Modern Canada

Building the Dominion and the challenge in the West

After Confederation in 1867, more provinces and territories joined the Dominion over time. Sir John A. Macdonald was the first prime minister, and Sir George-Étienne Cartier led Quebec into Confederation.

In 1869 Canada took over the northwest region from the Hudson’s Bay Company without consulting the Métis of the Red River. Louis Riel led an armed uprising. After Ottawa sent soldiers to retake Fort Garry in 1870, Canada established the province of Manitoba. In 1873 Macdonald created the North West Mounted Police to pacify the West.

Key points

• Provinces and territories joined in this order: 1867 Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick; 1870 Manitoba and the Northwest Territories; 1871 British Columbia; 1873 Prince Edward Island; 1898 Yukon Territory; 1905 Alberta and Saskatchewan; 1949 Newfoundland and Labrador; 1999 Nunavut.
• In 1880 the Arctic Islands were transferred to the Northwest Territories.
• Sir Leonard Tilley, a Father of Confederation from New Brunswick, suggested the term Dominion of Canada in 1864.
• Sir John A. Macdonald, born in Scotland on January 11, 1815, became Canada’s first prime minister in 1867. His portrait was on the $10 bill until 2018.
• Sir George-Étienne Cartier, a Montreal railway lawyer, was the key architect of Confederation from Quebec and helped negotiate the entry of the Northwest Territories, Manitoba and British Columbia.
• In 1869 Canada took over the vast northwest region from the Hudson’s Bay Company. The 12,000 Métis of Red River were not consulted.
• Louis Riel led an armed uprising and seized Fort Garry, the territorial capital. Ottawa sent soldiers to retake it in 1870, Riel fled to the United States, and Manitoba was created in 1870.
• In 1885 a second rebellion in present-day Saskatchewan led to Riel’s trial and execution for high treason, a decision strongly opposed in Quebec.
• Many see Louis Riel as a hero, a defender of Métis rights and the father of Manitoba. Gabriel Dumont was the Métis’ greatest military leader.
• Prime Minister Macdonald created the North West Mounted Police (NWMP) in 1873 to pacify the West and help in negotiations with the Indians. It founded Fort Calgary, Fort MacLeod and other centres, and Regina became its headquarters.
• Today the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP or “the Mounties”) are the national police force and one of Canada’s best-known symbols.
• Major General Sir Sam Steele was a frontier hero, Mounted Policeman and soldier who came from the ranks of the Mounties.

Practice questions: Who led the Métis armed uprising at Red River in 1869 and was later executed for high treason after a second rebellion in 1885? · In which year did Manitoba join Confederation? · Why was the North West Mounted Police (NWMP) founded in 1873? · In which year did Alberta and Saskatchewan become provinces? · Which was the last province to join Canada, in 1949? · In which year did Prince Edward Island join Confederation? · In what year did Canada take over the vast northwest region from the Hudson’s Bay Company? · Which group living at the Red River was not consulted when Canada took over the northwest region in 1869? · Who was Sir Sam Steele? · Who is seen by many as the father of Manitoba and a defender of Métis rights? · In what year did Prime Minister Macdonald establish the North West Mounted Police?

A railway from sea to sea and moving westward

British Columbia agreed to join Canada because Ottawa promised a railway to the West Coast. The Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) was finished in 1885, a powerful symbol of unity.

The railway made it possible for immigrants to settle in the West. During an economic boom, Prime Minister Laurier encouraged immigration to the West. Afterwards the Chinese, who had helped build the railway, faced discrimination.

Key points

• British Columbia joined Canada in 1871 after Ottawa promised to build a railway to the West Coast.
• On November 7, 1885, Donald Smith (Lord Strathcona), the Scottish-born director of the CPR, drove the last spike.
• The CPR was paid for by British and American investors and built by European and Chinese workers.
• After the railway, Chinese people faced discrimination, including the Head Tax, a race-based entry fee. The Government of Canada apologized for it in 2006.
• During the economic boom of the 1890s and early 1900s, one million British and one million American immigrants came to Canada, and the economy became more industrialized.
• Sir Wilfrid Laurier was the first French-Canadian prime minister since Confederation. He encouraged immigration to the West, and his portrait is on the $5 bill.
• The railway made it possible for 170,000 Ukrainians, 115,000 Poles and tens of thousands from Germany, France, Norway and Sweden to settle in the West before 1914 and develop a thriving agricultural sector.
• Thousands of miners came to the Yukon during the Gold Rush of the 1890s, as celebrated in the poetry of Robert W. Service.

