Canada

Canada is a country in North America.Its ten provinces and three territories extend fromthe Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean andnorthward into the ArcticOcean, making it the world's second-largest country by total area, with the world's longest coastline. Its border with the United States is the world'slongest international land border. The country is characterized by a wide rangeof both meteorologic and geological regions. It is a sparsely inhabited country of 40 million people, the vast majority residing south ofthe 55th parallel in urban areas. Canada's capital is Ottawa and its three largestmetropolitan areas are Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver.

Indigenous peoples have continuously inhabitedwhat is now Canada for thousands of years. Beginning in the 16th century, British and French expeditions explored and later settledalong the Atlantic coast. As a consequence of various armed conflicts, France ceded nearly all of its colonies in NorthAmerica in 1763. In 1867, with the union of three British North American colonies through Confederation, Canada was formed as a federal dominion of four provinces. This began an accretion of provinces and territories and aprocess of increasing autonomy from the United Kingdom, highlighted by the Statute of Westminster, 1931, and culminating inthe Canada Act 1982, which severed the vestiges oflegal dependence on the Parliament of the United Kingdom.

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

A developed country, Canada has a high nominal per capita income globally and itsadvanced economy ranks among the largest in the world, relying chiefly upon its abundant natural resources andwell-developed international trade networks. Canada is recognized asa middle power forits role in international affairs, with a tendency to pursue multilateral and international solutions. Canada's peacekeeping role during the 20thcentury has had a significant influence on its global image. Canada is part ofmultiple international organizations and forums.

While a variety of theories have been postulated for theetymological origins of Canada, the name is now accepted as comingfrom the St. Lawrence Iroquoian word kanata, meaning "village"or "settlement".^[8] In 1535, Indigenous inhabitants of thepresent-day QuebecCity region used the word to direct French explorer Jacques Cartier tothe village of Stadacona.^[9] Cartierlater used the word Canada to refer not only to thatparticular village but to the entire area subject to Donnacona (thechief at Stadacona);^[9] by1545, European books and maps had begun referring to this small region alongthe Saint Lawrence River as Canada.^[9]

From the 16th to the early 18th century, "Canada" referred to the part of New France thatlay along the Saint Lawrence River.^[10] In1791, the area became two British colonies called Upper Canada and Lower Canada.These two colonies were collectively named the Canadas untiltheir union as the British Province of Canada in 1841.^[11]

Upon Confederation in 1867, Canada wasadopted as the legal name for the new country at the London Conference and the word dominion was conferred as the country'stitle.^[12] By the 1950s, the term Dominionof Canada was no longer used by the United Kingdom, which consideredCanada a "realm of the Commonwealth".^[13]

The Canada Act 1982,which brought the Constitution of Canada fully under Canadiancontrol, referred only to Canada. Later that year, the name of thenational holiday was changed from Dominion Day to Canada Day.^[14] Theterm Dominion was used to distinguish the federal governmentfrom the provinces, though after the Second World War the term federal hadreplaced dominion.^[15]

Indigenous peoples

The first inhabitants of North America are generallyhypothesized to have migrated from Siberia by way of the Bering land bridge and arrived at least 14,000years ago.^[16][17] The Paleo-Indian archeologicalsites at Old Crow Flats and Bluefish Caves aretwo of the oldest sites of human habitation in Canada.^[18] The characteristics of Indigenous societies includedpermanent settlements, agriculture, complex societal hierarchies, and tradingnetworks.^[19][20] Some of these cultures had collapsedby the time European explorers arrived in the late 15th and early 16thcenturies and have only been discovered through archeological investigations.^[21] Indigenous peoples in present-day Canada includethe First Nations, Inuit, and Métis,^[22] thelast being of mixeddescent who originated in the mid-17th century when FirstNations people married European settlers and subsequently developed their ownidentity.^[22]

The Indigenous population atthe time of the first European settlements is estimated to have been between200,000^[24] andtwo million,^[25] with a figure of 500,000 accepted byCanada's Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples.^[26] As a consequence of Europeancolonization, the Indigenous population declined by forty to eighty percent andseveral First Nations, such as the Beothuk, disappeared.^[27] The decline is attributed to severalcauses, including the transfer of European diseases, such as influenza, measles, and smallpox, to which they had no natural immunity,^[24][28] conflicts over the fur trade,conflicts with the colonial authorities and settlers, and the loss ofIndigenous lands to settlers and the subsequent collapse of several nations'self-sufficiency.^[29][30]

Although not without conflict, European Canadians' early interactions with FirstNations and Inuit populations were relatively peaceful.^[31] First Nations and Métis peoplesplayed a critical part in the development of European colonies in Canada, particularly for theirrole in assisting European coureurs des bois and voyageurs intheir explorations of the continent during the North American fur trade.^[32] These early European interactionswith First Nations would change from friendship and peace treaties to thedispossession of Indigenous lands through treaties.^[33][34] Fromthe late 18th century, European Canadians forced Indigenous peoples toassimilate into a western Canadian society.^[35] These attempts reached a climax inthe late 19th and early 20th centuries with forced integration through state-funded boarding schools,^[36] health-care segregation,^[37] and displacement.^[38] Aperiod of redress began with the formation of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada bythe Government of Canada in 2008.^[39] This included recognition of past colonial injustices and settlement agreements and betterment of racialdiscrimination issues, such as addressing the plight of missing and murdered Indigenous women.^[39][40]

European colonization

It is believed that the first documented European to explore theeast coast of Canada was Norse explorer Leif Erikson.^[42][43] In approximately 1000 AD, the Norsebuilt a small short-lived encampment that was occupied sporadically for perhaps20 years at L'Anse aux Meadows on the northern tip of Newfoundland.^[44] Nofurther European exploration occurred until 1497, when seafarer John Cabot exploredand claimed Canada's Atlantic coast inthe name of Henry VII of England.^[45] In1534, French explorer Jacques Cartier explored the Gulf of Saint Lawrence where, on July 24, heplanted a 10-metre (33 ft) cross bearing the words, "long live theKing of France", and took possession of the territory New France in thename of King Francis I.^[46] The early 16th century saw Europeanmariners with navigational techniques pioneered by the Basque and Portuguese establish seasonal whaling andfishing outposts along the Atlantic coast.^[47] In general, early settlements duringthe Age of Discovery appear to have been short-lived due to a combination of the harshclimate, problems with navigating trade routes and competing outputs inScandinavia.^[48][49]

In 1583, Sir Humphrey Gilbert,by the royal prerogative of Queen Elizabeth I,founded St John's, Newfoundland, as the first North American English seasonal camp.^[50] In 1600, the French established theirfirst seasonal trading post at Tadoussac alongthe Saint Lawrence.^[44] Frenchexplorer Samuel de Champlain arrived in 1603 andestablished the first permanent year-round European settlements at Port Royal (in 1605) and Quebec City (in 1608).^[51] Among the colonists of New France, Canadiens extensivelysettled the Saint Lawrence River valley and Acadians settled the present-day Maritimes, whilefur traders and Catholic missionaries explored the Great Lakes, Hudson Bay, andthe Mississippi watershed to Louisiana.^[52] The Beaver Wars brokeout in the mid-17th century over control of the North American fur trade.^[53]

The English established additional settlements in Newfoundland in 1610 along with settlements inthe Thirteen Colonies to the south.^[54][55] A series of four wars erupted in colonial North Americabetween 1689 and 1763; the later wars of the period constituted the NorthAmerican theatre of the Seven Years' War.^[56] Mainland Nova Scotia cameunder British rule with the 1713 Treaty of Utrecht andCanada and most of New France came under British rule in 1763 after the SevenYears' War.^[57]

