In which fields does Discover Canada say Aboriginal peoples have made significant achievements?

Agriculture, the environment, business and the arts — Agriculture, the environment, business and the arts.

From where are the ancestors of Aboriginal peoples believed to have migrated?

Asia — From Asia, many thousands of years ago.

According to Discover Canada, about what share of Aboriginal people are First Nations?

About 65% — About 65%. About 30% are Métis and 4% Inuit.

Where are Aboriginal and treaty rights found?

In the Canadian Constitution — In the Canadian Constitution.

Who are the Acadians?

Descendants of French colonists who settled the Maritime provinces from 1604 — The descendants of French colonists who began settling in what are now the Maritime provinces in 1604.

What proportion of the Acadians were deported from their homeland?

More than two-thirds — More than two-thirds, between 1755 and 1763, during the war between Britain and France.

What are Anglophones generally referred to as?

English Canadians — English Canadians.

According to Discover Canada, how many Anglophones are there in Canada?

18 million — 18 million — people who speak English as a first language.

How long is the heritage of the one million Anglo-Quebecers?

250 years — 250 years. They form a vibrant part of the Quebec fabric.

Who We Are

NotesQuestions

A strong and free country

Canada has inherited the oldest continuous constitutional tradition in the world.
Canada is the only constitutional monarchy in North America.
Our institutions uphold a commitment to Peace, Order, and Good Government — a key phrase in Canada's original constitutional document of 1867, the British North America Act.
A belief in ordered liberty, enterprise, hard work and fair play enabled Canadians to build a prosperous society in a rugged environment.
Poets and songwriters have hailed Canada as the "Great Dominion".
Canada's three founding peoples are Aboriginal, French and British.

Aboriginal peoples

The ancestors of Aboriginal peoples are believed to have migrated from Asia many thousands of years ago, and were well established here long before explorers from Europe came.
First Nations cultures were rooted in religious beliefs about their relationship to the Creator, the natural environment and each other.
Aboriginal and treaty rights are in the Canadian Constitution.
Territorial rights were first guaranteed through the Royal Proclamation of 1763 by King George III, which established the basis for negotiating treaties — treaties that were not always fully respected.
From the 1800s until the 1980s, the federal government placed many Aboriginal children in residential schools to educate and assimilate them into mainstream Canadian culture.
The schools were poorly funded and inflicted hardship; some students were physically abused, and Aboriginal languages and cultural practices were mostly prohibited.
In 2008, Ottawa formally apologized to the former students.
Today Aboriginal peoples enjoy renewed pride and confidence, with achievements in agriculture, the environment, business and the arts.

The three Aboriginal groups

Indian refers to all Aboriginal people who are not Inuit or Métis. In the 1970s the term First Nations began to be used.
About half of First Nations people live on reserve land in about 600 communities; the other half live off-reserve, mainly in urban centres.
Inuit means "the people" in the Inuktitut language. They live in small, scattered communities across the Arctic.
Inuit knowledge of the land, sea and wildlife enabled them to adapt to one of the harshest environments on earth.
The Métis are a distinct people of mixed Aboriginal and European ancestry, the majority living in the Prairie provinces.
The Métis come from both French- and English-speaking backgrounds and speak their own dialect, Michif.
About 65% of Aboriginal people are First Nations, 30% are Métis and 4% are Inuit.

English and French

Canadian society stems largely from the English-speaking and French-speaking Christian civilizations brought here from Europe by settlers.
English and French are the country's official languages, and the federal government is required by law to provide services throughout Canada in both.
There are 18 million Anglophones — people who speak English as a first language — and seven million Francophones.
Most Francophones live in Quebec, but one million live in Ontario, New Brunswick and Manitoba.
New Brunswick is the only officially bilingual province.
The Acadians are the descendants of French colonists who began settling in what are now the Maritime provinces in 1604.
Between 1755 and 1763, more than two-thirds of the Acadians were deported from their homeland — an ordeal known as the "Great Upheaval".
Quebecers are the people of Quebec, the vast majority French-speaking, most descended from 8,500 French settlers of the 1600s and 1700s.
The House of Commons recognized in 2006 that the Québécois form a nation within a united Canada.
One million Anglo-Quebecers have a heritage of 250 years and form a vibrant part of the Quebec fabric.
The way of life in English-speaking areas was established by hundreds of thousands of English, Welsh, Scottish and Irish settlers, soldiers and migrants from the 1600s to the 20th century — which is why Anglophones are generally called English Canadians.
In becoming Canadian, newcomers are expected to embrace democratic principles such as the rule of law; past experience of warfare does not justify bringing violent, extreme or hateful prejudices to Canada.

Diversity in Canada

The majority of Canadians were born in this country, and that has been true since the 1800s.
Canada is often called a land of immigrants because over the past 200 years millions of newcomers have helped build and defend our way of life.
The largest ethnic groups are the English, French, Scottish, Irish, German, Italian, Chinese, Aboriginal, Ukrainian, Dutch, South Asian and Scandinavian.
Since the 1970s, most immigrants have come from Asian countries.
Chinese languages are the second most-spoken at home after English in two of Canada's biggest cities: 13% in Vancouver and 7% in Toronto.
The great majority of Canadians identify as Christians; the largest religious affiliation is Catholic, followed by various Protestant churches.
The state has traditionally partnered with faith communities to promote social welfare, harmony and mutual respect, provide schools and health care, resettle refugees, and uphold religious freedom and freedom of conscience.
Canada's diversity includes gay and lesbian Canadians, who enjoy the full protection of and equal treatment under the law, including access to civil marriage.

Unity in diversity

John Buchan, the 1st Baron Tweedsmuir, was a popular Governor General of Canada (1935-40) and the 15th to hold the office.
Buchan said immigrant groups "should retain their individuality and each make its contribution to the national character."

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