Practice questions: Who was the first French-Canadian Prime Minister after Confederation? · British Columbia joined Canada in 1871 after Ottawa made what promise? · When was the Canadian Pacific Railway completed with the driving of the “last spike”? · Who provided much of the labour to build the Canadian Pacific Railway? · Thousands of miners came to which territory during the Gold Rush of the 1890s? · Who paid for building the Canadian Pacific Railway? · Who drove the “last spike” of the Canadian Pacific Railway in 1885, a symbol of national unity? · What was the Head Tax? · During the economic boom of the 1890s and early 1900s, how many British and American immigrants came to Canada? · Before 1914, the railway made it possible for 170,000 immigrants of which group to settle in the West? · In what year did the Government of Canada apologize for the Head Tax charged to Chinese immigrants?

The South African War and the First World War

Most Canadians were proud to be part of the British Empire, and many volunteered to fight in the South African War and the First World War. The capture of Vimy Ridge in 1917 secured the Canadians’ reputation for valour, and the war strengthened both national and imperial pride.

At home, Ottawa interned over 8,000 people, mainly Ukrainian men, as “enemy aliens” in labour camps. Each year on Remembrance Day, Canadians remember the veterans and fallen of all wars in which Canada took part.

Key points

• Over 7,000 Canadians volunteered for the South African War (1899–1902), popularly known as the Boer War, and over 260 died. In 1900 they fought at Paardeberg and Lillefontein.
• When Britain declared war in 1914, Ottawa formed the Canadian Expeditionary Force, later called the Canadian Corps.
• More than 600,000 Canadians served, most of them volunteers, out of a population of eight million. About 60,000 were killed and 170,000 wounded.
• The Canadian Corps captured Vimy Ridge in April 1917, with 10,000 killed or wounded. One Canadian officer said he saw “the birth of a nation.” April 9 is Vimy Day.
• From 1914 to 1920, Ottawa interned over 8,000 former Austro-Hungarian subjects, mainly Ukrainian men, as “enemy aliens” in 24 labour camps.
• General Sir Arthur Currie, a reserve officer, is called Canada’s greatest soldier. Under his command, the Canadian Corps advanced in the last hundred days of the war in 1918.
• The hundred days included the Battle of Amiens on August 8, 1918 (“the black day of the German Army”), then Arras, Canal du Nord, Cambrai and Mons.
• More than 3,000 nurses, nicknamed “Bluebirds,” served in the Royal Canadian Army Medical Corps, 2,500 of them overseas.
• The war ended with the Armistice on November 11, 1918.
• On Remembrance Day, November 11, Canadians wear the red poppy and keep a moment of silence at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month.
• Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae, a medical officer, wrote the poem “In Flanders Fields” in 1915.

Practice questions: How many Canadians volunteered to fight in the South African War (Boer War) of 1899–1902? · Which First World War battle in April 1917 has been called the “birth of a nation”? · Who commanded the Canadian Corps and is considered Canada’s greatest soldier? · About how many Canadians served in the First World War? · What happened on November 11, 1918? · During and after the First World War, which group made up most of the over 8,000 people interned as “enemy aliens”? · What were the more than 3,000 nurses who served in the Royal Canadian Army Medical Corps nicknamed? · Who commanded the Canadian Corps in the last hundred days of the First World War in 1918? · About how many Canadians were killed in the First World War? · What is the South African War of 1899–1902 popularly known as?

Women get the vote

At Confederation only property-owning adult white men could vote. Through the women’s suffrage movement, women won the vote step by step between 1916 and 1940.

Key points

• The effort by women to win the vote is called the women’s suffrage movement.
• Its founder in Canada was Dr. Emily Stowe, the first Canadian woman to practise medicine in Canada.
• In 1916 Manitoba became the first province to give women the vote.
• In 1917 Sir Robert Borden’s federal government gave the vote first to nurses at the front, then to women related to men in active wartime service.
• In 1918 most Canadian women aged 21 and over won the right to vote in federal elections.
• In 1921 Agnes Macphail, a farmer and teacher, became the first woman Member of Parliament.
• Thanks to Thérèse Casgrain and others, Quebec gave women the vote in 1940.

Practice questions: Which was the first province to grant women the right to vote, in 1916? · When were most Canadian women aged 21 and over granted the right to vote in federal elections? · Who was the first woman elected to the House of Commons, in 1921? · Who was the first Canadian woman to practise medicine in Canada? · Thanks to Thérèse Casgrain and others, in what year did Quebec give women the right to vote? · What was the effort by women to win the right to vote called?

Between the wars

After the First World War the British Empire became the Commonwealth. The 1920s were good years, but the 1929 crash brought the Great Depression.

