Who We Are

Aboriginal peoples — the first peoples

Aboriginal peoples — also called Indigenous peoples — are the original inhabitants of Canada, who lived here for thousands of years before European contact. Their ancestors are thought to have migrated from Asia many thousands of years ago, crossing into North America when the continents were still connected. The Constitution Act, 1982 recognises three distinct Aboriginal groups.

• First Nations — the largest Aboriginal group in Canada, with many nations across the country.
• Inuit — the word "Inuit" means "the people" in Inuktitut. The Inuit live mainly in the Arctic. They make up about 85 % of the population of Nunavut, where Inuktitut is the first language in schools.
• Métis — a distinct people of mixed Aboriginal (mainly Cree, Ojibwa) and European (mainly French) ancestry, mostly living on the Prairies and speaking their own language, Michif.

Residential schools — a hard chapter

From the 1800s to the 1980s the federal government placed roughly 150,000 Aboriginal children in residential schools run mostly by churches. Children were separated from their families and forbidden to speak their languages or practise their traditions. Many suffered abuse and lasting trauma. In 2008 Prime Minister Stephen Harper formally apologised in the House of Commons on behalf of all Canadians for this policy of forced assimilation.

The French and the founding of New France

Beginning in 1604, French explorers and settlers founded the colony of New France. Jacques Cartier had heard two Iroquoian guides use the word "kanata" — meaning "village" — and by the 1550s the name Canada was appearing on European maps. Today's Francophones are people whose first language is French, descended from these early French settlers as well as from later French-speaking immigrants from around the world.

The British and the United Empire Loyalists

After the British conquest of New France in 1759-60, settlers from the British Isles — English, Scots, Welsh and Irish — established communities across what would become Canada. Anglophones are people whose first language is English; today they include Canadians of all origins who speak English at home.

Foundational documents

• Magna Carta (1215) — the Great Charter of Freedoms signed in England, the source of Canada's 800-year tradition of ordered liberty. It guarantees freedom of conscience and religion, of thought and expression, of peaceful assembly and of association.
• Quebec Act, 1774 — guaranteed religious freedom for Catholics and let them hold public office, restored French civil law alongside British criminal law, and recognised the use of the French language. Often cited as the first deliberate accommodation of two cultures in a British colony.
• Constitutional Act, 1791 — split the Province of Quebec into Upper Canada (English-speaking) and Lower Canada (French-speaking) and gave each its own elected assembly; this is also when the name "Canada" became official.
• British North America Act, 1867 — created the Dominion of Canada by uniting Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. Now known as the Constitution Act, 1867.
• Constitution Act, 1982 — patriated the Constitution and entrenched the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

Two official languages

English and French are the two official languages of Canada. Anglophones and Francophones have lived together in partnership and creative tension for more than 300 years. About 18 million Canadians speak English as their first language and about 7 million speak French; many Canadians are bilingual.

• Official Languages Act (1969) — guarantees French and English federal services across Canada and equal status in Parliament, the Government of Canada and federal courts.
• Charter language rights — French and English have equal status in Parliament and throughout the federal government; the Charter also protects the right to minority-language education (English in Quebec, French elsewhere) where numbers warrant.
• Adult applicants for citizenship must have adequate knowledge of English or French (applicants 55 and over are exempted).

A growing, diverse society

Postwar Canada became a more flexible and open society as social values shifted over more than 50 years. Education expanded, women entered the professional workforce in growing numbers, Asian-Canadians (1948) and Aboriginal peoples (1960) gained the vote. Multiculturalism became a fundamental characteristic of the Canadian identity.

• Since the 1970s most newcomers have come from Asia — including India, China, the Philippines, Vietnam and Pakistan.
• Earlier waves came from Britain, France, Ireland, Italy, Germany, Ukraine, Poland and other parts of Europe; from the Caribbean; and from Africa and the Middle East.
• Roughly one in five Canadians today was born outside Canada.

Canada's North — land of the midnight sun

The North is sometimes called the "Land of the Midnight Sun" because at the height of summer, north of the Arctic Circle, daylight can last up to 24 hours. In winter the sun disappears and darkness sets in for weeks at a time. Hunting, fishing, trapping and Inuit art remain part of life for many northern communities.

Citizenship and the passport

Only Canadian citizens have the right to apply for a Canadian passport. Citizenship also brings the right to vote, the right to run for political office and the right to live and work anywhere in Canada freely. Permanent residents share most of the same rights and freedoms as citizens, but voting, running for office and holding a Canadian passport are reserved for citizens.

Memory aid