Chapter 12 – Canada

Section NotesPhysical GeographyHistory and CultureCanada Today

VideoImpact of Regionalism

ImagesGeographyBanff National ParkFocus on Culture: Vancouver’s ChinatownTrade with the United States

Quick FactsChapter 12 Visual Summary

MapsCanada: PoliticalCanada: PhysicalCanada’s Major LanguagesRegions of CanadaCanadaClimate of British Columbia

Close-upQuebec’s Winter Carnival

World AlmanacCanadian Ethnic Groups

Physical Geography

The Big Idea

Canada is a huge country with a northerly location, cold climates, and rich resources.

Main Ideas

• A huge country, Canada has a wide variety of physical features, including rugged mountains, plains, and swamps.

• Because of its northerly location, Canada is dominated by cold climates.

• Canada is rich in natural resources like fish, minerals, fertile soil, and forests.

• Canada and the U.S. share many physical features.

– The mountains along the Pacific coast and the Rocky Mountains extend north into western Canada.

– Broad plains stretch across the interiors of both countries.

– Both countries border the St. Lawrence River, which links the Great Lakes to the Atlantic Ocean.

– The Niagara Falls, located between Ontario and New York State, plunge an average of 162 feet between Lake Erie and Lake Ontario.

Main Idea 1:A huge country, Canada has a wide variety

of physical features, including rugged mountains, plains, and swamps.

Canada’s Physical Features

• Canada is the second-largest country in the world.

• Canada has a region of rocky uplands, lakes, and swamps called the Canadian Shield, which covers about half the country.

• Canadian land bordering the Arctic Ocean is covered with ice year-round. Very few people live here, but some wildlife have adapted to the harsh environment.

Main Idea 2:Because of its northerly location, Canada is

dominated by cold climates.

• Canada’s location greatly influences the country’s climate. – Located far from the equator

– Cool to freezing temperatures year-round

– The farther north, the colder the climate.

• Much of central and northern Canada has a sub-arctic climate.

• The far north has tundra and ice cap climates.

• About half of Canada lies in these extremely cold climates.

• Central and eastern southern Canada is humid and relatively mild.

• The coast of British Columbia is the mildest. The Pacific coast brings rainy winters and mild temperatures.

• Inland southern Canada is colder and drier.

Main Idea 3:Canada is rich in natural resources like fish,

minerals, fertile soil, and forests.

Fishing • Canada’s Atlantic and Pacific coastal waters are among the world’s richest fishing areas.

• Grand Banks

– Off the Atlantic coast

– Cold waters from the Labrador Sea meet the warm waters of the Gulf Stream.

– Ideal for the growth of tiny organisms, or plankton

– Large schools of fish gather to eat the plankton.

– Recent over-fishing

Canadian Resources

Forest • Vast areas of forests from Labrador to the Pacific coast provide lumber and pulp.

• Pulp—softened wood fibers—is used to make paper. • The United States, the United Kingdom, and Japan

get much of their newsprint from Canada. • Newsprint is cheap paper used mainly for

newspapers.

• The Canadian Shield has many mineral deposits. • World’s main source of nickel, zinc, and uranium • Other resources: lead, copper, gold, and silver • Saskatchewan: potash, a mineral used to make

fertilizer• Alberta: oil and natural gas

Minerals

History and Culture

The Big Idea

Canada’s history and culture reflect Native Canadian and European settlement, immigration, and migration to cities.

Main Ideas

• Beginning in the 1600s, Europeans settled the region that would later become Canada.

• Immigration and migration to cities have shaped Canadian culture.

Main Idea 1:Beginning in the 1600s, Europeans settled

the region that would later become Canada.

• Vikings settled on Newfoundland in AD 1000, but abandoned settlements.

• 1400s: Other European settlers arrived.

• Europeans traded metal goods like axes and guns for furs that Native Canadians supplied.

NativeCanadians

• The First Nations:

– The Cree hunted bison on the Interior plains.

– The Inuit hunted seals, whales, and walruses in the far north.

• Today, Canada has about 400,000 Indians and Inuit.

EuropeanSettlers

New France

• 1608: The French established Quebec City.

• At its height, New France included much of eastern Canada and central United States.

• New France was part of the French Empire.

• To defend New France against the British, the French established good trade and diplomatic relations with Native Canadians.

• French missionaries also converted people to Christianity.

• After 150 years, the British defeated the French, but the cultural legacy remained.

British Conquest

• Mid-1700s: The British took control of New France after winning the French and Indian War.

• Most French stayed.

• The British divided Quebec into two colonies and established part of the border between today’s provinces of Quebec and Ontario.

• Provinces are administrative divisions of a country.