In the 1930s there was growing demand for a social safety net, and the Bank of Canada was created in 1934 to bring stability to the financial system.

Key points

• After the First World War, the British Empire became a free association of states called the British Commonwealth of Nations.
• Canada is still a leading member of the Commonwealth, with India, Australia, New Zealand and several African and Caribbean countries.
• The “Roaring Twenties” were boom times with low unemployment.
• The stock market crash of 1929 led to the Great Depression, or the “Dirty Thirties.”
• Unemployment reached 27% in 1933, and many businesses were wiped out.
• Farmers in Western Canada were hit hardest, by low grain prices and a terrible drought.
• There was growing demand for a government social safety net: minimum wages, a standard work week and programs such as unemployment insurance.
• The Bank of Canada, a central bank that manages the money supply and brings stability to the financial system, was created in 1934.
• Immigration dropped, and many refugees were turned away, including Jews trying to flee Nazi Germany in 1939.

Practice questions: Which institution was created in 1934 during the Great Depression to manage the money supply? · During the Great Depression, what level did unemployment reach in 1933? · After the First World War, the British Empire evolved into which free association of states, of which Canada remains a leading member? · What were the “Dirty Thirties” known for?

The Second World War

Canada joined its democratic allies to fight Nazi Germany and its partners from 1939 to 1945. A high proportion of Canadians served, on land, at sea and in the air.

Canadians took part in D-Day and the liberation of Italy, and the Canadian Army liberated the Netherlands. During the war, Canadians of Japanese origin were forcibly relocated, and the government apologized in 1988.

Key points

• The war began in 1939 when Adolf Hitler, the Nazi dictator of Germany, invaded Poland and conquered much of Europe.
• More than one million Canadians and Newfoundlanders served, out of a population of 11.5 million. Of these, 44,000 were killed. Newfoundland was then a separate British territory.
• Canadians fought in the unsuccessful defence of Hong Kong (1941) against Imperial Japan, and in a failed raid on Dieppe, France (1942).
• The Royal Canadian Air Force took part in the Battle of Britain. Over 130,000 Allied air crew trained in Canada under the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan.
• The Royal Canadian Navy’s finest hour was the Battle of the Atlantic, protecting merchant convoys from German submarines. By the war’s end Canada had the third-largest navy in the world.
• Canadians took part in the liberation of Italy in 1943–44.
• On D-Day, June 6, 1944, 15,000 Canadian troops stormed and captured Juno Beach in Normandy. About one in ten Allied soldiers on D-Day was Canadian.
• The Canadian Army liberated the Netherlands in 1944–45 and helped force the German surrender of May 8, 1945. Japan surrendered on August 14, 1945.
• Canadians of Japanese origin were forcibly relocated and their property sold without compensation. The Government of Canada apologized in 1988 and compensated the victims.

Practice questions: About how many Canadians and Newfoundlanders served in the Second World War? · Which beach did Canadian soldiers capture on D-Day, June 6, 1944? · Which country did Canadian forces help liberate in 1944–45, after the D-Day landings? · Where did Canadians fight bravely and suffer losses in an unsuccessful defence against attack by Imperial Japan in 1941? · By the end of the Second World War, how did the Royal Canadian Navy rank in size? · When did the Second World War begin? · Which country did Canadians help liberate in 1943–44? · About what share of Allied soldiers on D-Day were Canadian? · In which Second World War campaign did the Royal Canadian Navy have its finest hour? · About how many Canadians and Newfoundlanders were killed in the Second World War?

Trade, economic growth and social programs

Postwar Canada enjoyed record prosperity. More open world trade helped, and the discovery of oil in Alberta began Canada’s modern energy industry. Between 1945 and 1970 the country had one of the strongest economies among industrialized nations.

As prosperity grew, so did the ability to support social assistance programs such as unemployment insurance, Old Age Security, the Canada and Quebec Pension Plans and health coverage.

Key points

• Trade treaties such as the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), now the World Trade Organization (WTO), opened up world trade.
• The discovery of oil in Alberta in 1947 began Canada’s modern energy industry.
• In 1951, for the first time, most Canadians could afford adequate food, shelter and clothing.
• Between 1945 and 1970 Canada had one of the strongest economies among industrialized nations. Today it has one of the world’s highest standards of living, supported by trade, especially with the United States.
• Old Age Security was first devised in 1927.
• The federal government introduced unemployment insurance (now employment insurance) in 1940.
• The Canada and Quebec Pension Plans began in 1965.
• The Canada Health Act ensures common elements and a basic standard of health coverage.
• Publicly funded education is provided by the provinces and territories.