British North America

The Royal Proclamation of 1763 established FirstNation treaty rights, created the Province of Quebec out of New France, andannexed Cape Breton Island to Nova Scotia.^[14] StJohn's Island (now Prince Edward Island) became a separate colony in1769.^[59] To avert conflict in Quebec, the British Parliament passed the Quebec Act 1774,expanding Quebec's territory to the Great Lakes and Ohio Valley.^[60] More importantly, the Quebec Actafforded Quebec special autonomy and rights of self-administration at a timewhen the Thirteen Colonies were increasingly agitating against British rule.^[61] It re-established the Frenchlanguage, Catholic faith, and French civil law there,staving off the growth of an independence movement in contrast to the ThirteenColonies.^[62] The Proclamation and the Quebec Actin turn angered many residents of the Thirteen Colonies, further fuellinganti-British sentiment in the years prior to the American Revolution.^[14]

After the successful American War of Independence, the 1783 Treaty of Paris recognized the independenceof the newly formed UnitedStates and set the terms of peace, ceding British North American territories south of theGreat Lakes and east of the Mississippi River to the new country.^[63] The American war of independence alsocaused a large out-migration of Loyalists, thesettlers who had fought against American independence. Many moved to Canada,particularly Atlantic Canada, where their arrival changed the demographicdistribution of the existing territories. New Brunswick wasin turn split from Nova Scotia as part of a reorganization of Loyalistsettlements in the Maritimes, which led to the incorporation of Saint John, New Brunswick, as Canada's first city.^[64] To accommodate the influx ofEnglish-speaking Loyalists in Central Canada, the Constitutional Act of 1791 divided the provinceof Canada into French-speaking Lower Canada (later Quebec) and English-speaking Upper Canada (later Ontario),granting each its own elected legislative assembly.^[65]

The Canadas were the main front in the War of 1812 betweenthe United States and the United Kingdom. Peace came in 1815; no boundarieswere changed.^[67] Immigration resumed at a higherlevel, with over 960,000 arrivals from Britain between 1815 and 1850.^[68] New arrivals included refugeesescaping the Great Irish Famine as well as Gaelic-speakingScots displaced by the Highland Clearances.^[69] Infectious diseases killed between 25and 33 percent of Europeans who immigrated to Canada before 1891.^[24]

The desire for responsible government resulted in the abortive Rebellions of 1837.^[70] The Durham Report subsequentlyrecommended responsible government and the assimilation of French Canadiansinto English culture.^[14] The Act of Union 1840 mergedthe Canadas into a united Province of Canada and responsible government wasestablished for all provinces of British North America east of Lake Superior by1855.^[71] The signing of the Oregon Treaty byBritain and the United States in 1846 ended the Oregon boundary dispute, extending the borderwestward along the 49th parallel. This paved the way for Britishcolonies on Vancouver Island (1849) and in British Columbia (1858).^[72] The Anglo-Russian Treaty of Saint Petersburg (1825) establishedthe border along the Pacific coast, but, even after the US Alaska Purchase of1867, disputes continued about the exact demarcation of the Alaska–Yukon andAlaska–BC border.^[73]

Confederation and expansion

Following three constitutional conferences, the British North America Act, 1867 officiallyproclaimed Canadian Confederation on July 1, 1867, initially with fourprovinces: Ontario, Quebec,Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick.^[75][76] Canada assumed control of Rupert's Land andthe North-Western Territory to form the Northwest Territories, where the Métis' grievancesignited the Red River Rebellion and the creation of theprovince of Manitoba inJuly 1870.^[77] British Columbia and Vancouver Island(which had been united in 1866) joined theconfederation in 1871 on the promise of a transcontinental railway extending toVictoria in the province within 10 years,^[78] while Prince Edward Island joined in1873.^[79] In1898, during the Klondike Gold Rush in the Northwest Territories,Parliament created the Yukon Territory. Alberta and Saskatchewan becameprovinces in 1905.^[79] Between1871 and 1896, almost one quarter of the Canadian population emigrated south tothe US.^[80]

To open the West andencourage European immigration, the Government of Canada sponsored theconstruction of three transcontinental railways (including the Canadian Pacific Railway), passed the Dominion Lands Act to regulate settlementand established the North-West Mounted Police to assert authorityover the territory.^[81][82] This period of westward expansion and nation building resultedin the displacement of many Indigenous peoples of theCanadian Prairies to "Indian reserves",^[83] clearing the way for ethnic European block settlements.^[84] This caused the collapse of the Plains Bison in western Canada and theintroduction of European cattle farms and wheat fields dominating theland.^[85] The Indigenous peoples saw widespreadfamine and disease due to the loss of the bison and their traditional huntinglands.^[86] The federal government did provideemergency relief, on condition of the Indigenous peoples moving to the reserves.^[87] During this time, Canada introducedthe IndianAct extending its control over the First Nations toeducation, government and legal rights.^[88]

Early 20th century

Because Britain still maintained control of Canada's foreignaffairs under the British North America Act, 1867, its declaration of war in1914 automatically brought Canada into the First World War.^[89] Volunteers sent to the Western Front later became part of the Canadian Corps,which played a substantial role in the Battle of Vimy Ridge and other major engagementsof the war.^[90] Outof approximately 625,000 Canadians who served in the First World War, some60,000 were killed and another 172,000 were wounded.^[91] The Conscription Crisis of 1917 erupted when the Unionist Cabinet's proposal to augment themilitary's dwindling number of active members with conscription wasmet with vehement objections from French-speaking Quebecers.^[92] The MilitaryService Act brought in compulsory military service, though it, coupledwith disputes over French language schools outside Quebec, deeply alienatedFrancophone Canadians and temporarily split the Liberal Party.^[92] In1919, Canada joined the League of Nations independentlyof Britain,^[90] andthe Statute of Westminster, 1931, affirmed Canada'sindependence.^[93]

The Great Depression in Canada during the early1930s saw an economic downturn, leading to hardship across the country.^[94] In response to the downturn, the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF) inSaskatchewan introduced many elements of a welfare state (aspioneered by TommyDouglas) in the 1940s and 1950s.^[95] On the advice of Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King, war with Germany was declared effectiveSeptember 10, 1939, by King George VI, sevendays after the United Kingdom. The delay underscored Canada's independence.^[90]

The first Canadian Army units arrived in Britain in December1939. In all, over a million Canadians served in the armed forces during the Second World War andapproximately 42,000 were killed and another 55,000 were wounded.^[96] Canadian troops played importantroles in many key battles of the war, including the failed 1942 Dieppe Raid, the Allied invasion of Italy, the Normandy landings,the Battle of Normandy, and the Battle of the Scheldt in 1944.^[90] Canadaprovided asylum for the Dutch monarchy whilethat country was occupied and is credited by the Netherlands formajor contributions to its liberation from Nazi Germany.^[97]

The Canadian economy boomed during the war as its industriesmanufactured military materiel forCanada, Britain, China, and the Soviet Union.^[90] Despiteanother Conscription Crisis in Quebec in 1944, Canadafinished the war with a large army and strong economy.^[98]

Contemporary era

The financial crisis of the Great Depression led the Dominion of Newfoundland to relinquishresponsible government in 1934 and become a Crown colony ruledby a British governor.^[99] After two referendums, Newfoundlanders voted to join Canada in1949 as a province.^[100]

Canada's post-war economic growth, combined with the policies ofsuccessive Liberal governments, led to the emergence of a new Canadian identity,marked by the adoption of the maple leaf flag in1965,^[101] the implementation of official bilingualism (English and French) in1969,^[102] and the institution of official multiculturalism in 1971.^[103] Socially democratic programs were alsoinstituted, such as Medicare, the Canada Pension Plan, and Canada Student Loans; though, provincial governments,particularly Quebec and Alberta, opposed many of these as incursions into theirjurisdictions.^[104]

