Practise this chapter
This chapter is a tour of the country. Canada is the second-largest country in the world, about 10 million square kilometres, with the Pacific Ocean to the west, the Atlantic to the east and the Arctic to the north. To the south it shares a long border with the United States. The test often asks you to match a place with its capital, its region or one famous fact, so learn the table below well.
The big picture
- Canada has 10 provinces and 3 territories, and each has its own capital city.
- They are grouped into five regions: the Atlantic provinces, Central Canada, the Prairie provinces, the West Coast and the Northern Territories.
- The national capital is Ottawa, on the Ottawa River in Ontario. Queen Victoria chose it in 1857, ten years before Confederation. Its Rideau Canal, once a military waterway, is now a winter skateway.
- More than half of Canadians live near the Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence River in southern Ontario and Quebec, the country’s industrial and manufacturing heartland.
Provinces and territories at a glance
| Province / territory | Region | Capital | Key facts |
|---|---|---|---|
| Newfoundland and Labrador | Atlantic | St. John’s | Most easterly point in North America, own time zone; oldest British colony; fisheries, offshore oil and gas; Labrador hydro power |
| Prince Edward Island | Atlantic | Charlottetown | Smallest province; red soil and potatoes; birthplace of Confederation; Confederation Bridge; Anne of Green Gables |
| Nova Scotia | Atlantic | Halifax | Most populous Atlantic province; Bay of Fundy has the world’s highest tides; Halifax: largest naval base and biggest east coast port; Celtic and Gaelic culture |
| New Brunswick | Atlantic | Fredericton | Only officially bilingual province; founded by Loyalists; St. John River system; Moncton is the Acadian centre |
| Quebec | Central | Quebec City | Most people live along the St. Lawrence; largest hydro-electricity producer; pharmaceuticals and aeronautics; Montreal is Canada’s second-largest city |
| Ontario | Central | Toronto | Toronto is the largest city and financial centre; Niagara vineyards; founded by Loyalists; Lake Superior; most Francophones outside Quebec |
| Manitoba | Prairie | Winnipeg | Agriculture, mining, hydro power; St. Boniface, Western Canada’s largest Francophone community; centre of Ukrainian culture |
| Saskatchewan | Prairie | Regina | “Breadbasket of the world”; largest grain and oilseed producer; uranium and potash; RCMP academy in Regina; Saskatoon is the largest city |
| Alberta | Prairie | Edmonton | Named after Princess Louise Caroline Alberta; Banff National Park (1885); dinosaur fossils in the Badlands; largest oil and gas producer; cattle ranches |
| British Columbia | West Coast | Victoria | Port of Vancouver, gateway to the Asia-Pacific; forestry is about half of its goods; Okanagan orchards and wine; Victoria hosts the navy’s Pacific fleet |
| Yukon | North | Whitehorse | Klondike Gold Rush of the 1890s; coldest recorded temperature (−63°C); Mount Logan, Canada’s highest mountain |
| Northwest Territories | North | Yellowknife | Formed in 1870; Yellowknife is the “diamond capital of North America”; Mackenzie River, second-longest river system in North America |
| Nunavut | North | Iqaluit | Created in 1999 from the eastern Northwest Territories; name means “our land” in Inuktitut; Iqaluit was once Frobisher Bay |
The North
The three territories cover about one-third of Canada’s land but have very few people. The North is called the Land of the Midnight Sun: in midsummer daylight can last 24 hours, while in winter it can stay dark for about three months. Much of the land is treeless tundra, and mining for gold, diamonds and other minerals is important.
Common mix-ups
- Victoria vs Vancouver: Victoria is B.C.’s capital; Vancouver is its biggest city and port.
- Regina vs Saskatoon: Regina is Saskatchewan’s capital; Saskatoon is the largest city.
- Edmonton vs Calgary: Edmonton is Alberta’s capital.
- St. John’s vs Saint John: St. John’s is the capital of Newfoundland and Labrador; Saint John is a port city in New Brunswick, whose capital is Fredericton.
- Three northern capitals: Whitehorse (Yukon), Yellowknife (Northwest Territories), Iqaluit (Nunavut).
- Region membership: Quebec is Central, not Atlantic. Manitoba is a Prairie province, not Central. Alberta is Prairie, not West Coast.
- Dates: Ottawa chosen 1857 (by Queen Victoria, not Sir John A. Macdonald); Northwest Territories formed 1870; Nunavut created 1999.
- Toronto vs Ottawa: Toronto is Ontario’s capital; Ottawa is Canada’s capital.