История Канады

History questions appear on almost every citizenship test, and most ask for a year, a person or a place. This primer runs through the story in order, then lists the key dates and the most common mix-ups.

Aboriginal peoples and first contact

Aboriginal peoples lived here for thousands of years before Europeans arrived. Contact brought European diseases that killed many Aboriginal people, but for about 200 years the two sides were also linked by trade, religion and military alliances.

Explorers and New France

• Vikings from Iceland reached Newfoundland and Labrador about 1,000 years ago; their site at L’Anse aux Meadows is a World Heritage Site.
• John Cabot, an Italian sailing for England, mapped the Atlantic coast in 1497.
• Jacques Cartier made three voyages (1534–1542) for King Francis I of France and was the first European to explore the St. Lawrence River. “Canada” comes from kanata, the Iroquoian word for “village”.
• Pierre de Monts and Samuel de Champlain began the first European settlement north of Florida in 1604. Champlain founded Quebec City in 1608 and allied with the Algonquin, Montagnais and Huron against the Iroquois.
• The fur trade, based on beaver pelts, drove the economy. In 1670 King Charles II gave the Hudson’s Bay Company trading rights over the lands draining into Hudson Bay.

British rule and the road to self-government

In 1759 the British won the Battle of the Plains of Abraham at Quebec City, and both commanders, Wolfe and Montcalm, were killed. The Quebec Act of 1774 protected the French Catholic majority with religious freedom, French civil law and British criminal law. After the American colonies declared independence in 1776, more than 40,000 United Empire Loyalists moved north. The Constitutional Act of 1791 created Upper Canada (later Ontario) and Lower Canada (later Quebec), each with an elected assembly. In 1793 Upper Canada, under John Graves Simcoe, became the first province in the Empire to move against slavery.

In the War of 1812 the Americans invaded and failed. Sir Isaac Brock captured Detroit and died at Queenston Heights; Charles de Salaberry won at Châteauguay; Laura Secord walked about 30 km to warn of an attack; Shawnee Chief Tecumseh fought beside the British. After the rebellions of 1837–38, Lord Durham recommended uniting the two Canadas, which happened in 1840. Nova Scotia won responsible government first (1847–48); Lord Elgin introduced it in the Province of Canada in 1848–49, where reformers LaFontaine and Baldwin led the way. Under responsible government, ministers who lose a confidence vote must resign.

Confederation and a growing country

On July 1, 1867, Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick formed the Dominion of Canada, and Sir John A. Macdonald became the first Prime Minister. Manitoba joined in 1870 after Louis Riel led the Métis at Red River. British Columbia joined in 1871 and Prince Edward Island in 1873, the year the North West Mounted Police (today’s RCMP) was created. The Canadian Pacific Railway was completed in 1885, built in part by Chinese workers who later faced a head tax. Alberta and Saskatchewan became provinces in 1905. Sir Wilfrid Laurier was the first French-Canadian Prime Minister since Confederation.

The world wars and the years between

In the First World War, Canadians captured Vimy Ridge in April 1917, and about 60,000 Canadians were killed. Remembrance Day, November 11, marks the 1918 Armistice. Manitoba was the first province to give women the vote (1916); most women won the federal vote in 1918, and Quebec women in 1940. Agnes Macphail became the first woman MP in 1921. The Great Depression of the 1930s led to the creation of the Bank of Canada in 1934. In the Second World War, more than one million Canadians served; they fought in Hong Kong and Italy, captured Juno Beach on D-Day (June 6, 1944) and helped free the Netherlands. At home, Japanese Canadians were forced from their homes.

Key dates

Common mix-ups

• 1759 vs 1774 vs 1791: battle, then Quebec Act, then Constitutional Act. If 1763 appears as an option, it is not the year of the battle.
• Upper vs Lower Canada: Upper = later Ontario, mostly English-speaking and Protestant, first to move against slavery. Lower = later Quebec, mostly French-speaking and Catholic. “Upper” means farther up the St. Lawrence.
• Brock vs de Salaberry: Brock took Detroit and died at Queenston Heights (Upper Canada); de Salaberry won at Châteauguay near Montreal (Lower Canada).
• Cabot vs Cartier vs Champlain: Cabot sailed for England (1497); Cartier explored the St. Lawrence for France (1534); Champlain founded Quebec City (1608).
• Durham vs Elgin: Durham recommended responsible government; Elgin put it in place.
• 1840 vs 1867: 1840 joined two colonies into the Province of Canada; 1867 created the Dominion of Canada.