HUMAN GEOGRAPHY OF
CANADA
CANADIAN HISTORY TIMELINE
Leif Erikson
discovered
Newfoundland
1000
1497
France &
England
claimed parts
of Canada
16th-17th
Centuries
Cabot claimed
Newfoundland
for England
British split Canada
into 2 provinces:
Upper CanadaProtestant English
(Ontario) and Lower
Canada –Catholic
French (Quebec)
1763
France
surrenders
territory to
British after
French &
Indian War
1791
1867
With control of
Rupert’s Land,
Canada went
from Atlantic to
Pacific
1871
British No. America Act –
Dominion of Canada
creating confederation of
Ontario, Quebec, & 2
colonies-Nova Scotia &
New Brunswick
1885
Canada
independent
from Britain
1931
Canadian
transcontinental
railway completed
Migration in Canada
• Quebec (French colony) was indifferent to the
American Revolution so many loyalists moved
into Canada and set up the English territories of
Nova Scotia and New Brunswick
• Canada expanded westward differently because
the lands were already in British or French
hands, so there was no need to move in or use
Manifest Destiny to justify migration
• Canada’s population is primarily on both coasts
and around the Great Lakes
Current Canadian Population Density
Quebec Conflict
• French settlers remained in Canada despite
British taking control after winning the French &
Indian War
• French settlers were Roman Catholic and
serious ethnic disputes arose between them and
the Protestant English settlers
• British government passed the British North
America Act creating the Dominion of Canada
which was a confederation (political union) of
Ontario (Upper Canada) & Quebec (Lower
Canada)
Separatism in Canada
• French Canada (Quebec area) has always
wanted to be separate from English Canada, at
least culturally
• Quebec speaks French and the people are
primarily Roman Catholic compared to the rest
of Canada that speaks English and is primarily
Protestant
• Canada has created two official languages
Multicultural
• Multiculturalism: Effort to promote and embrace
diversity
• Both British and French people live in Canada
• In the late 1800s immigrants from other parts of Europe
came to live in Canada’s vast open lands
Parliamentary
Government
• System in which legislative and executive
functions are combined in a legislature called
parliament
• Central federal government with smaller
provincial and territorial governments
• Parliament: Appointed Senate and elected
House of Commons
• Majority party’s leader in Parliament becomes
Prime Minister
First Nations
• Canada’s Native American peoples
Economic Activities in Canada
• Primary Industries: Farming in south central
Canada, logging, mining (uranium, zinc, gold,
silver), fishing along ocean coastlines,
newsprint, oil (along U.S. border)
• Secondary Activities (Manufacturing Sector):
13% of Canadians have mfg jobs; accounts for
1/8 of the GDP. Automobiles, steel, household
appliances, electronics, high-tech equipment,
mining equipment. Mfg has small clusters in
southwest & south central Canada but is mainly
in the southeast near the St. Lawrence seaway.
Economic Activities in Canada
• Tertiary Activities (Service Industries): 70% of
GDP; employ more Canadians than all other
industries combined
• Finance, utilities, trade, transportation, tourism,
communications, insurance, real estate, trade
• Service industries are found throughout
southern Canada
Canada – Land of Many Cultures
• There were diverse cultures from Canada’s earliest
settlement when the Inuit and First Nations peoples
came after the last Ice Age
• Then the English and French arrived, and later
immigrants from Europe and Asia
Languages & Religion
• Officially Bilingual: English-speaking majority and
French-speaking minority
• First Nation languages still survive
• Protestant and Roman Catholics are two largest
religions with smaller groups of Muslims, Jews, and
others
Population
• Settlement affected by the harsh physical
environment and lack of transportation routes
• Port cities of Montreal, Toronto, & Vancouver are
most densely settled
• 80% of Canadians live on 10% of the land along a 100mile wide strip just north of the U.S. border
• Becoming more urban: 4/5 of people live in cities
• 75% of French Canadians live in Quebec; Inuit people
live in northern territories
Sports and Recreation
• Skating, ice hockey, fishing, skiing, golf, hunting
• Canadian football league & professional ice
hockey teams are popular
• Lacrosse was developed by native peoples of
Canada
• Early European settlers in Canada developed ice
hockey
The Arts
• Oral traditions of the First Nations
• Realistic carvings of the Inuit made from ivory,
whalebone, and soapstone
• Totem poles of First Nations on the West Coast
• Toronto-based artists called Group of Seven
• Stratford Festival in Ontario honoring
Shakespeare
Canadian Subregions
• Four subregions: Atlantic Provinces, Core
Provinces, Prairie Provinces, Pacific Province
and Territories
• 10 total provinces and 3 territories
• Each has a unique population, economy, and
resources
• Regional Canada map - Color the four
subregions found on page 154 of the textbook.
Atlantic Provinces
• Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia,
Newfoundland, Labrador
• 8% of Canada’s population and most of these live in
coastal cities
• Rugged terrain and severe weather
• Logging is largest industry due to dense forests
• Fishing, mining, shipbuilding
• Hydroelectric power resources
Lunenberg, Nova Scotia
Bay of Fundy beach in New Brunswick
Core Provinces
• Quebec and Ontario
• Heartland of Canada: 3 out of 5 Canadians live here.
Ontario largest population, Quebec largest land area.
Most people live along Great Lakes and St. Lawrence
River
• Center of political and economic life
• Ottawa (in Ontario) is capital of federal government
• 35% of agriculture, 41% of mining, 70% of manufacturing
• Toronto is banking and financial center
• Montreal is Canada’s 2nd largest city & center of life in
Quebec
Chateau Frontenac Castle in Quebec
Prairie Provinces
• Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta
• Part of North America’s Great Plains – center of
agriculture (50% of agriculture in Canada)
• Many minerals also; large coal, oil & natural gas
deposits in Alberta
• Manitoba: Scots-Irish, Germans, Scandinavians,
Ukrainians, Poles
• Saskatchewan: Asia and the Metis people
• Alberta: Europeans, Indian, Japanese, Lebanese,
Vietnamese
Pacific Province
• British Columbia
• Westernmost province, almost all in Rocky
Mountain range
• ¾ is 3000 feet above sea level; ½ dense forests;
1/3 frozen tundra, snowfields, glaciers
• Victoria and Vancouver are largest cities in SW
• Logging, mining, hydroelectric power, largest
port in Canada so lots of shipping
Emerald Lake, British Columbia
Northern Territories
• Yukon, Northwest, and Nunavut Territories
• 41% of the land mass of Canada, sparsely
populated
• Yukon: North of British Columbia; 35,000 people
• Northwest Territories: East of Yukon, extends to
the Arctic; population 43,000
• Nunavut: Formed from eastern Northwest
Territories in 1999; home to many Inuit people
• Mining, fishing, logging – widely scattered
Northern Lights, Northwest Territories
Nunavut, Inuit, Metis
• Nunavut was formed in 1999 to settle the land claims of the
Inuit (formerly called Eskimo) peoples and give them a
protected homeland
• Nunavut means “our land”
• Metis are people of mixed French and native heritage
Metis symbol and
celebrities