• Few English-speaking settlers came to Quebec.

• Nova Scotia was divided.

• The new British colony of New Brunswick was created.

Creation of Canada

• Each colony developed separately at first.

• 1867: Parliament created the Dominion of Canada.

• 1885: The transcontinental Canadian Pacific Railway was built to connect British Columbia, on the Pacific Coast, with provinces in the east.

• Canada acquired new lands in the north, mainly by buying them from the Hudson’s Bay Company, a fur-trading business.

• Canada also signed treaties with Native Canadians.

British Conquest

Main Idea 2:Immigration and migration to cities have

shaped Canadian culture.

Immigration

• Late 1800s/early 1900s: Immigrants arrived from Europe and the U.S. to farm and work in mines, factories, and forests.

• 1897: Discovery of gold in the Yukon Territory lured more immigrants.

• Chinese immigrants came to work on the railroad.

• Early 1900s: Economic boom

– Quebec, New Brunswick, and Ontario produced wheat, pulp, and paper.

– British Columbia and Ontario supplied minerals and hydroelectricity.

• 1940s: Canada enjoyed one of the highest standards of living in the world.

MovementTo

Cities

• After WWII: New immigration from Europe

• Many settled in cities.

• Toronto became one of the most culturally diverse cities in the world with people from Europe, Africa, the Caribbean, Latin American, and Asia.

• Recently, Canadians have moved

– To cities in Ontario to find jobs

– To Vancouver, British Columbia for jobs and climate

• Political and economic centers are Ottawa, Toronto, and Montreal.

Migration

Canada Today

The Big Idea

Canada’s democratic government oversees the country’s regions and economy.

Main Ideas

• Canada has a democratic government with a prime minister and a parliament.

• Canada has four distinct geographic and cultural regions.

• Canada’s economy is largely based on trade with the United States.

Main Idea 1: Canada has a democratic government with a

prime minister and a parliament.

• Democratic government led by a prime minister who oversees the parliament.

• Parliament: House of Commons and the Senate

• People elect members of the House of Commons.

• Prime minister appoints members of the Senate.

• Ten provincial governments are led by premiers.

• Provincial and central system is similar to U.S. state and federal system.

Main Idea 2:Canada has four distinct geographic and

cultural regions.

• Canada’s physical geography splits the country into regions.

• Cultural differences between French-speaking and English-speaking Canadians also leads to regionalism.

• In Canada, most people speak English.

• In Quebec, most people speak French.

• Regionalism is the strong connection that people feel toward the region in which they live.

• Some Canadians have a stronger connection to their region than to the country as a whole.

The Eastern Provinces

• Includes Newfoundland, Labrador, and the Maritime Provinces

• Maritime means on or near the sea.

• Short growing season, so economy relies mostly on forestry and fishing

• Both English and French-speaking people

• Most people live in coastal cities.

• Cities are industrial, fishing, and shipping centers.

• Halifax, in Nova Scotia, is the region’s largest city.

The Heartland

• Includes Quebec and Ontario

• Most urbanized region

• French-speaking Montreal in Quebec is Canada’s second largest city.

• Many residents of Quebec, or Quebecois, argue that Quebec should be independent or be given special privileges.

• Ontario has a larger population than Quebec and is the manufacturing center.

• Toronto, the capital of Ontario, is an industrial, financial, educational, and cultural center.

• Ottawa, the capital of Canada, is in Ontario.

Canada’s Regions

The Western Provinces

• Includes the prairie provinces of Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Alberta and British Columbia

• More people live in Quebec than in all the prairie provinces.

• Wheat, oil, and natural gas production are important industries.

• British Columbia– Four million people

– Resources: forests, salmon, and minerals

– Vancouver is a coastal city that trades with Asia.

The Canadian North

• Includes Yukon Territory, the Northwest Territories, and Nunavut

• Extremely cold due to location near Arctic Circle

• Only 100,000 people although this region covers more than a third of Canada.

• Nunavut is a new territory for the 30,000 native Inuit people who live there.

• Mostly forest, tundra, and towns isolated by frozen waters of the Arctic Ocean.

Canada’s Regions, continued

Main Idea 3: Canada’s economy is largely based on trade

with the United States.

• Canada’s economy depends on trade.

• Canada and the U.S. have the world’s largest trading relationship.

– 60 percent of Canada’s imports are from the United States.

– 85 percent of Canada’s exports goes to the United States

• Recent issues include a tariff on Canadian lumber and a 2003 case of mad cow disease.

Industries

• One of world’s leading mineral producers: titanium, zinc, iron ore, gold, and coal

• Iron and steel industry supports plane, car, and household appliance manufacturing industries.

• Tourism is a fast-growing service industry.

Trade

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