Practice questions: What important discovery in Alberta in 1947 began Canada’s modern energy industry? · In what year was federal unemployment insurance (now called “employment insurance”) introduced? · In what year did a majority of Canadians first become able to afford adequate food, shelter and clothing? · In what year were the Canada and Quebec Pension Plans introduced? · Which law ensures common elements and a basic standard of health coverage across Canada?

International engagement

Like Australia and New Zealand, Canada developed its autonomy gradually and became able to make significant contributions internationally. It joined NATO, NORAD and the United Nations.

Key points

• The Cold War began when several eastern European countries became part of a Communist bloc controlled by the Soviet Union under the dictator Josef Stalin.
• Canada joined other Western democracies to form the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), a military alliance.
• Canada joined the United States in the North American Aerospace Defence Command (NORAD).
• Canada joined international organizations such as the United Nations (UN).
• In the Korean War (1950–53), Canada took part in the UN operation defending South Korea. There were 500 Canadian dead and 1,000 wounded.
• Canada has taken part in many UN peacekeeping missions, in places such as Egypt, Cyprus and Haiti.
• Canada has also served in other international security operations, such as those in the former Yugoslavia and Afghanistan.

Practice questions: In which war of 1950–53 did 500 Canadians die while serving with the United Nations? · During the Cold War, which military alliance did Canada help form with other democratic countries of the West? · Where have Canadians served on UN peacekeeping and other international missions?

Canada and Quebec

French-Canadian society and culture flourished after the war, and Quebec changed rapidly in the 1960s, a period called the Quiet Revolution. Many Quebecers sought to separate. Parliament set up a royal commission that led to the Official Languages Act.

Quebecers voted twice on sovereignty and chose to stay in Canada both times. The Constitution was changed in 1982 to include the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, but Quebec did not agree to it.

Key points

• The Quiet Revolution was an era of rapid change in Quebec in the 1960s. Many Quebecers sought to separate from Canada.
• In 1963 Parliament set up the Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism.
• The Official Languages Act (1969) guarantees French and English services in the federal government across Canada.
• In 1970 Canada helped found La Francophonie, an international association of French-speaking countries.
• Quebec sovereignty was defeated in a provincial referendum in 1980 and again in a second referendum in 1995.
• In 1982 the Constitution was amended to entrench the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. This was done without the agreement of Quebec.
• The autonomy of Quebec within Canada is still a lively topic.

Practice questions: What was the Quiet Revolution of the 1960s? · In which year did Parliament pass the Official Languages Act? · What happened in the Quebec referendums of 1980 and 1995? · What happened to the Constitution in 1982? · In 1970, Canada helped found which international association?

A changing society

Over the past 50 years and more, Canada became a more open society. More people went to college and university, more women entered professional jobs, and the right to vote was extended to groups who had been left out.

Canada welcomed refugees fleeing Communist rule, and by the 1960s many Canadians came from neither British nor French backgrounds, giving new strength to multiculturalism.

Key points

• A growing number of women entered the professional work force, and many people took advantage of more secondary and postsecondary education.
• Most Canadians of Asian descent were once denied the vote in federal and provincial elections. In 1948 Japanese-Canadians, the last of these groups, gained the right to vote.
• Aboriginal people were granted the vote in 1960.
• Today every citizen over the age of 18 may vote.
• In 1956 Canada welcomed about 37,000 refugees who escaped Soviet tyranny in Hungary.
• After the Communist victory in the Vietnam War in 1975, over 50,000 Vietnamese found refuge in Canada.
• By the 1960s, one-third of Canadians had origins that were neither British nor French.
• Diversity enriches Canadians’ lives, particularly in the cities.

Practice questions: In which year were Aboriginal people granted the vote? · Which group of Canadians gained the right to vote in 1948? · In 1956, Canada welcomed about 37,000 refugees fleeing Soviet tyranny from which country? · After the Vietnam War, over how many Vietnamese refugees found refuge in Canada? · By the 1960s, about what share of Canadians had origins that were neither British nor French?

Arts, culture and sports

Canadian writers, musicians, painters and filmmakers from all regions have achieved greatness at home and abroad.

All provinces and territories have produced star athletes and Olympic medal winners. Terry Fox raised money for cancer research and Rick Hansen for spinal cord research.

