (Generation X).
After about 1985, state funds were reduced in a more conservative phase. Publishers such as Coach House Press, Deneau, Williams-Wallace had to close. In addition, Canada allowed for stronger foreign competition, especially from the United States. Authors such as Timothy Findley (1930–2002) tried to resist restrictions, Native American literature found representatives in Eden Robinson (Haisla, b. 1968), Jeannette C. Armstrong (Okanagan), who criticized the school system, the satirist Thomas King (Cherokee) or the playwright Tomson Highway (Cree). In addition, more poetic authors such as Rita Joe (Mi’kmaq), Marilyn Dumont (Métis) or Alootook Ipellie (Inuit) appeared.
In 2013, Alice Munro received the Nobel Prize for Literature as a “virtuoso of contemporary short history”.
Visual Arts and Architecture in Canada
As in most arts, the first immigrants from Europe largely ignored the art of the indigenous people. They already brought European traditions with them in their first residential buildings and fortified courtyards as well as naturally in fortifications (for example Louisbourg) and in city complexes. The villages of francophone Canada are also camped around the church, as in France, with the mission churches and the churches of Québec mostly serving as role models. As a material, stone and wood prevailed, bricks are rare. Similar to sculpture, however, the styles prevailing in France and England arrived with a significant delay due to the conditions of communication. This also applied to the adoption of classical music after the British had conquered Canada.
Nevertheless, painting inevitably took in the indigenous people, because they were to be depicted for reporting at court. Some of them were of great accuracy, such as the Indian and Inuit portraits of John White (about 1540 to about 1593), or the drawings of Louis Nicolas (Codex canadiensis). At the end of the 18th century, the British and the loyalists who had fled the USA brought new influences, which were particularly noticeable in the new settlements, such as Toronto. There was even a Golden Age of Quebec painting, with the style remaining European, but the motifs becoming more Canadian. The Swiss Peter Rindisbacher documented his journey through Hudson Bay to the Red River colony, Paul Kane traveled through half the continent.
In architecture, neo-classical and neo-Gothic motifs were preferred, as in Europe, but the British influence became more and more prevalent. With the representative expansion of Ottawa and each provincial capital, an attempt was made to express a specifically Canadian tradition. Between 1873 and 1914, historicizing styles prevailed, with the styles brought along by other European peoples, such as the Italians, making themselves felt. With industrialization, new types of buildings, such as steel bridges or railway stations, penetrated, new materials, especially metals, dominated. In addition, there was glass and finally concrete. James Wilson Morrice is considered the father of modernism in painting. In the sculpture, historical monuments prevailed in squares, especially war memorials after the First World War. But Europe continued to dominate here, right up to Art Deco.
The Group of Seven tried to develop a Canadian painting; she drew her inspiration from the landscape. Emily Carr was one of the first to record not only the specific landscape of the West, but also the grandiose art of the Indians of the Pacific coast.
John Lyman founded the Contemporary Arts Society in 1939, and Cubist influences came over Quebec, where the group of Automatistes emerged. Against them and Surrealism, the Sculptureiens emerged, above all Guido Molinari and Claude Tousignant, questions of structure and color came more to the fore. Similarly in Toronto, where Jack Bush and Harold Town opposed Abstract Expressionism. At the same time, these groups tried to distance themselves against the influence of the USA. The same was true for sculptors such as Robert Murray or Armand Vaillancourt. On the other hand, the architecture hardly differs from the international one. The photographer Yousuf Karsh was one of the most important portrait photographers of the 20th century.
In the visual arts, Canada has made a name for itself in Europe through innovative artists. Jeff Wall, Rodney Graham, Ken Lum and Geneviève Cadieux have used photographic techniques in novel ways. Jana Sterbak has created extraordinary conceptual environments.
Food & Drink
The production of food depends heavily on natural conditions. Therefore, the regional cuisines, such as those of the coastal fringes and the grasslands of the prairie provinces, have corresponding emphases. While on the Atlantic coast, for example, the catch of lobsters, more precisely lobsters, is an important industry, on the West coast it was that of wild salmon; the latter, however, was almost completely displaced by salmon farms, so that some salmon species, which could be admired in huge spawning trains only a few years ago, must now be counted among the endangered animal species.