Finally, another series of constitutional conferences resultedin the Canada Act 1982, the patriation ofCanada's constitution from the United Kingdom, concurrent with the creation ofthe Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.^{[106][107][108]} Canada had established completesovereignty as an independent country under its own monarchy.^[109][110] In 1999, Nunavut became Canada's third territory after aseries of negotiations with the federal government.^[111]

At the same time, Quebec underwent profound social and economicchanges through the Quiet Revolution ofthe 1960s, giving birth to a secular nationalist movement.^[112] The radical Front de libération du Québec (FLQ) ignited the October Crisis witha series of bombings and kidnappings in 1970,^[113] and the sovereigntist Parti Québécois was elected in 1976, organizingan unsuccessful referendum onsovereignty-association in 1980. Attempts to accommodate Quebec nationalismconstitutionally through the Meech Lake Accord failedin 1990.^[114] Thisled to the formation of the Bloc Québécois in Quebec and the invigoration ofthe Reform Party of Canada in the West.^[115][116] A second referendum followed in 1995, in whichsovereignty was rejected by a slimmer margin of 50.6 to 49.4 percent.^[117] In 1997, the Supreme Court ruled unilateral secession by a province would beunconstitutional, and the Clarity Act waspassed by Parliament, outlining the terms of a negotiated departure fromConfederation.^[114]

In addition to the issues of Quebec sovereignty, a number ofcrises shook Canadian society in the late 1980s and early 1990s. These includedthe explosion of Air India Flight 182 in 1985, the largest massmurder in Canadian history;^[118] the École Polytechnique massacre in 1989, a university shooting targetingfemale students;^[119] and the Oka Crisis of1990,^[120] the first of a number of violentconfrontations between provincial governments and Indigenous groups.^[121] Canada also joined the Gulf War in1990 as part of a United States–led coalition force and was active in severalpeacekeeping missions in the 1990s, including the UNPROFOR mission in the former Yugoslavia.^[122] Canada sent troops to Afghanistan in 2001 but declined tojoin the United States–led invasion of Iraq in 2003.^[123]

In 2011, Canadian forces participated in the NATO-ledintervention into the Libyan Civil War^[124] and also became involved in battlingthe IslamicState insurgency in Iraq in the mid-2010s.^[125] The country celebrated its sesquicentennial in 2017, three years beforethe COVID-19 pandemic in Canada began on January 27,2020, with widespread social and economic disruption.^[126] In 2021, the possible graves of hundreds of Indigenous people were discovered nearthe former sites of Canadian Indian residential schools.^[127] Administered by various Christianchurches and funded by the Canadian government from 1828 to 1997, these boarding schools attemptedto assimilate Indigenous children into Euro-Canadian culture.^[36]

By total area (including its waters), Canada is the second-largest country in the world, after Russia.^[128] Byland area alone, Canada ranks fourth, due to having the world's largest areaof fresh water lakes.^[129] Stretching from the Atlantic Ocean inthe east, along the ArcticOcean to the north, and to the Pacific Ocean inthe west, the country encompasses 9,984,670 km² (3,855,100 sq mi)of territory.^[130] Canadaalso has vast maritime terrain, with the world's longest coastline of 243,042kilometres (151,019 mi).^[131][132] Inaddition to sharing the world's largest land border with the United States—spanning8,891 km (5,525 mi)^[a]—Canadashares a land border with Greenland (andhence the Kingdom of Denmark) to the northeast, on Hans Island,^[133] and a maritime boundary with France's overseas collectivity of Saint Pierre and Miquelon to the southeast.^[134] Canada is also home to the world'snorthernmost settlement, CanadianForces Station Alert, on the northern tip of Ellesmere Island—latitude82.5°N—which lies 817 kilometres (508 mi) from the North Pole.^[135]

Canada can be divided into seven physiographic regions: the Canadian Shield,the interior plains, the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Lowlands, the Appalachian region, the Western Cordillera, Hudson Bay Lowlands, and the Arctic Archipelago.^[136] Boreal forests prevail throughout the country,ice is prominent in northern Arctic regions and through the Rocky Mountains,and the relatively flat Canadian Prairies inthe southwest facilitate productive agriculture.^[130] TheGreat Lakes feed the St. Lawrence River (in the southeast) where thelowlands host much of Canada's economic output.^[130] Canadahas over 2,000,000 lakes—563 of which are larger than 100 km² (39 sq mi)—containingmuch of the world's freshwater.^[137][138] There are also fresh-water glaciersin the Canadian Rockies, the Coast Mountains,and the Arctic Cordillera.^[139] Canada is geologicallyactive, having many earthquakes and potentially active volcanoes, notably Mount Meager massif, Mount Garibaldi, Mount Cayley,and the Mount Edziza volcanic complex.^[140]

Climate

Average winter and summer high temperatures across Canada vary from region toregion. Winters can be harsh in many parts of the country, particularly in theinterior and Prairie provinces, which experience a continental climate, where daily average temperaturesare near −15 °C (5 °F), but candrop below −40 °C (−40 °F) with severe wind chills.^[141] In non-coastal regions, snow cancover the ground for almost six months of the year, while in parts of the northsnow can persist year-round. Coastal British Columbia has a temperate climate,with a mild and rainy winter. On the east and west coasts, average hightemperatures are generally in the low 20s °C (70s °F), while between thecoasts, the average summer high temperature ranges from 25 to 30 °C (77 to86 °F), with temperatures in some interior locations occasionallyexceeding 40 °C (104 °F).^[142]

Much of Northern Canada iscovered by ice and permafrost.The future of the permafrost is uncertain because the Arctic has been warmingat three times the global average as a result of climate change in Canada.^[143] Canada's annual average temperatureover land has risen by 1.7 °C (3.1 °F), with changes ranging from 1.1to 2.3 °C (2.0 to 4.1 °F) in various regions, since 1948.^[130] Therate of warming has been higher across the North and in the Prairies.^[144] Inthe southern regions of Canada, air pollution from both Canada and the UnitedStates—caused by metal smelting, burning coal to power utilities, and vehicleemissions—has resulted in acid rain,which has severely impacted waterways, forest growth, and agriculturalproductivity in Canada.^[145]

Biodiversity

Canada is divided into 15 terrestrial and five marine ecozones.^[147] These ecozones encompass over 80,000classified species of Canadian wildlife, with an equal number yet to beformally recognized or discovered.^[148] AlthoughCanada has a low percentage of endemic species compared to other countries,^[149] due to human activities, invasive species, and environmental issues in the country, there arecurrently more than 800 species at risk of being lost.^[150] About 65 percent of Canada'sresident species are considered "Secure".^[151] Over half of Canada's landscape isintact and relatively free of human development.^[152] The boreal forest of Canada is considered to be thelargest intact forest on Earth, with approximately3,000,000 km² (1,200,000 sq mi) undisturbed byroads, cities or industry.^[153] Since the end of the last glacial period,Canada has consisted of eight distinct forest regions,^[154] with 42 percent of its land areacovered by forests (approximately 8 percent of the world's forested land).^[155]

Approximately 12.1 percent of the nation's landmass andfreshwater are conservation areas, including 11.4 percent designatedas protected areas.^[156] Approximately13.8 percent of its territorial waters are conserved, including 8.9 percentdesignated as protected areas.^[156] Canada'sfirst National Park, Banff National Park established in 1885, spans6,641 square kilometres (2,564 sq mi)^[157] of mountainous terrain, with many glaciers and ice fields,dense coniferous forest,and alpine landscapes.^[158] Canada's oldest provincial park, Algonquin Provincial Park, established in 1893,covers an area of 7,653.45 square kilometres (2,955.01 sq mi). It isdominated by old-growth forest with over 2,400 lakes and1,200 kilometres of streams and rivers.^[159] Lake Superior National Marine Conservation Area isthe world's largest freshwater protected area, spanning roughly 10,000 squarekilometres (3,900 sq mi) of lakebed, its overlaying freshwater, andassociated shoreline on 60 square kilometres (23 sq mi) of islandsand mainland.^[160] Canada's largest national wildliferegion is the Scott Islands Marine National Wildlife Area, whichspans 11,570.65 square kilometres (4,467.45 sq mi)^[161] and protects critical breeding andnesting habitat for over 40 percent of British Columbia's seabirds.^[162] Canada's18 UNESCO Biosphere Reserves cover a total area of235,000 square kilometres (91,000 sq mi).^[163]

