Canadian Facts
This section is from a folder entitled Canada. Within the folder there were sheets with "Facts Canada" printed down at the bottom. The folder is from Foreign Affairs and International Trade. If you think that there is anything wrong with this page or you have a fact that you think is worth while putting up here I would love to here from you.
Political Facts
- Canada became The Dominion of Canada on July 1st, 1867. We officially became a country in 1982.
- Canada is a constitutional monarchy and a federal state with a democratic parliament.
- The Parliament is in Ottawa and is comprised of the House of Commons (Lower House) and the Senate (The Upper House - whose members are appointed)
- Members of Parliament are elected approximately every 4 years. Elections may be called early or terms can be as long as 5 years. A vote of non-confidence in the government (where the government no longer has the support of 50 percent of the House) may also force an election. This occurred in 1979 when PM Joe Clark's government lost the support of the House and an election was called within a year of that government coming to power. Senators are appointed by the Prime Minister and hold their positions until they are 75.
- Right now there are currently 5 officially recognized parties in the House of Commons: The Liberals, Canadian Alliance, Bloc Quebecois, Progressive Conservatives and the New Democratic Party.
- Canada currently sits on the United Nations Security Council as a non-permanent representative.
- Canada is a member of many international organizations including NATO, OSCE, OAS and APEC.
- Canada's land mass is 9 970610 km2 (The world's second largest country)
- Ottawa is the Capital of Canada (located in Ontario)
- Canada has 10 provinces and 3 territories. (For more info - see Regions page)
- There are more than 100 national parks and historic sites in Canada. (Many Provincial too)
- Mountain Ranges include: Torngats, Appalachians, Laurentians, Rocky, Costal, Mackenzie, Mt.St. Elias and the Pelly Mountairs.
- At 6050 m above sea level, Mount Logan in the Yukon is Canada's tallest peak.
- Great Bear lake is the largest lake in Canada with an area of 31 326 km2
- The longest river is the Mackenzie River flowing 4241 km through the NWT.
- Canada has six time zones. In NFLD the time zone is 3 hours and 30 minutes past Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) The other time zones are full hours behind GMT. The farthest west is the Pacific at 8 hours behind GMT.
- Canada's capital, Ottawa, has the coldest average temperature of any capital city in the world. (I was there in January, 2000 and can talk about this from experience... although it's more like ranting....)
- The National emblem is the maple leaf and has been associated with Canada since the 1700's.
- The flag of Canada has two red bars and a white center - within there being a maple leaf. It was adopted as the National Flag in 1965. (Before hand Canada used the Union Jack - the British Flag for its flag.)
- The National Anthem for Canada is "O Canada" - proclaimed on July 1st 1980 - a century after being sung for the first time. (Before hand Canadians sang God Save the Queen/King)
- The Canadian dollar is divided into 100 cents (like the American dollar)
- In Canada $1 and $2 are represented by coins. Nicknamed the "loonie" (because there is a loon on it) and the Twonie (I guess because it rhymes with loonie.)
- Principle Natural Resources are: natural gas, oil, gold, coal, copper, iron ore, nickel, potash, uranium, and zinc along with wood and water.
- The GDP for Canada in 1992 (recession year) was (in Canadian Dollars) $668.5 Billion.
- Leading Industries: automobile manufacturing, pulp and paper, iron, steel work, machinery and equipment manufacturing, mining, extraction of fossil fuels, forestry and agriculture.
- Leading exports are: automobile vehicles and parts, machinery and equipment, high technology products, oil, natural gas, metals and forest farm products.
- Imports are: machinery and industrial equipment, (communications and electronic equipment, vehicles and automobile parts, industrial materials (ie: metal ores, iron, steel, precious metals, chemicals, plastics, cotton, wool and other textiles) along with manufactured products and food.
 |  |  |  |
| Penny $0.01 CND | Nickel $0.05 CND | Dime $0.10 | Quarter $0.25 CND |
 |  |  | Currency is not shown in proportion. Click on the pictures for a close-up of each coin. |
| 50 Cent Piece $0.50 CND | Dollar Coin (aka "loonie" $1.00 CND | Two Dollar Coin (aka "twoonie" $2.00 CND |
