CANADA

anada is located in North        Most images of Canada refer to
America and stretches all       the Mounties, bears, snow or the
the way from the Atlantic       Rocky Mountains with the amazing
to the Pacific, being made up of      turquoise lakes though there is
ten Provinces and three               truly more to this vast
Territories. To the North is the      landscape. Tourism is a large
Artic ocean; Davis Strait on the      part of the economy with the
North East separates it from          abundant natural resources
Greenland, to the East is the         quickly turning Canada into a
Atlantic Ocean; the South is          rich and vibrant country that is
bordered by the United States of      a permanent listing at the top of
America and the West by the           the best places to live. With
Pacific Ocean and Alaska.             distinct seasons - the winters
                                      are cold with plentiful snow and
A country of outstanding natural      then warm summers, the best way
beauty, Canada has a wide variety     to survive is to make the most of
of landscapes; the mountains, the     natures offerings. Skiing,
prairies, lakes and rivers with       snowboarding and snowmobiling are
many national and provincial          popular pastimes and great
parks to protect the habitats.        exercise and fun. In the summer,
With a total land mass of             hiking, camping and exploring the
9,984,670 sq km (3,855,103 sq         great outdoors are fantastic ways
mi), Canada is the second largest     to spend your free time. This is
country in the world. There are       especially true when you are
more lakes and inland waters in       amongst the most breathtaking and
Canada than any other country, in     fabulous scenery the world has to
fact 7.6% or 755,180 sq km            offer!
(291,577 sq) is made up of fresh
water.                                The monetary unit is the Canadian
                                      Dollar. It is made up of cents

with 100 cents making 1 Canadian      Census) which shows a 4%
dollar. There are 1 cent coins        increase. Most of the population
usually called a penny, 5 cent        lives in the cities and most of
coins usually called a nickel, 10     these are located in the South of
cent coins called a dime, 25 cent     the country; about three quarters
coins called a quarter, 1 dollar      of the population live within
coins called a loonie and two         about 300 kms of the U.S border.
dollar coins called a twoonie.        The most populated Provinces are
The notes or bills are in 5           Ontario and Quebec with Toronto
dollar, 10 dollar, 20 dollar, 50      (in Ontario) being the most
dollar and 100 dollar                 populated city.
denominations. The Canadian
dollar traditionally trades at a      There are two official languages
lower value than its American         - English and French - and
counterpart but is now coming         Montreal in Quebec is the world's
closer to parity.                     largest French-speaking city
                                      outside of France. All of the
All motor vehicles are driven on      services offered by the Federal
the right hand side of the road       Government are in English and
and are left hand drive. Each         French. Almost every product you
Province or Territory is              buy has English and French on the
responsible for its own driving       labels and most public services
laws and regulations so each has      are available in both languages.
a different system.                   Outside of Quebec the majority of
                                      people speak English; about 18
Demographics                          percent of Canadians are fluently
                                      bilingual.
Canada has a population of
30,007,094 (2001 Census),             The First Nations or Indian
compared with 28,846,761 (1996        people were the original

inhabitants of Canada and the         Canada still belongs to the
name comes from their language        Commonwealth of Nations.
and means "Village" or
"Community". The Vikings, who         Canada is a Democratic Federation
arrived in the 11th century and       and has both a Federal and
didn't stay for long, were the        Provincial Governments. The
first Europeans to land in            responsibilities and powers are
Canada.                               divided between the Federal and
                                      Provincial Governments which make
More Europeans arrived in the         for a complex political system
16th century bringing with them       (see
manufactured goods which they         http://www.onestopimmigration-can
traded for furs and native            ada.com/canadian_political_system
products - because of this they       .html for more details).]
were made welcome by the
indigenous people. The two main       Education
groups of European settlers were
the French, who came first, and       Public education is the
then the English. Despite France      responsibility of each Provincial
losing its part of the territory      Government (please refer to our
to Britain in a war in 1760, many     Provincial pages for more
of the French speaking people         information) and is paid for
stayed. In 1867, three colonies       through taxes. Public education
of Britain merged in an event         is free and all children are
called Confederation; this            required by law to attend school
created a partially independent       from the age of 6 years until
state of four Provinces. Six more     they are 15 or 16, the majority
Provinces and three Territories       of students continue until they
have since been added and in 1931     are 18 and graduate high school
full independence was achieved.       with a high school diploma.

The main languages of instruction     healthcare is paid for through
are English and French.               taxes. In some Provinces there is
                                      a three month waiting period
Healthcare                            before you qualify for
                                      healthcare, (refer to
Canada has a public health care       http://www.onestopimmigration-can
system; essential medical             ada.com/healthcare.html for more
treatment is available to all         information) so you should make
Canadian citizens and permanent       sure that you have insurance to
residents. Although the health        cover any medical expenses for
care systems are run by the           this period.
Provincial ministries of health,
the Federal Government sets the       In essence such an article can
standards for health care across      never describe such a vast and
the country.                          beautiful country in adequate
                                      detail so if you are planning a
There are three Provinces that        visit or move go to
charge healthcare premiums (BC,       http://www.onestopimmigration-can
Alberta & Ontario). In the other      ada.com/canada.html for detailed
Provinces and Territories             information.

About the Author:

The author immigrated to Canada in 2003 and has constructed a free information website http://www.onestopimmigration-canada.com about Canada and Canadian Immigration based on his family's experiences.

Source: www.isnare.com