Canada is described as a "full democracy",^[164] with a tradition of liberalism,^[165] and an egalitarian,^[166] moderate political ideology.^[167] An emphasis on social justice hasbeen a distinguishing element of Canada's political culture.^[168][169] Peace, order, and good government, alongside an Implied Bill of Rights, are founding principles ofthe Canadian government.^[170][171]

At the federal level, Canada has been dominated by tworelatively centrist partiespractising "brokerage politics":^[b] the centre-left leaning Liberal Party of Canada^[178][179] and the centre-right leaning Conservative Party of Canada (or its predecessors).^[180] Thehistorically predominant Liberals position themselves at the centre of thepolitical scale.^[180] Fiveparties had representatives elected to the Parliament in the 2021 election—the Liberals, who formed a minoritygovernment; the Conservatives, who became the Official Opposition; the New Democratic Party(occupying the left^[181][182]); the Bloc Québécois; and the Green Party of Canada.^[183] Far-right and far-left politics have never been a prominentforce in Canadian society.^{[184][185][186]}

Canada has a parliamentary system within the context of a constitutional monarchy—the monarchy of Canada being the foundation of theexecutive, legislative,and judicial branches.^{[187][188][189][190]} The reigning monarch is also monarch of 14 other Commonwealth countries (though, all aresovereign of one another^[191]) and each of Canada's 10 provinces. To carry out most oftheir federal royal duties in Canada, the monarch appoints a representative,the governor general, on the advice of the prime minister.^[192][193]

The monarchy is the source of sovereignty and authority in Canada.^{[190][194][195]} However,while the governor general or monarch may exercise their power withoutministerial advice in certain rare crisis situations,^[194] theuse of the executive powers (or royal prerogative)is otherwise always directed by the Cabinet, acommittee of ministers of the Crown responsible to theelected House of Commons and chosen and headed by theprime minister,^[196] the head of government. To ensure the stability ofgovernment, the governor general will usually appoint as prime minister theindividual who is the current leader of the political party that can obtain theconfidence of a majority ofmembers in the House of Commons.^[197] The Prime Minister's Office (PMO) is thus one of themost powerful institutions in government, initiating most legislation forparliamentary approval and selecting for appointment by the Crown, besides theaforementioned, the governor general, lieutenant governors, senators, federal court judges,and heads of Crown corporations and government agencies.^[194] Theleader of the party with the second-most seats usually becomes the leader of the Official Opposition and is part ofan adversarial parliamentary system intended to keep the government in check.^[198]

The Parliament of Canada passes all statute lawswithin the federal sphere. It comprises the monarch, the House of Commons, andthe Senate. While Canada inherited the British concept of parliamentary supremacy, this was later, with theenactment of the Constitution Act, 1982, all but completely superseded by theAmerican notion of the supremacy of the law.^[200]

Each of the 338 members of Parliament in the House of Commons iselected by simple plurality in an electoral district or riding. The Constitution Act, 1982, requires that no morethan five years pass between elections, although the Canada Elections Act limits this to fouryears with a "fixed" election date in October; general elections still must be called by thegovernor general and can be triggered by either the advice of the primeminister or a lost confidence vote in the House.^[201][202] The 105 members of the Senate, whoseseats are apportioned on a regional basis, serve until age 75.^[203]

Canadian federalism divides governmentresponsibilities between the federal government and the 10 provinces. Provincial legislatures are unicameral andoperate in parliamentary fashion similar to the House of Commons.^[195] Canada'sthree territories also have legislatures; but, these are not sovereign and havefewer constitutional responsibilities than the provinces.^[204] The territorial legislatures alsodiffer structurally from their provincial counterparts.^[205]

The Bank of Canada is the central bank ofthe country.^[206] The minister of finance and minister of innovation, science, and industry usethe Statistics Canada agency for financial planningand economic policy development.^[207] TheBank of Canada is the sole authority authorized to issue currency in the formof Canadian bank notes.^[208] The bank does not issue Canadian coins; they are issued by the Royal Canadian Mint.^[209]

Law

Main article: Law of Canada

The Constitution of Canada is the supreme law of thecountry and consists of written text and unwritten conventions.^[210] The Constitution Act, 1867 (knownas the British North America Act, 1867 prior to 1982),affirmed governance based on parliamentary precedent and divided powers betweenthe federal and provincial governments.^[211] The Statuteof Westminster, 1931, granted full autonomy, and the ConstitutionAct, 1982, ended all legislative ties to Britain, as well as adding aconstitutional amending formula and the Canadian Charter of Rights andFreedoms.^[212] The Charter guaranteesbasic rights and freedoms that usually cannot be over-ridden by any government;though, a notwithstanding clause allowsParliament and the provincial legislatures to override certain sections ofthe Charter for a period of five years.^[213]

Canada's judiciary plays an important role ininterpreting laws and has the power to strike down acts of Parliament thatviolate the constitution. The Supreme Court of Canada is the highest court,final arbiter, and has been led since December 18, 2017, by Richard Wagner, the Chief Justice of Canada.^[214] The governor general appoints thecourt's nine members on the advice of the prime minister and minister of justice.^[215] Thefederal Cabinet also appoints justices to superior courts in the provincial andterritorial jurisdictions.^[216]

Commonlaw prevails everywhere, except in Quebec, where civil law predominates.^[217] Criminal law is solely a federal responsibilityand is uniform throughout Canada.^[218] Lawenforcement, including criminal courts, is officially a provincialresponsibility, conducted by provincial and municipal police forces.^[219] In most rural and some urban areas,policing responsibilities are contracted to the federal Royal Canadian Mounted Police.^[220]

Canadian Aboriginal law provides certain constitutionally recognized rights to land andtraditional practices for Indigenous groups in Canada.^[221] Various treaties and case laws wereestablished to mediate relations between Europeans and many Indigenous peoples.^[222] Most notably, a series of 11treaties, known as the Numbered Treaties,were signed between the Indigenous peoples and the reigning monarch of Canadabetween 1871 and 1921.^[223] These treaties are agreementsbetween the Canadian Crown-in-Council,with the duty to consult and accommodate.^[224] The role of Aboriginal law and therights they support were reaffirmed by section 35 of the Constitution Act, 1982.^[222] These rights may include provisionof services, such as healthcare through the Indian Health Transfer Policy, and exemption fromtaxation.^[225]

Foreign relations and military

Canada is recognized as a middle power forits role in global affairs with a tendency to pursue multilateral and international solutions.^{[227][228][229]} Canada'sforeign policy based on international peacekeeping and security is carried outthrough coalitions, international organizations, and the work of numerousfederal institutions.^[230][231] The strategy of the Canadian government's foreign aid policy reflectsan emphasis to meet the Sustainable Development Goals, while also providingassistance in response to foreign humanitarian crises.^[232] The Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) istasked with gathering and analyzing intelligence to prevent threats such as terrorism, espionage, and foreign interference,^[233] whilethe Communications Security Establishment (CSE) isfocused on cyber security and protecting Canada's digitalinfrastructure.^[233]

