Welcome to Canada

A First Nations dancer at a pow-wow

© Pete Ryan/Getty Images
An Inuit and his dogs

© Wayne R Bilenduke/Getty Images
Moraine Lake in Banff National Park

© jlazouphoto/Fotolia
Rue du Petit-Champlain – a famous shopping street in Quebec

© Wangkun Jia/dreamstime
Aerial view of Vancouver

© Pete Spiro/Shutterstock
Fishing village in Nova Scotia

© Meunierd/dreamstime

[
    [0] Explain::Portfolio::Container  {
            internals: {
                children               undef,
                created                "2015-04-07 14:09:43.647256+00" (dualvar: 2015),
                custom_init            "section_include_containers=0|layout=homepage",
                description            undef,
                description_language   "nb_NO",
                header                 "dfdc1a9c-45cf-430d-8cd0-af556be8e3a3",
                id                     "2b8efcfe-8037-4c12-a2ef-736a2ae78924" (dualvar: 2),
                layout                 undef,
                lom                    undef,
                owner                  "22222222-2222-2222-2222-222222222222" (dualvar: 22222222),
                parent                 undef,
                sort_key               undef,
                sort_number            undef,
                title                  "Crossroads",
                title_language         "nb_NO",
                type                   "folder",
                update_references      1,
                updated                "2021-07-15 19:01:42.554544+00" (dualvar: 2021)
            }
        },
    [1] Explain::Portfolio::Container  {
            internals: {
                children               undef,
                created                "2015-04-08 09:55:20.962674+00" (dualvar: 2015),
                custom_init            "include_object_siblings=1|layout=invisible",
                description            undef,
                description_language   "nb_NO",
                header                 "b433f80d-15c0-4e46-a5fa-64dae20c69b7",
                id                     "23f3d2ea-cd48-426b-92bb-a0608cc05ac9" (dualvar: 23),
                layout                 undef,
                lom                    undef,
                owner                  "cab1cd20-1b01-4bef-a961-5db84627086a",
                parent                 "2b8efcfe-8037-4c12-a2ef-736a2ae78924" (dualvar: 2),
                sort_key               undef,
                sort_number            10,
                title                  "English around the world",
                title_language         "nb_NO",
                type                   "folder",
                update_references      1,
                updated                "2015-05-15 08:28:56.419157+00" (dualvar: 2015)
            }
        },
    [2] Explain::Portfolio::Container  {
            internals: {
                children               undef,
                created                "2015-11-19 12:57:34.693146+00" (dualvar: 2015),
                custom_init            "content_type=normal|alt_content_container=f0f04fb7-cb28-4a92-b473-a5f48f2066df|redirect_first_child_container=1",
                description            undef,
                description_language   "nn_NO",
                header                 undef,
                id                     "c904743d-d6bf-4c3c-868e-81f86ae59929",
                layout                 undef,
                lom                    undef,
                owner                  "cab1cd20-1b01-4bef-a961-5db84627086a",
                parent                 "23f3d2ea-cd48-426b-92bb-a0608cc05ac9" (dualvar: 23),
                sort_key               "index_asc",
                sort_number            undef,
                title                  "Canada",
                title_language         "nn_NO",
                type                   "folder",
                update_references      1,
                updated                "2015-11-19 12:58:10.723512+00" (dualvar: 2015)
            }
        },
    [3] Explain::Portfolio::Container  {
            internals: {
                children               undef,
                created                "2015-11-19 12:59:40.989794+00" (dualvar: 2015),
                custom_init            undef,
                description            undef,
                description_language   "nn_NO",
                header                 "e5a4d546-3883-407c-8f13-f1d18367628b",
                id                     "e36834b8-0b43-496a-8248-25ba1ca95624",
                layout                 undef,
                lom                    undef,
                owner                  "cab1cd20-1b01-4bef-a961-5db84627086a",
                parent                 "c904743d-d6bf-4c3c-868e-81f86ae59929",
                sort_key               "index_asc",
                sort_number            10,
                title                  "1 Welcome to Canada" (dualvar: 1),
                title_language         "nn_NO",
                type                   "folder",
                update_references      var[0]{created},
                updated                "2015-11-19 13:28:23.054258+00" (dualvar: 2015)
            }
        }
]

Welcome to Canada

How do countries get their names? Did kings and queens decide some time in the past? Did ordinary people have any say? Interestingly, some countries have got theirs by mistake. Canada is one of them. The country now called Canada has been inhabited by the Inuit and First Nations for thousands of years. The first Europeans to settle on the Atlantic coast were the Vikings, followed by the French and the British a few hundred years later. In the 1530s a French explorer called Jacques Cartier was invited by the local Iroquois people to visit their kanata, their village. He started using the name for that part of the world and after a while it became the name of the whole country.

Cartier had no idea how large Canada was, of course. At almost 10 million km², it’s the second largest country in the world, so there is plenty of space for the 35 million people who live there today. 80% of Canadians live in towns and cities close to the Canadian-American border, the longest border in the world. Half the country is covered in forest, and Canada has an astonishing 60% of the world’s lakes. There are many similarities between Canada and Northern Scandinavia in terms of lifestyle, as well as geography. However, Canada’s climate is more extreme: in the northernmost of the 10 provinces and three territories there is snow for up to 10 months a year.

If you like learning, you’ll feel at home in Canada. It’s the most educated country in the world, with over 50% of adults having a college or university degree. You can still find work in fishing and agriculture, and a great deal of wheat is grown in southern Canada, but farming is difficult in many other areas because of the climate. However, the forests provide plenty of timber. Canada also has oil and gas, minerals and metals such as gold, iron, lead and uranium. These are used in various industries, and there are many factories making parts for the automobile and aeronautics industries just over the border in the USA.

Who governs Canada, and what kind of state is it? The British and French armies fought several wars over Canada, with Britain finally gaining power over most of Canada at the end of the 18^th century. This is why it’s still the British monarch who is Canada’s head of state. The country is a member of the Commonwealth and has two official national languages – English and French. Some people in the French-speaking province of Quebec still want independence, but they are in a minority. Over time Canada has become a nation where different cultures, languages and religions are celebrated and protected by law. Where the US ideal is the melting pot, in Canada it’s a cultural mosaic where you can appreciate the many different parts.

Welcome to Canada

Welcome to Canada

Getting the gist

Word building

Your turn to write

Your turn to talk

Login