Canada Details

Official Name: Canada
Form of Government: Federal parliamentary state
Capital: Ottawa
Population: 36,307,820
Official Language: English, French
Money: Canadian dollar
Area: 9,970,610 square kilometres
Major Mountain Ranges: Rockies, Coast, Laurentian
Major Rivers: St. Lawrence, Mackenzie

Landmass and More

Canada is one seriously huge place! Measuring 4,600km from north to south, the country spans more than half the Northern Hemisphere. And at a whopping 5,500km from east to west, it stretches across six time zones! A vast, rugged land, Canada is the second-largest country in the world (Russia is the largest) but only 0.5% of the world’s population live there.

Canada has a varied landscape, with majestic mountains, rolling plains, forested valleys, and beautiful blue rivers and lakes. The Canadian Shield, a hilly region of lakes and swamps, stretches across northern Canada and has some of the oldest rocks on Earth.

In Canada’s far north lies the frozen Arctic. Here, ice, snow, and glaciers dominate the landscape. Brrrrrr! Despite the cold, harsh climate, Native Canadians, called First Nations people, live in this region, where they hunt and fish for food.

CANADA IS KNOWN AS THE COUNTRY THAT REPRESENTS NEARLY ALL ETHNIC CULTURES

History of Canada

The first people to come to Canada arrived between 15,000 and 30,000 years ago across a land bridge that joined Asia and North America. Around A.D. 1000, the Viking explorer Leif Eriksson reached Newfoundland, Canada. He tried to establish a settlement, but it didn’t last long.

In the 16th century, French and British settlers arrived. Land disputes between farmers and fur traders led to four wars between 1689 and 1763. The final war, called the French and Indian War, left the British in control of Canada, but French influence continued and remains strong even today.

Canadian people and culture

In some ways, Canada is many nations in one. Descendants of British and French immigrants make up about half the population. They were followed by other European and Asian immigrants. First Nations peoples make up about four percent of the population.

Inuit people live mostly in the Northwest Territories and Nunavut. Many Native Canadians live on their traditional lands, but many others have moved to cities across Canada. First Nations artwork is widely recognized and is seen as a symbol of Canadian culture.

Facts About Canadian Education

1. Canada, consistently declared by the United Nations as the best country to live in the world, has one of the lowest fees structure among countries that provide its students with world-recognized certificates. To get a higher education in Canada, a student will have to pay approximately from CAD $13,000 to CAD $15,000 annually.
2. To provide students with a quality education, there are about 80% of colleges and Universities that are managed by the government.
3. Most of the teachers, except for pre-primary and primary school teachers in Canada, have a higher education that allows them to be experts in one particular field and provide their students with the deep knowledge of the subject.
4. Canada is the world-leader when it comes to language training. As the country with two official languages, English and French, it requires its students to learn both. If a student wants to learn some additional language, Spanish is the most popular choice. It is interesting to know that there are about 21% of people in Canada who speak a foreign language as mother tongue. 40% of those people speak European languages and about 56% speak Asian.
5. In the most cases, Canadian system of education provides students with mixed classes. Nevertheless, there are some private schools in Canada that offer classes for boys or girls only.
6. There ar some slight variations in the system of education between each province in Canada. Nevertheless, each province and territory has an official curriculum that students will be taught in each grade.
7. Nearly each religious community in Canada has private religious schools. Public religious schools are mainly Catholic
8. Students with physical, cognitive, psychological, emotional, behavioral or linguistic problems can get help including a special education program provided by each state school. Parents also have a choice to enroll their children in private special needs schools.
9. Winters in Canada can bring quite aggressive weather conditions and sometimes schools can close for a couple of days because of snowstorms or severe cold. To inform students and their parents about school closures, radio and television are used..
10. Canada is known as the country that represents nearly all ethnic cultures. Bullying is strictly forbidden in Canadian schools. There are bullying prevention programs that work in each school of the country to guarantee equality and to protect children.
11. Canada is considered to be a popular destination among international students who came here mainly from such countries as China, India, Korea, Saudi Arabia and the US. The number of students who came to get an education in Canada from 2001 to 2012 almost doubled, reaching 265,000 students. Over the period from 2011 to 2012, the figure increased by 11%.
12. There is the Student Partners Program (SPP) that provides international students with post-study work permits of up to 3 years. After 2 years of study in one of the Canadian universities, a student can apply for Permanent Residency in Canada.
13. Almost all provinces in Canada offer some immigration options to international students that can lead to Permanent Residency in the country.
14. The Canadian government has a great sense of humor. On April Fool’s Day 2015, students of the country were shocked by the information that Canada is on the way to introduce a year-round school and the goal is to be accomplished by 2017. Though it was not true, it was a great joke.