In addition to the use of natural resources, cultural differences also play a considerable role. The French influence in Québec is not to be overlooked, there are numerous restaurants with the appropriate cuisine. The prairie provinces are very much influenced by the Midwest of the USA, while in the far west a strong British influence is noticeable, where English tea still has its place in everyday life.
In southern Canada, especially on the Niagara Peninsula and the Okanagan area, as well as in the southeast of Vancouver Island in British Columbia, wine is grown. The more than 200-year-old viticulture took a new upswing, as new viticulture licenses were issued for the first time from 1974, and because the wine associations (Vintners Quality Alliance) pushed for higher qualities. Canadian wines account for about half of the country’s total consumption, with Vincor International and Andres Wines dominating until 2006. Vincor, however, was bought by the US wine producer Constellation Brands.
Spirits can only be purchased in special stores or in restaurants that are called Licensed Premises. Many restaurants allow their guests to bring their own wine, beer or maple syrup. The minimum age for buying alcohol is between 18 and 19 years.
The predominant coffee and fast food chain is Tim Hortons, Tim’s or Timmies for short. The company was founded in 1964 in Hamilton, Ontario and acquired by Burger King Worldwide Inc. in 2014, making it majority-owned by Brazilian investment firm 3G Capital. In 2016, there were over 3,800 offices in Canada. The fiercest competitor in fast food is McDonald’s, in the coffee sector the US company Starbucks.
Sport
The sport in Canada is diverse and includes numerous winter and summer sports. Until 1994, only lacrosse, which goes back to Indian roots, was officially recognized as a national sport. It has been considered a national summer sport since 1994. Ice hockey has been the national winter sport since 1994. Canada is not only considered the motherland of ice hockey, but also one of the world’s most successful countries. Seven Canadian teams are represented in the NHL, the most important professional league in the world. Canada is also very successful in lacrosse, defeating the USA at the 2006 World Lacrosse Championship in London.
In addition to lacrosse, the most popular sport among spectators in the summer is Canadian football, which has great similarities with American football. The championship final, the Grey Cup, has the highest ratings for televised sporting events. Baseball, basketball, cricket, curling, football, rugby union and softball are also attracting interest. The most common individual sports are ice skating, golf, athletics, wrestling, swimming, skateboarding, skiing, snowboarding and tennis. Since the country has a predominantly cool climate, the successes in winter sports tend to be more numerous than in summer sports.
Canada has hosted numerous international sporting events, including the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal and the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary. The 2010 Winter Olympics were held in Vancouver. In addition, Canadian cities have hosted four Commonwealth Games and numerous World Championships.
Holidays
| Date | English name | French name | Remark | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 January | New Year’s Day | Nouvel An | New Year | Nationwide public holiday |
| Good Friday | Good Friday | Vendredi saint | Good Friday | Nationwide public holiday |
| Easter Monday | Easter Monday | Pâques | Easter Monday | Work-free day for federal employees (many private employers follow these holidays) |
| Monday before or on May 24 | Victoria Day | Fête de la Reine | Celebration of the birthday of the reigning British (and Canadian) monarch. In Québec, Victoria Day and Fête des Patriotes fall on the same day. | Public holiday in most provinces and all territories |
| 1 July | Canada Day | Fête du Canada | in celebration of the British North America Act of 1 July 1867. It is preceded by National Aboriginal Day, Fête nationale du Québec and Canadian Multiculturalism Day between 21 and 27 June. | Holidays with sometimes different names and meanings per province (e. g. British Columbia Day, New Brunswick Day, Saskatchewan Day) |
| First Monday in August | Civic Holiday | Premier lundi d’août | Public holidays in most provinces and all territories | National holidays and nationwide public holiday |
| First Monday in September | Labour Day | Fête du travail | Labour Day | Nationwide public holiday |
| Second Monday in October | Thanksgiving | Action de grâce | Harvest festival | Public holiday in most provinces and territories, day off for federal employees |
| 11 November | Remembrance Day | Jour du Souvenir | Day of Remembrance of the War Dead | Public holidays in some provinces |
| 25 December | Christmas | Noël | 1st Christmas Day | Nationwide public holiday |
| 26 December | Boxing Day | Lendemain de Noël | 2nd Christmas Day | Public holiday in Ontario |
In addition, there are movable holidays, such as Family Day or Louis Riel Day.
References (sources)
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