Canada - Statistics & Facts

Geography

Canada is surrounded by the Pacific Ocean (and Alaska) to the west, the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, and shares the world’s longest international border with the United States to the south. After Russia, Canada is the world’s largest country by area, with a diverse topography of vast forests, mountain ranges, plains, and large bodies of water. The climate ranges from polar in the north to a more continental climate in the south, with warm summers and cold winters. Its size, large coastline, and proximity to the Artic Circle means that Canada is more susceptible to climate change than most other countries, particularly from threats such as glacial melting, rising sea levels, and forest fires. Canada is a global leader in green energy, notably hydroelectric power, however many climate change activists point to Canada’s role as one of history’s largest fossil fuel producers when advocating for the government’s responsibility to do more.

History

Humans first arrived in the Americas via the Bering Strait approximately 20,000 years ago, although relatively little is known about the early societies that inhabited Canada until the last millennia due to a lack of permanent settlements or written history. Apart from a brief viking settlement in the 11^th century, Canada’s modern history is generally traced back to the colonial period, where France and Britain began settling the region. France held the largest territory by the mid-1700s, before Britain took control of most of the country following the Seven Years War – a significant share of the French settlers remained in the region of Quebec, which maintains the French language and a distinct Québécois identity. As with the rest of the Americas, European contact with the indigenous population, namely the First Nations, Inuit, or Métis people, caused their numbers to fall significantly through disease, conflict, and oppression – in Canada, it fell from possibly 500,000 people in pre-Columbian times to just 100,000 in the 19^th century.

The early 1800s saw large waves of migration from Europe, first from Ireland and Britain, then Scandinavia and mainland Europe. Settlement was challenging in this century - infectious disease eventually killed up to a third of all European settlers, and up to one third of Canada’s population migrated south to the U.S. in the late 1800s. Canada gained almost de facto independence from the UK in 1931, before achieving full sovereignty in 1982. Its armed forces played important roles in the European theaters of both World Wars, and Canada gained a much greater international presence from the mid-20^th century through its role in major international organizations such as the G7, NATO, and various trade organizations.

Demographics

With a population of around 40 million, Canada’s population density is relatively low and is mostly concentrated in urban areas along the south – depending on metrics, Canada’s largest city, Toronto, is the fourth largest in North America behind Mexico City, New York, and LA. Canada’s fertility rate is well below replacement level, however its birth rate is higher than its death rate, meaning it experiences natural population growth. Additionally, growth is bolstered by a very high net migration rate, with India as the most common country of origin. Canada has one of the highest life expectancies in the world and has a universal public healthcare system, although in recent years its healthcare system has ranked unfavorably compared to other developed nations, with waiting times and prescription prices cited as major hurdles. In terms of education, Canada leads OECD countries in the share of its population with tertiary education, and its workforce is highly skilled.

Economy

Canada’s economy ranks among the 10 largest in the world in terms of GDP, and GDP per capita is usually among the top 20. Canada’s access to abundant natural resources makes it an outlier by Western standards as it is a leading exporter of primary products, such as fossil fuels, mining, and agricultural goods. It also has a large manufacturing sector, with transport, heavy machinery, and chemicals among the largest industries. Much of Canada’s primary and secondary exports go to the United States, although it does have a range of lucrative trade agreements with other advanced economies. The largest sector, however, is services, which employs around 80 percent of the workforce, and Canada has a stable financial sector and stock exchange, and ranks highly for ease of doing business.

Politics

Canada is a parliamentary democracy with one national government, and uses a federal system with governments for each state or territory. The head of government is the Prime Minister, who is generally the leader of the largest party or the coalition in the House of Commons, while its head of state is the British monarch. Canada’s parliament is divided into two houses; the House of Commons is the lower house, while the Senate is the upper house; and this is based on the British model where the lower house is dominant (unlike the U.S.). General elections are usually held every four years, although snap elections do occur, such as in 2021. Canada uses a multi-party system and, despite some name changes, its largest political parties have remained consistent throughout history and relatively centrist by Western standards, with few examples of far-right or far-left movements. The expansion of suffrage came in several steps for Canadian voters, with most women getting the vote by 1922, although voting rights were not expanded to indigenous groups until 1960.