Key points

• Men and women of letters included Stephen Leacock, Louis Hémon, Sir Charles G.D. Roberts, Pauline Johnson, Émile Nelligan, Robertson Davies, Margaret Laurence and Mordecai Richler.
• Joy Kogawa, Michael Ondaatje and Rohinton Mistry have made Canadian literature more diverse.
• Sir Ernest MacMillan and Healey Willan were musicians known in Canada and abroad.
• The Group of Seven, founded in 1920, painted Canada’s rugged wilderness landscapes.
• Emily Carr painted the forests and Aboriginal artifacts of the West Coast.
• Les Automatistes of Quebec pioneered modern abstract art in the 1950s; the best-known was Jean-Paul Riopelle. Louis-Philippe Hébert was a sculptor of historical figures.
• Kenojuak Ashevak pioneered modern Inuit art with etchings, prints and soapstone sculptures.
• Filmmakers include Denys Arcand, Norman Jewison and Atom Egoyan.
• Canadian James Naismith invented basketball in 1891. Ice hockey is the national winter sport.
• At the 1996 Summer Olympics, Donovan Bailey became a world-record sprinter and double Olympic gold medallist, and Chantal Petitclerc became a world-champion wheelchair racer and Paralympic gold medallist.
• Wayne Gretzky, one of the greatest hockey players of all time, played for the Edmonton Oilers from 1979 to 1988. Paul Henderson scored the winning goal of the 1972 Canada-Soviet Summit Series.
• In 1980 Terry Fox, who lost his right leg to cancer at 18, began the “Marathon of Hope” across Canada for cancer research. In 1985 Rick Hansen went around the world in a wheelchair for spinal cord research.

Practice questions: Who invented basketball in 1891? · Who started the “Marathon of Hope” in 1980 to raise money for cancer research? · Who circled the globe in a wheelchair to raise money for spinal cord research? · What are the Group of Seven known for? · Which Canadian painter is famous for painting the forests and Aboriginal artifacts of the West Coast? · Which Canadian writers are mentioned in Discover Canada? · Sir Ernest MacMillan and Healey Willan were renowned as what? · Which Quebec art movement pioneered modern abstract art in the 1950s? · Which team did Wayne Gretzky play for from 1979 to 1988? · At the 1996 Olympic Summer Games, which Canadian became a world-record sprinter and double gold medallist? · Who became a world-champion wheelchair racer and Paralympic gold medallist?

Science, discoveries and inventions

Canadian scientists and inventors have changed the way the world communicates and does business. Gerhard Herzberg and other Canadian scientists have won the Nobel Prize, and Canada takes part in space exploration.

Famous Canadian discoveries and inventions include the snowmobile, standard time zones, the first cardiac pacemaker, the Canadarm and insulin.

Key points

• Marshall McLuhan and Harold Innis were pioneer thinkers.
• Since 1989 the Canadian Space Agency and Canadian astronauts have taken part in space exploration, often using the Canadarm.
• Nobel Prize-winning scientists include Gerhard Herzberg (a refugee from Nazi Germany), John Polanyi, Sidney Altman, Richard E. Taylor, Michael Smith and Bertram Brockhouse.
• Alexander Graham Bell came up with the idea of the telephone at his summer house in Canada.
• Joseph-Armand Bombardier invented the snowmobile. Sir Sandford Fleming invented the worldwide system of standard time zones.
• Matthew Evans and Henry Woodward invented the first electric light bulb and sold the patent to Thomas Edison.
• Reginald Fessenden helped invent radio and sent the world’s first wireless voice message.
• Dr. Wilder Penfield was a pioneering brain surgeon at McGill University, called “the greatest living Canadian.”
• Dr. John A. Hopps invented the first cardiac pacemaker.
• SPAR Aerospace and the National Research Council invented the Canadarm, a robotic arm used in outer space.
• Mike Lazaridis and Jim Balsillie of Research in Motion (RIM), a wireless communications company, are known for its most famous invention, the BlackBerry.
• Sir Frederick Banting of Toronto and Charles Best discovered insulin, which treats diabetes and has saved 16 million lives worldwide.

Practice questions: Which Canadians discovered insulin, a treatment that has saved millions of people with diabetes? · Which Canadian invented the snowmobile? · Who invented the worldwide system of standard time zones? · Which inventor conceived the telephone while at his summer house in Canada? · Who contributed to the invention of radio and sent the first wireless voice message? · Who invented the first cardiac pacemaker? · Which Canadians are associated with Research in Motion (RIM), the company known for the BlackBerry? · Gerhard Herzberg, John Polanyi, Sidney Altman, Richard E. Taylor, Michael Smith and Bertram Brockhouse were what? · Who developed the Canadarm, the robotic arm used in outer space? · Which of the following is NOT a Canadian invention? · Which famous wireless device did Research in Motion create?