Portal:Canada

Wednesday, April 30, 2025

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Introduction

Flag and Arms of Canada

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

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

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Prospectors ascending Chilkoot Pass, 1898

The Klondike Gold Rush was a migration by an estimated 100,000 prospectors to the Klondike region of Yukon in northwestern Canada, between 1896 and 1899. Gold was discovered there by local miners on August 16, 1896; when news reached Seattle and San Francisco the following year, it triggered a stampede of prospectors. Some became wealthy, but the majority went in vain. It has been immortalized in films, literature, and photographs. (Full article...)

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Current events

April 28, 2025 – 2025 Canadian federal election: Voters in Canada go to the polls to elect the 343 members of the House of Commons to the 45th Canadian Parliament. (BBC); The Liberal Party under leader Mark Carney is projected to form a government for the party's fourth consecutive mandate, with Carney remaining prime minister. (The Globe and Mail); Conservative Party leader Pierre Poilievre and New Democratic Party leader Jagmeet Singh lose their seats, with the NDP also losing official party status in the House. Each make speeches conceding the election, with Singh announcing his intention to resign as party leader. (CTV News)
April 27, 2025 – 2025 Vancouver car attack: The death toll from yesterday's vehicle-ramming attack at a street festival in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, rises to eleven with at least 20 others injured, making the attack tied for the deadliest vehicle-ramming attack in Canadian history. The British Columbia Prosecution Service charges the perpetrator with eight counts of second-degree murder, while investigators also rule out terrorism. (CTV News) (AP)
April 26, 2025 – 2025 Vancouver car attack: Nine people are killed and several others injured, after a car is driven through a crowd at a Philippine-Canadian festival in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. (Al Jazeera)
April 25, 2025 –: A Royal Thai Police Viking DHC-6 Twin Otter aircraft crashes while conducting a test flight for parachuting training near Hua Hin Airport in Prachuap Khiri Khan, Thailand, killing all six people on board. (The Nation) (AP)

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A panorama of Edmonton Skyline

Credit: Awmcphee (Alex)

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A male North American beaver

The North American beaver (Castor canadensis) is one of two extant beaver species, along with the Eurasian beaver (Castor fiber). It is native to North America and has been introduced in South America (Patagonia) and Europe (primarily Finland and Karelia). The North American beaver is one of the national symbols of Canada and the official state mammal of Oregon and New York. North American beavers are widespread across the continental United States, Canada, southern Alaska, and some parts of northern Mexico. (Full article...)

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The history of Canada covers the period from the arrival of the Paleo-Indians to North America thousands of years ago to the present day. The lands encompassing present-day Canada have been inhabited for millennia by Indigenous peoples, with distinct trade networks, spiritual beliefs, and styles of social organization. Some of these older civilizations had long faded by the time of the first European arrivals and have been discovered through archeological investigations. (Full article...)

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University of Saskatchewan Centennial Lily by plant breeder Donna Hay.
Credit: SriMesh

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Jennings in 2002

Peter Charles Archibald Ewart Jennings CM (July 29, 1938 – August 7, 2005) was a Canadian-American television journalist, best known for serving as the sole anchor of ABC World News Tonight from 1983 until his death from lung cancer in 2005. Despite dropping out of high school, Jennings transformed himself into one of American television's most prominent journalists. (Full article...)

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... that after years of development, the British thin-wing Javelin interceptor aircraft was cancelled in favour of purchasing the Canadian Avro Arrow?
... that Katherine Henderson led efforts to reverse the gender pay gap in Canadian curling?
... that Eagle-Dogtooth Provincial Park in Ontario, Canada, contains part of the Experimental Lakes Area, a controlled area for conducting scientific experiments in lakes?
... that the Canadian government implemented the Peasant Farm Policy to force First Nations farmers to use the methods of European peasants?
... that John Neilson, a Scottish immigrant to Lower Canada, became a major publisher and bookseller, and was reportedly "the largest consumer of paper" in the country?
... that there's a Little Canada on Minnesota State Highway 36?
... that Princess Margriet of the Netherlands was born in Canada's capital, but outside the country's legal jurisdiction?

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