Canada and the United States have a long,complex, and intertwined relationship;^[234][235] theyare close allies, co-operating regularly on military campaigns and humanitarianefforts.^[236][237] Canada also maintains historic andtraditional ties to the United Kingdom and to France,^[238] alongwith both countries' former colonies through its membership in the Commonwealth of Nations and the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie.^[239] Canada is noted for having apositive relationship with the Netherlands, owing, in part, toits contribution to the Dutch liberation during the Second World War.^[97] Canada has diplomatic and consular offices inover 270 locations in approximately 180 foreign countries.^[226]

Canada's peacekeeping role during the 20thcentury has played a major role in its positive global image.^[240][241] The Suez Crisis of1956, saw future prime minister Lester B. Pearson easedtensions by proposing the inception of the United Nations Peacekeeping Force, for which he wasawarded the 1957 Nobel Peace Prize.^[242] Canada has served in over 50 peacekeeping missions providingthe greatest amount of peacekeepers during the Cold War.^[243] Sincethe 21st century, Canadian direct participation in UN peacekeeping efforts hasgreatly declined.^[244] Thelarge decrease was a result of Canada directing its participation toUN-sanctioned military operations through NATO,rather than directly through the UN.^[245] Canadahas also faced controversy over its involvement in some foreign countries,notably the 1993 Somalia affair.^[246]

Asof 2024, Canada's military had over 3000 personnel deployed overseas in multiple operations.^[248] The unified Canadian Forces (CF)comprise the Royal Canadian Navy, Canadian Army,and Royal Canadian Air Force. The nation employs aprofessional, volunteer force of approximately 68,000 active personnel and27,000 reserve personnel—increasing to 71,500 and 30,000 respectively under"Strong, Secure, Engaged"^[249]—witha sub-component of approximately 5,000 Canadian Rangers.^[250][c] In2022, Canada's military expenditure totalled approximately $26.9 billion,or around 1.2 percent of the country's gross domestic product (GDP) – placing it14th for military expenditure by country.^[252]

Canada is a member of various international organizations and forums.^[253] Canada was a founding member of the United Nations in1945 and formed the North American Aerospace Defense Command togetherwith the United States in 1958.^[254] Thecountry has membership in the World Trade Organization, the Five Eyes, the G7 and the Organisation for EconomicCo-operation and Development (OECD).^[227] Thecountry joined the Organization of American States (OAS) in 1990,^[255] and seeks to expand its ties to Pacific Rim economiesthrough membership in the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum (APEC).^[256] Canada ratified the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948,and seven principal UN human rights conventions and covenants since then.^[257]

Provinces and territories

Canada is a federation composed of 10 federated states,called provinces, and three federal territories. In turn, these may be groupedinto four main regions: Western Canada, Central Canada, Atlantic Canada,and Northern Canada (Eastern Canada refersto Central Canada and Atlantic Canada together).^[259] Provinces and territories haveresponsibility for social programs such as healthcare, education, and welfare,^[260] aswell as administration of justice (but not criminal law). Together, theprovinces collect more revenue than the federal government, a rarity amongother federations in the world. Using its spending powers, the federalgovernment can initiate national policies in provincial areas such as healthand child care; the provinces can opt out of these cost-share programs butrarely do so in practice. Equalization payments are made by the federalgovernment to ensure reasonably uniform standards of services and taxation arekept between the richer and poorer provinces.^[261]

The major difference between a Canadian province and a territoryis that provinces receive their sovereignty from the Crown^[262] and power and authority fromthe Constitution Act, 1867, whereas territorial governments havepowers delegated to them by the Parliament of Canada^[263] and the commissioners represent the King in his federal Council,^[264] rather than the monarch directly.The powers flowing from the Constitution Act, 1867, are dividedbetween the federal government and the provincial governments to exerciseexclusively^[265] and any changes to that arrangementrequire a constitutional amendment, while changes to the rolesand powers of the territories may be performed unilaterally by the Parliamentof Canada.^[266]

Canada has a highly developed mixed-market economy,^[268][269] with the world's ninth-largest economy as of 2023, and a nominal GDP ofapproximately US$2.221 trillion.^[270] It is one of the world's largest trading nations,with a highly globalized economy.^[271] In 2021, Canadian trade in goods andservices reached $2.016 trillion.^[272] Canada'sexports totalled over $637 billion, while its imported goods were worthover $631 billion, of which approximately $391 billion originatedfrom the United States.^[272] In2018, Canada had a tradedeficit in goods of $22 billion and a trade deficit inservices of $25 billion.^[272] The Toronto Stock Exchange is the ninth-largeststock exchange in the world by market capitalization, listing over 1,500 companieswith a combined market capitalization of over US$2 trillion.^[273]

Canada has a strong cooperative banking sector, with the world'shighest per-capita membership in credit unions.^[274] It ranks low in the Corruption Perceptions Index (14th in 2023)^[275] and "is widely regarded asamong the least corrupt countries of the world".^[276] It ranks high in the Global Competitiveness Report (14th in 2019)^[277] and Global Innovation Index (15th in 2023).^[278] Canada's economy ranks above most Western nations on The Heritage Foundation's Index of Economic Freedom^[279] and experiences a relatively lowlevel of income disparity.^[280] The country's average household disposable income percapita is "well above" the OECD average.^[281] Canada ranks among the lowest of themost developed countries for housing affordability^[282][283] and foreign direct investment.^[284][283]

Since the early 20th century, the growth of Canada's manufacturing, mining, and service sectorshas transformed the nation from a largely rural economy to an urbanized,industrial one.^[285] Like many other developed countries,the Canadian economy is dominated by the service industry, which employs about three-quartersof the country's workforce.^[286] Among developed countries, Canadahas an unusually important primary sector, of which the forestry and petroleum industries are the most prominentcomponents.^[287] Manytowns in northern Canada, where agriculture is difficult, are sustained bynearby mines or sources of timber.^[288]

Canada'seconomic integration with the United States has increased significantly sincethe Second World War.^[290] The Automotive Products Trade Agreement of 1965opened Canada's borders to trade in the automobile manufacturing industry.^[291] The Canada – United States Free Trade Agreement (FTA)of 1988 eliminated tariffs between the two countries, while the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA)expanded the free-trade zone to include Mexico in 1994 (later replaced by the Canada–United States–Mexico Agreement).^[292] As of 2023, Canada is a signatory to 15 free trade agreements with51 different countries.^[289]

Canada is one of the few developed nations that are netexporters of energy.^[287][293] Atlantic Canada possess vast offshore deposits of natural gas,^[294] and Alberta hosts the fourth-largestoil reserves in the world.^[295] Thevast Athabasca oil sands and other oil reserves giveCanada 13 percent of global oil reserves, constituting the world's third or fourth-largest.^[296] Canada is additionally one of the world's largest suppliers of agricultural products;the Canadian Prairies region is one of the most important global producers ofwheat, canola, andother grains.^[297] The country is a leading exporter of zinc, uranium,gold, nickel, platinoids, aluminum, steel, iron ore, coking coal,lead, copper, molybdenum,cobalt, and cadmium.^[298][299] Canadahas a sizeable manufacturing sector centred in southern Ontario and Quebec,with automobiles and aeronautics representingparticularly important industries.^[300] The fishing industry is also a key contributor tothe economy.^[301]

Science and technology

In 2020, Canada spent approximately $41.9 billion ondomestic research and development, with supplementaryestimates for 2022 at $43.2 billion.^[302] As of 2023, the country has produced15 Nobel laureates in physics, chemistry, and medicine.^[303] Thecountry ranks seventh in the worldwide share of articles published in scientific journals, according to the Nature Index,^[304] and is home to the headquarters of anumber of global technology firms.^[305] Canada has one of the highest levels of Internet access in the world,with over 33 million users, equivalent to around 94 percent of its totalpopulation.^[306]

