Facts for Kids

Protected areas and rules help keep places and species safe. Canada has parks and conservation areas that cover parts of the land, freshwater, and coastal waters. The first national park, Banff, was made in 1885. Many parks protect forests, lakes, and oceans where plants and animals live.

Laws also identify species at risk and set rules to protect them and their homes. Even so, people and governments keep working because pollution, habitat loss, and other problems still threaten many species. Protected places are one of the ways Canada tries to care for nature.

Climate in Canada changes a lot because the country is so big. In the far north the weather is Arctic: winters are very cold and long and summers are short and cool. In places farther south, many people see four seasons — warm summers, colorful autumns, snowy winters, and flowers in spring.

On the west coast, around Vancouver, the climate is milder and rainy, so big evergreen forests grow there. The prairie provinces are often dry with hot summers and cold winters. Mountains bring heavy snow to some places and create cloudy or dry spots nearby. People wear different clothes and do different activities depending on the region, from ice skating in winter to hiking in summer.

Ethnic origins describe the different family histories and cultures people say they come from. In Canada, more than 450 origins were named in the 2021 census. Many people trace roots to Europe, others to Asia, Africa, the Americas, and to Indigenous nations that lived here first.

Some people report one origin and many report more than one; about a third say they have multiple origins. Canada also has many newcomers—about one person in four is an immigrant. This mix helps make communities with many foods, festivals, and ways of celebrating culture.

Languages are how people speak and share stories. Canada has two official languages, English and French, and many other languages are spoken at home. People bring languages from other countries, such as Punjabi, Mandarin, Tagalog, and Spanish, and many Indigenous languages are spoken by First Nations, Métis, and Inuit peoples.

Because so many people come from different places, classrooms and neighborhoods often hear several languages every day. Learning even a few words in another language can help you make friends and understand new cultures—what language would you like to learn?

Biodiversity means all the living things and the places they live. Canada has many different climate zones. Inland and on the Prairies winters can be very cold, with deep snow covering much of the land for almost six months. Coastal British Columbia is milder and rainy. The far north has ice and frozen ground called permafrost. Because the country is so large, some summers are warm near the coasts and very hot inland.

These different places help over 80,000 known species live in Canada, from tiny insects to big trees and animals. But warming temperatures, pollution, and non-native species can harm habitats and wildlife. How might animals change if winters grow shorter where you live?

Canada is a very large country in North America. It has ten provinces and three territories, and it is the second-largest country by area. Because of its size, Canada has the longest coastline in the world and shares a long land border with the United States. Over 41 million people live there, but most live in cities while many places in the north are very sparsely populated.

Canada’s capital is Ottawa, and its biggest cities include Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver. It is a parliamentary democracy and a constitutional monarchy with a prime minister and a governor general who represents the monarch. English and French are official languages, and many people from many countries make Canada a multicultural place.

Indigenous peoples have lived in the land we call Canada for thousands of years. They arrived at least 14,000 years ago and formed many different nations and ways of living. Some groups farmed, others fished or hunted, and many lived in places year after year. The three main groups today are the First Nations, the Inuit, and the Métis. The Métis began when Indigenous people and Europeans had families together.

Indigenous peoples traded with each other and later helped European visitors. Over time, most Indigenous communities faced loss of land, illness, and policies meant to make them adopt European ways. Since 2008, Canada has worked to say sorry and to fix problems through programs called reconciliation.

European colonization began in different ways and at different times. Around the year 1000, a Norse explorer named Leif Erikson made a small camp at L’Anse aux Meadows. Later, in the 1400s and 1500s, explorers like John Cabot and Jacques Cartier sailed to the east coast and claimed land for England and France. The French built trading posts and towns such as Tadoussac, Port Royal, and Quebec City in the 1600s.

Fishing, whaling, and the fur trade brought Europeans to the coasts and rivers. Over the next two centuries, French and English colonies grew and sometimes fought over land and trade. By 1763, Britain controlled most of the lands that had been New France.

Constitution is Canada’s highest law. It explains how the country is run and how power is shared. Long ago, in 1867, a law divided jobs between the national government and each province. In 1982, the Constitution grew to include the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which lists important rights for people.

The Supreme Court of Canada is the top court and helps decide difficult legal questions. Provinces usually run schools, health care, and local police while the national government handles things like criminal law. The Constitution also includes special protections for Indigenous peoples and their rights to land and traditions.

Confederation began on July 1, 1867, when four provinces — Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick — joined to make the first Canada. In the years that followed, more provinces and territories joined. Manitoba joined in 1870, British Columbia in 1871 with a promise to build a railway across the country, and Prince Edward Island in 1873. The Yukon was created in 1898, and Alberta and Saskatchewan became provinces in 1905.

The government wanted people to settle the west, so it built railways and passed laws to encourage immigration. This growth brought farms, towns, and new industries, but it also pushed many Indigenous people from their lands and changed animal life such as the bison. New laws gave the government more control over Indigenous life, which has caused problems that Canada is still working to fix.