Geography of Canada
Canada Today
Canada’s Government


Canada’s government is led
by the Prime Minister and
Parliament with an elected
House of Commons and an
appointed Senate.
Canada’s 10 Provincial
governments are headed by
a Premier. Provincial
governments are much like
our state governments. The
federal system allows
people to maintain loyalty to
their own province.
Stephen Harper – Canadian PM
Canada’s Regions

Canada’s physical
geography separates the
country into different
regions. British
Columbia is isolated
from the eastern
provinces and Canadian
North is, well, a region
all to itself – snow and
ice and all.
Regionalism

Cultural differences between
English speaking and
French speaking Canadians
have led to problems. Most
of Canada speaks English,
but Quebec is French.
Sometimes, peoples
connections to their region
is stronger than their
country (regionalism). In
Canada, this is true as well.
The Eastern Provinces

The Eastern Provinces
include New Brunswick,
Nova Scotia and Prince
Edward Island – the
Maritime Provinces and
Newfoundland and
Labrador. The provinces
have a short growing
season, although potatoes
are grown on Prince Edward
Island.
Eastern Provinces

Most of the economic
activity is in forestry
and fishing. Many of
the people are of
English descent. Many
French speaking people
have come from
Quebec. Most people
live on the coast and
Halifax is the regions
largest city,
The Heartland

More than half of Canada’s
population lives in the
Heartland Provinces of
Ontario and Quebec, with
Windsor to Quebec City
being the most urbanized
area in Canada. Quebec is
the provincial capital and
Montreal is the 2nd largest
city in Canada and one of
the largest French speaking
cities in the world.
The Heartland

Montreal is the financial
and industrial centre of
Quebec. Winters are
extremely cold and the
city makes good use of
underground and
overhead tunnels to go
from building to
building.
The Heartland

Many residents of
Quebec refer to
themselves as
Quebecois. They
believe their province
should be given special
status and on more than
one occasion discussed
creating their own
nation.
The Heartland

However, many English
speakers believe Quebec
already gets special
attention – perhaps too
much! Most Canadians
have a strong sense of
national pride.
Regionalism will still
play a role.
The Heartland

Ontario has an even
larger population than
Quebec. It is Canada’s
leading manufacturing
province. Hamilton is
the center of Canadian
steel industry. It exports
most of its steel to the
US.
The Heartland

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Ontario’s capital is
Toronto – a major center
of finance, industry,
education and culture.
Ottawa is the National
capital. The city is
known for grand
government buildings
and its universities.
The Western Provinces

West of Ontario you
find the Prairie
Provinces of Manitoba,
Saskatchewan and
Alberta. Along with the
British Columbia on the
West Coast they make
up the Western
Provinces.
The Western Provinces

More people live in
Quebec than all of the
Prairie Provinces
combined. The
southern grasslands are
part of the breadbasket
or wheat belt, producing
more wheat than
Canadians need. Oil
and natural gas are
important to Alberta.
The Western Provinces

British Columbia is the
westernmost province.
The mountains provide
vast natural resources
and minerals, forestry
and fishing. Nearly half
the population lives in
Vancouver. Vancouver
has been ranked as one
of the worlds best
metropolitan areas.
The Canadian North

The North is quite cold
– close to the Arctic, I
guess so. It includes the
Yukon and Northwest
Territories and Nunavut.
These territories cover
1/3 of the land but have
only about 100,000
people.
The Canadian North

Nunavut is a relatively
new territory created for
Canadian Inuit.
Nunavut means “our
land”. Even though it is
part of Canada, Nunavut
has its own distinct
culture and government.
About 30,000 people
live there.
The Canadian North

The physical geography
of the region includes
forests and tundra. The
frozen Arctic Ocean
separate towns and
villages. Part of the
winter, sunlight is
limited to just a few
hours and in summer,
just a few hours of light
Canada’s Economy

Canada is one of the
world’s leading mineral
producers. Iron,
titanium, zinc, silver,
gold and coal are all
mined. Canada’s steel
industry produces
planes, cars and
appliances. However,
most work in the service
industry.
Trade

Canada’s economy
depends on trade. The
natural resources
Canada is blessed with
is traded all over the
world. Canada’s
leading trading partner
is the US. 60% of
Canada’s imports are
from the US and 85% of
its exports go to the US
Trade

The US place a tariff of
Canadian timber as US
lumber companies
argued that Canadian
firms were selling at
unfairly low prices.
Canada argued that it
was unfair to place tariff
because of North
American Free Trade
Agreement – NAFTA.
Trade

Export of cattle to the US is
another area of dispute. A
cow was discovered with
mad cow disease in 2003, so
the US banned imports of
cattle from Canada.
Canadian ranchers maintain
their cows were disease free.
After 2 years, the ban was
lifted.
Canadian Sports

Canada has a variety of
professional sports to
boast about. The
Toronto Raptors in the
NBA and Toronto Blue
Jays in MLB. Hockey
is king with several
teams in the NHL
including the
Canadiens, Canucks and
Maple Leafs.
Geography of Canada

Exit: What is the greatest source of unity
between the US and Canada?

Stay tuned next time for The Inuit ( If I can
find it).