Canada'sdevelopments in science and technology include the creation of the modern alkaline battery,^[308] the discovery of insulin,^[309] the development of the polio vaccine,^[310] and discoveries about the interiorstructure of the atomic nucleus.^[311] Other major Canadian scientificcontributions include the artificial cardiac pacemaker, mapping the visual cortex,^[312][313] thedevelopment of the electron microscope,^[314][315] plate tectonics, deep learning, multi-touch technology,and the identification of the first black hole, Cygnus X-1.^[316] Canada has a long history ofdiscovery in genetics, which include stem cells, site-directed mutagenesis, T-cell receptor,and the identification of the genes that cause Fanconi anemia, cystic fibrosis,and early-onset Alzheimer's disease, among numerous otherdiseases.^[313][317]

The Canadian Space Agency operates a highly activespace program, conducting deep-space, planetary, and aviation research anddeveloping rockets and satellites.^[318] Canadawas the third country to design and construct a satellite after the Soviet Union and the United States, with the1962 Alouette 1 launch.^[319] Canada is a participant in the International Space Station (ISS), and is apioneer in space robotics, having constructed the Canadarm, Canadarm2, Canadarm3 and Dextre robotic manipulators for the ISS andNASA's SpaceShuttle.^[320] Since the 1960s, Canada's aerospaceindustry has designed and built numerous marques of satellite, including Radarsat-1 and 2, ISIS, and MOST.^[321] Canada has also produced one of theworld's most successful and widely used sounding rockets,the Black Brant.^[322]

The 2021 Canadian census enumerated a total population of 36,991,981, an increase ofaround 5.2 percent over the 2016 figure.^[324] Itis estimated that Canada's population surpassed 40,000,000 in 2023.^[325] Themain drivers of population growth are immigration and, to a lesser extent, naturalgrowth.^[326] Canada has one of the highestper-capita immigration rates in the world,^[327] driven mainly by economic policy and also family reunification.^[328][329] A record 405,000 immigrants wereadmitted to Canada in 2021.^[330] Canada leads the world in refugee resettlement; it resettled more than 28,000in 2018.^[331] Newimmigrants settle mostly in major urban areas in the country, such as Toronto,Montreal, and Vancouver.^[332]

Canada's population density, at 4.2 inhabitants per squarekilometre (11/sq mi), is among the lowest in the world.^[324] Canadaspans latitudinally from the 83rd parallel north to the 41st parallel north andapproximately 95 percent of the population is found south of the 55thparallel north.^[333] About80 percent of the population lives within 150 kilometres (93 mi) of theborder with the contiguous United States.^[334] Canada is highly urbanized, withover 80 percent of the population living urban centres.^[335] Themost densely populated part of the country, accounting for nearly 50 percent,is the Quebec City–Windsor Corridor in Southern Quebecand Southern Ontario along the Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence River.^[336][333]

The majority of Canadians (81.1 percent) live in familyhouseholds, 12.1 percent report living alone, and those living with otherrelatives or unrelated persons reported at 6.8 percent.^[337] Fifty-one percent of householdsare couples with or without children, 8.7 percent are single-parenthouseholds, 2.9 percent are multigenerational households, and29.3 percent are single-person households.^[337]

Ethnicity

Main article: Ethnic origins of people in Canada

According to the 2021 Canadian census, over 450 "ethnic or cultural origins" were self-reportedby Canadians.^[339] Themajor panethnic groupschosen were: European (52.5 percent), North American (22.9 percent), Asian (19.3 percent), North American Indigenous (6.1 percent), African (3.8 percent), Latin, Central and SouthAmerican (2.5 percent), Caribbean (2.1 percent), Oceanian (0.3 percent),and other (6 percent).^[339][340] Over60 percent of Canadians reported a single origin, and 36 percent of Canadiansreported having multiple ethnic origins, thus the overall total is greater than100 percent.^[339]

The country's ten largest self-reported specific ethnic orcultural origins in 2021 were Canadian^[d] (accountingfor 15.6 percent of the population), followed by English (14.7 percent), Irish (12.1 percent), Scottish (12.1 percent), French (11.0 percent), German (8.1 percent), Chinese (4.7 percent), Italian (4.3 percent), Indian (3.7 percent),and Ukrainian (3.5 percent).^[345]

Of the 36.3 million people enumerated in 2021, approximately25.4 million reported being "White",representing 69.8 percent of the population.^[346] TheIndigenous population representing 5 percent or 1.8 million individuals,grew by 9.4 percent compared to the non-Indigenous population, which grewby 5.3 percent from 2016 to 2021.^[346] Oneout of every four Canadians or 26.5 percent of the population belonged toa non-White and non-Indigenous visible minority,^[347][e] the largest of which in 2021 were South Asian (2.6 million people;7.1 percent), Chinese (1.7 million; 4.7 percent), and Black (1.5million; 4.3 percent).^[349]

Between 2011 and 2016, the visible minority population rose by18.4 percent.^[350] In 1961, about 300,000 people, lessthan two percent of Canada's population, were members of visible minoritygroups.^[351] The 2021 census indicated that 8.3 million people, or almost one-quarter(23.0 percent) of the population, reported themselves as being or havingbeen a landed immigrant or permanent resident inCanada—above the 1921 census previous record of 22.3 percent.^[352] In2021, India, China, and the Philippines were the top three countries of originfor immigrants moving to Canada.^[353]

Languages

A multitude of languages are used by Canadians, with English and French (the official languages)being the mother tongues of approximately 54 percentand 19 percent of Canadians, respectively.^[337] As of the 2021 census, just over7.8 million Canadians listed a non-official language as their mother tongue.Some of the most common non-official first languages include Mandarin (679,255first-language speakers), Punjabi (666,585), Cantonese (553,380),Spanish (538,870), Arabic (508,410), Tagalog (461,150),Italian (319,505), German (272,865), and Tamil (237,890).^[337] Canada's federal government practises official bilingualism,which is applied by the commissioner of official languages in consonancewith section 16 of the CanadianCharter of Rights and Freedoms and the federal Official Languages Act. English and French haveequal status in federal courts, Parliament, and in all federal institutions.Citizens have the right, where there is sufficient demand, to receive federalgovernment services in either English or French and official-language minorities areguaranteed their own schools in all provinces and territories.^[355]

Quebec's 1974 Official Language Act established French asthe only official language of the province.^[356] Although more than 82 percent ofFrench-speaking Canadians live in Quebec, there are substantial Francophone populationsin New Brunswick, Alberta, and Manitoba; Ontario hasthe largest French-speaking population outside Quebec.^[357] New Brunswick, the only officiallybilingual province, has a French-speaking Acadian minority constituting 33percent of the population.^[358] There are also clusters of Acadiansin southwestern Nova Scotia, on Cape Breton Island, and in central and westernPrince Edward Island.^[359]

Other provinces have no official languages as such, but Frenchis used as a language of instruction, in courts, and for other governmentservices, in addition to English. Manitoba, Ontario, and Quebec allow for bothEnglish and French to be spoken in the provincial legislatures and laws areenacted in both languages. In Ontario, French has some legal status, but is notfully co-official.^[360] There are 11 Indigenous language groups, composed of more than 65distinct languages and dialects.^[361] SeveralIndigenous languages have official status in the Northwest Territories.^[362] Inuktitut isthe majority language in Nunavut and is one of three official languages in theterritory.^[363]

Additionally, Canada is home to many sign languages,some of which are Indigenous.^[364] American Sign Language (ASL) is used across thecountry due to the prevalence of ASL in primary and secondary schools.^[365] Quebec Sign Language (LSQ) is used primarily inQuebec.^[366]

Religion

Canada is religiously diverse, encompassing a wide range ofbeliefs and customs.^[368] The Constitution of Canada refers to God and the monarch carries the title of Defender of the Faith;however, Canada has no official church and the government is officiallycommitted to religious pluralism.^[369] Freedom of religion in Canada is aconstitutionally protected right, allowing individuals to assemble and worshipwithout limitation or interference.^[370]

Rates of religious adherence have steadily decreased since the1970s.^[368] WithChristianity in decline after having once been central and integral to Canadianculture and daily life,^[371] Canadahas become a post-Christian, secular state.^{[372][373][374]} Althoughthe majority of Canadians consider religion to be unimportant in their daily lives,^[375] theystill believe in God.^[376] Thepractice of religion is generally considered a private matter throughoutCanadian society and by the state.^[377]

According to the 2021 census, Christianity is the largest religion in Canada,with Roman Catholics representing 29.9 percentof the population having the most adherents. Christians overallrepresenting 53.3 percent of the population,^[f] arefollowed by people reporting irreligion or having no religion at34.6 percent.^[380] Other faiths include Islam (4.9 percent), Hinduism (2.3 percent), Sikhism (2.1 percent), Buddhism (1.0 percent), Judaism (0.9 percent),and Indigenous spirituality (0.2 percent).^[381] Canada has the second-largest national Sikh population, behind India.^[382]

Healthcare in Canada is delivered through the provincial andterritorial systems of publicly funded health care, informally called Medicare.^[383][384] It is guided by the provisions ofthe Canada Health Act of 1984^[385] and is universal.^[386] Universalaccess to publicly funded health services "is often considered byCanadians as a fundamental value that ensures national healthcare insurance foreveryone wherever they live in the country."^[387] Around 30 percent of Canadians'healthcare is paid for through the private sector.^[388] Thismostly pays for services not covered or partially covered by Medicare, such as prescription drugs, dentistry and optometry.^[388] Approximately65 to 75 percent of Canadians have some form of supplementary healthinsurance; many receive it through their employers or access secondary socialservice programs.^[389][388]

In common with many other developed countries, Canada isexperiencing an increase in healthcare expenditures due to a demographic shift toward an older population,with more retirees and fewer people of working age. In 2021, the average age inCanada was 41.9 years.^[337] Life expectancy is 81.1 years.^[390] A 2016 report by the chief public health officer found that88 percent of Canadians, one of the highest proportions of the populationamong G7 countries, indicated that they "had good or very goodhealth".^[391] Eighty percent of Canadianadults self-report having at least one major risk factor for chronic disease:smoking, physical inactivity, unhealthy eating or excessive alcohol use.^[392] Canadahas one of the highest rates of adult obesity among OECD countries, contributing to approximately2.7 million cases of diabetes.^[392] Fourchronic diseases—cancer (leadingcause of death), cardiovascular diseases, respiratory diseases, and diabetes—account for65 percent of deaths in Canada.^[393][394]

In 2021, the Canadian Institute for Health Information reportedthat healthcare spending reached $308 billion,or 12.7 percent of Canada's GDP for that year.^[395] In 2022, Canada's per-capitaspending on health expenditures ranked 12th among health-care systems in theOECD.^[396] Canadahas performed close to, or above the average on the majority of OECD healthindicators since the early 2000s, ranking above the average on OECD indicatorsfor wait-times and access to care, with average scores for quality of care anduse of resources.^[397][398] The Commonwealth Fund's 2021report comparing the healthcare systems of the 11 most developed countries ranked Canada second-to-last.^[399] Identifiedweaknesses were comparatively higher infant mortality rate, the prevalence ofchronic conditions, long wait times, poor availability of after-hours care, anda lack of prescription drugs and dental coverage.^[399] Anincreasing problem in Canada's health system is a lack of healthcareprofessionals,^[400] andhospital capacity.^[401]

Education in Canada is for the most part provided publicly,funded and overseen by federal, provincial, and local governments.^[402] Education is within provincialjurisdiction and a province's curriculum is overseen by its government.^[403][404] Education in Canada is generallydivided into primary education, followed by secondary and post-secondary education. Education in both Englishand French is available in most places across Canada.^[405] Canada has a large number ofuniversities, almost all of which are publicly funded.^[406] Established in 1663, Université Laval is the oldestpost-secondary institution in Canada.^[407] Thelargest university is the University of Toronto, with over 85,000 students.^[408] Four universities are regularlyranked among the top 100 worldwide, namely University of Toronto, University of British Columbia, McGill University,and McMaster University, with a total of 18 universities ranked in the top 500 worldwide.^[409]

According to a 2022 report by the OECD, Canada is one of themost educated countries in the world;^[411][412] thecountry ranks first worldwide in the percentage of adults having tertiaryeducation, with over 56 percent of Canadian adults having attained at least anundergraduate college or university degree.^[413] Canadaspends an average of 5.3 percent of its GDP on education.^[414] Thecountry invests heavily in tertiary education (morethan US$20,000 per student).^[415] Asof 2022, 89 percent of adults aged 25 to 64 have earned the equivalent of ahigh-school degree, compared to an OECD average of 75 percent.^[416]

The mandatory education age ranges between 5–7 to16–18 years,^[417] contributing to an adult literacyrate of 99 percent.^[418] Just over 60,000 children are homeschooled in the country as of 2016. The Programme for International Student Assessment indicatesCanadian students perform well above the OECD average, particularly inmathematics, science, and reading,^[419][420] ranking the overall knowledge andskills of Canadian 15-year-olds as the sixth-best in the world, although thesescores have been declining in recent years. Canada is a well-performing OECDcountry in reading literacy, mathematics, and science, with the average studentscoring 523.7, compared with the OECD average of 493 in 2015.^[421][422]

Canada's culture draws influences from its broad range ofconstituent nationalities and policies that promote a "just society"are constitutionally protected.^{[424][425][426]} Since the 1960s, Canada hasemphasized equality and inclusiveness for all its people.^{[427][428][429]} The official state policy of multiculturalism isoften cited as one of Canada's significant accomplishments^[430] and a key distinguishing element ofCanadian identity.^[431][432] In Quebec, cultural identity isstrong and there is a French Canadian culture thatis distinct from English Canadian culture.^[433] As a whole, Canada is in theory a cultural mosaic ofregional ethnic subcultures.^{[434][435][436]}

Canada's approach to governance emphasizing multiculturalism,which is based on selective immigration, social integration, and suppression of far-right politics, has widepublic support.^[437] Government policies such as publiclyfunded health care, higher taxation to redistribute wealth, the outlawing of capital punishment, strong efforts to eliminate poverty, strict gun control, a social liberal attitudetoward women's rights (like pregnancy termination) and LGBT rights, and legalized euthanasia and cannabis use are indicators of Canada'spolitical and cultural values.^{[438][439][440]} Canadians also identify with thecountry's foreign aid policies, peacekeeping roles, the national park system, and the Canadian Charter ofRights and Freedoms.^[441][442]

Historically, Canada has been influenced by British, French, andIndigenous cultures and traditions. Through their language, art, and music, Indigenous peoples continue to influence theCanadian identity.^[443] During the 20th century, Canadianswith African, Caribbean, and Asian nationalities have added to the Canadianidentity and its culture.^[444]

Symbols

Themes of nature, pioneers, trappers, and traders played animportant part in the early development of Canadian symbolism.^[446] Modern symbols emphasize thecountry's geography, cold climate, lifestyles, and the Canadianization oftraditional European and Indigenous symbols.^[447] The use of the maple leaf asa Canadian symbol dates to the early 18th century. The maple leaf is depictedon Canada's current and previous flags and on the Arms of Canada.^[448] Canada'sofficial tartan, known as the "maple leaf tartan", has four colours thatreflect the colours of the maple leaf as it changes through the seasons—greenin the spring, gold in the early autumn, red at the first frost, and brown after falling.^[449] The Arms of Canada are closelymodelled after those of the United Kingdom, with French anddistinctive Canadian elements replacing or added to those derived from theBritish version.^[450]

Other prominent symbols include the national motto, "A mari usque ad mare"("From Sea to Sea"),^[451] the sports of ice hockey and lacrosse, the beaver, Canada goose, common loon, Canadian horse,the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, the Canadian Rockies,^[448] and,more recently, the totempole and Inuksuk.^[452] Canadian beer, maple syrup, tuques, canoes, nanaimo bars, butter tarts,and poutine aredefined as uniquely Canadian.^[452][453] Canadian coins feature many of thesesymbols: the loon on the $1 coin,the Arms of Canada on the 50¢ piece, and the beaver on the nickel.^[454] Animage of the previous monarch, Queen Elizabeth II,appears on $20 bank notes and the obverse of all currentCanadian coins.^[454]

Literature

Canadian literature is often divided into French- andEnglish-language literatures, which are rooted in the literary traditions ofFrance and Britain, respectively.^[455] Theearliest Canadian narratives were of travel and exploration.^[456] This progressed into three majorthemes that can be found within historical Canadian literature: nature,frontier life, and Canada's position within the world, all three of which tieinto the garrison mentality.^[457] In recent decades, Canada'sliterature has been strongly influenced by immigrants from around the world.^[458] By the 1990s, Canadian literaturewas viewed as some of the world's best.^[459]

Numerous Canadian authors have accumulated internationalliterary awards,^[460] including novelist, poet, andliterary critic Margaret Atwood, who received two Booker Prizes;^[461] Nobel laureate Alice Munro, whohas been called the best living writer of short stories in English;^[462] and Booker Prize recipient Michael Ondaatje,who wrote the novel The English Patient, which was adapted as a film of the same name that won the Academy Award for Best Picture.^[463] L. M. Montgomery produceda series of children's novels beginning in 1908 with Anne of Green Gables.^[464]

Media

Canada's media is highly autonomous, uncensored, diverse, and very regionalized.^[465][466] The Broadcasting Act declares "the systemshould serve to safeguard, enrich, and strengthen the cultural, political,social, and economic fabric of Canada".^[467] Canada has a well-developed mediasector, but its cultural output—particularly in English films, television shows, and magazines—is often overshadowed by imports from theUnited States.^[468] As a result, the preservation of adistinctly Canadian culture is supported by federal government programs, laws,and institutions such as the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), the National Film Board of Canada (NFB), and the Canadian Radio-televisionand Telecommunications Commission (CRTC).^[469]

Canadian mass media, both print and digital, and in both official languages, is largelydominated by a "handful of corporations".^[470] Thelargest of these corporations is the country's national public broadcaster, the Canadian BroadcastingCorporation, which also plays a significant role in producing domestic culturalcontent, operating its ownradio and TV networksin both English and French.^[471] Inaddition to the CBC, some provincial governments offer their own publiceducational TV broadcast services as well, such as TVOntario and Télé-Québec.^[472]

Non-news media content in Canada, including film and television,is influenced both by local creators as well as by imports from the UnitedStates, the United Kingdom, Australia, and France.^[473] In an effort to reduce the amount offoreign-made media, government interventions in television broadcasting caninclude both regulation of content and public financing.^[474] Canadian tax laws limit foreign competition inmagazine advertising.^[475]

Visual arts

Art in Canada is marked by thousands of years of habitation byits Indigenous peoples,^[477] and, in later times, artists havecombined British, French, Indigenous, and American artistic traditions, attimes embracing European styles while working to promote nationalism.^[478] The nature of Canadian art reflectsthese diverse origins, as artists have taken their traditions and adapted theseinfluences to reflect the reality of their lives in Canada.^[479]

The Canadian government has played a role in the development ofCanadian culture through the department of Canadian Heritage,by giving grants to art galleries,^[480] aswell as establishing and funding art schools and colleges across the country,and through the Canada Council for the Arts, the national public artsfunder, helping artists, art galleries and periodicals, and thus contributingto the development of Canada's cultural works.^[481]

Canadian visual art has been dominated by figures, such aspainter TomThomson and the Group of Seven.^[482] The latter were painters with anationalistic and idealistic focus, who first exhibited their distinctive worksin May 1920. Though referred to as having seven members, five artists—Lawren Harris, A. Y. Jackson, Arthur Lismer, J. E. H. MacDonald, and Frederick Varley—wereresponsible for articulating the group's ideas. They were joined briefly by Frank Johnston and commercial artist Franklin Carmichael. A. J. Casson becamepart of the group in 1926.^[483] Associated with the group wasanother prominent Canadian artist, Emily Carr,known for her landscapes and portrayals of the Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast.^[484]

Music

Canadian music reflects a variety of regional scenes.^[486] Canada has developed a vast musicinfrastructure that includes church halls, chamber halls, conservatories, academies, performing arts centres, record companies, radio stations,and television musicvideo channels.^[487] Government support programs, such asthe Canada Music Fund, assist a wide range of musicians and entrepreneurs whocreate, produce and market original and diverse Canadian music.^[488] As a result of its culturalimportance, as well as government initiatives and regulations, the Canadianmusic industry is one of the largest in the world,^[489] producing internationally renowned composers, musicians, and ensembles.^[490] Musicbroadcasting in the country is regulated by the CRTC.^[491] The Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences presentsCanada's music industry awards, the Juno Awards.^[492] The Canadian Music Hall of Fame honours Canadianmusicians for their lifetime achievements.^[493]

Patriotic music in Canada dates back over 200years. The earliest work of patriotic music in Canada, "The Bold Canadian",was written in 1812.^[494] "The Maple Leaf Forever", written in 1866, was apopular patriotic song throughout English Canada and,for many years, served as an unofficial national anthem.^[495] "O Canada"also served as an unofficial national anthem for much of the 20th century andwas adopted as the country's official anthem in 1980.^[496] Calixa Lavallée wrote the music, which was asetting of a patriotic poem composed by the poet and judge Sir Adolphe-Basile Routhier. The text was originally onlyin French before it was adapted into English in 1906.^[497]

Sports

The roots of organized sports in Canada date back tothe 1770s,^[499] culminating in the development andpopularization of the major professional games of ice hockey, lacrosse, curling, basketball, baseball, soccer, and Canadian football.^[500] Canada's official national sportsare ice hockey and lacrosse.^[501] Other sports such as golf, volleyball, skiing, cycling, swimming, badminton, tennis, bowling, and the study of martial arts areall widely enjoyed at the youth and amateur levels.^[502] Great achievements in Canadiansports are recognized by Canada's Sports Hall of Fame.^[503] Thereare numerous other sport "halls of fame" in Canada, such as the Hockey Hall of Fame.^[503]

Canada shares several major professional sportsleagues with the United States.^[504] Canadian teams in these leaguesinclude seven franchises in the National Hockey League, as well as three Major League Soccer teams and one team in eachof Major League Baseball and the National Basketball Association. Other popularprofessional competitions include the Canadian Football League, National Lacrosse League, the Canadian Premier League, and the various curlingtournaments sanctioned and organized by Curling Canada.^[505]

Canada has enjoyed success both at the Winter Olympics and at the Summer Olympics^[506]—though, particularly, the Winter Games asa "winter sports nation"—and has hosted several high-profileinternational sporting events such as the 1976 Summer Olympics,^[507] the 1988 Winter Olympics,^[508] the 2010 Winter Olympics,^[509][510] and the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup.^[511] Most recently, Canada hosted the 2015 Pan American Games and 2015 Parapan American Games in Toronto.^[512] The country is scheduled to co-hostthe 2026 FIFA World Cup alongside Mexico and theUnited States.^[513]