About Canada

On July 1, 1867, Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia formed a confederation. The British North America Act (BNA) officially declared Canada a country. We celebrate Canada's national day on July 1st as Canada Day. In 1965, we adopted the red and white flag with the maple leaf as our official flag.

Canada is the second largest country in the world with 10 million square kilometres of landmass. The country has a population of approximately 30 million people -- only one-tenth the population of the United States. Three oceans border our vast country: the Atlantic, the Pacific and the Arctic. Due to Canada's size, it is made up of many different geographical areas and regions. We divide these into the following: the Atlantic Region, Central Canada, the Prairie Provinces, the West Coast and the North. Politically we have divided the country into 10 provinces and 3 territories, each possessing its own capital. The national capital of Canada is Ottawa.

Canada is one the leading G-8 Nations. It is a highly developed country with excellent working conditions, an outstanding education system, a very high standard of living, and a health care system ranked one of the best in the world.

Canada is a country composed of immigrants from practically every country in the world. Canada's success is largely due to the contributions made by these immigrants. Each year, Canada welcomes more than 250,000 new immigrants. The diversified backgrounds and cultures are what make Canada unique. Multiculturalism is promoted by both the federal and provincial governments to help maintain this unique "melting pot".

Regardless of where you came from, once you are a landed immigrant (permanent resident), you have all the rights of a Canadian citizen. These rights are protected under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Should you wish to become a citizen, you can do so after you have lived in Canada for three years. As a Canadian citizen, you can apply for a Canadian passport and you are eligible to vote.

Canadian politics: Canada is an independent constitutional monarchy and has three tiers of government: federal, provincial, and municipal.

England's Queen Elizabeth II is still Canada's head of state, and until 1982 Canada could not make any changes to its constitution without the approval of the British government. Then in 1982, the Constitution Act came into effect, which allowed Canada to make constitutional changes without approval from the British government. We made the Charter of Rights and Freedoms part of the Constitution in 1982. The Official language Act protects English and French, the two official languages in Canada.

The political party with the most elected members forms the federal government and its leader becomes the Prime Minister. The party with a second largest number of elected members becomes official opposition, and its role is to offer constructive criticism to the government.

The four main political parties are:

Ø    Bloc Québécois (founded in 1991) - social democratic, Quebec nationalist.

Ø    Conservative Party of Canada (founded in 2003) - conservative,

Ø    Liberal Party of Canada (founded in 1867) - liberal.

Ø    New Democratic Party (founded in 1961) - social democratic.
The federal government is based in the capital city of Ottawa.

Geography: Canada has 10 provinces and 3 territories. These include: the Provinces of Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, Quebec, Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, British Columbia and Territories of Yukon, Nunavut and the Northwest Territories.

The Justice System: The violent crime rate in Canada is among the lowest in the world, and continues to steadily decline, year after year.

As a citizen or a permanent resident, you have equal access to the justice system. The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms guarantees fundamental freedoms, legal rights and equality under the law to every resident.

Health Care: Canada has one of the world's best health care systems. Every citizen and permanent resident is covered by the insurance plan of the province in which he or she resides. The health plan is funded by tax measures and provides one of the world's best-quality essential health services, including doctor's fees, hospital charges and, in many cases, prescription drugs.

The Canadian economy: World-class health care for everyone.    

The health of all Canadians is a responsibility that the government takes very seriously, helping all its citizens to enjoy a life expectancy that approaches 80 years. In fact, Canadian health statistics are vastly better than the world average, making Canadians among the healthiest in North America.

High-quality health care is a right, not a privilege.

Canada is proud to have been among the first nations to provide publicly administered universal health care, generally referred to as Medicare. This health care is protected by the Canada Health Act, adopted in 1984, which guarantees that at any time, anyone who needs medical attention has access to modern hospitals, clinics, doctors and specialists - at no cost to the user. Under the terms of this Act, the provinces provide all residents with health insurance cards, which entitle the bearer to receive free medical care for almost all procedures.

Few countries can boast this type of quality universal health care system, one which serves to protect the physical and mental well-being of residents of Canada regardless of financial standing.

Quality of Education: Canada offers free primary and secondary education and subsidized post-secondary studies. Every child must attend school until the age of 16-17 years of age. Ninety-five percent of Canada's children go to the public schools, which are free. Students are assigned to a public school according to where they live. The education system is funded primarily by the provinces. And Canada spends more on education than any other industrialized nation on the planet.

Social Services: Canada is a welfare state. This means that the government takes care of its citizen's basic social services. These services are funded by taxes collected by the various levels of government.

Some of these social services include:

• Unemployment Benefits

• Pension Plans -- Old Age Security

Business and industry

• Canada has the lowest taxes in the corporate sector among all G-8 countries.

Canada: a world leader: Canada is endowed with abundant resource wealth that will ensure the strength of its economy for generations to come. In addition to possessing oil sands with reserves second only to Saudi Arabia, 10% of the world's forests and 20% of the world's fresh water, Canada has been able to harness these great resources to become the third largest diamond-producing nation, and the first producer of hydroelectricity worldwide.

Staking new ground in the digital economy In addition, Canada also prides itself on being at the forefront of progressive knowledge-based industries, such as aerospace technology, wireless communications, and medical, pharmaceutical and genetic research. Plus, thanks to the best educated workforce in the world, Canada is producing a wide variety of innovative products that are changing the way we live.

Improving quality of life worldwide Some of the innovations that are uniquely Canadian include: the Canadarm, the mechanical arm used to manoeuvre payloads and inspect the exterior of the Space Shuttle planes; high-speed Zefiro trains designed and manufactured by Bombardier; and, the BlackBerry, developed by Research in Motion to support email, mobile telephone, text messaging, and web browsing.

Canadian trade goes global The long-term growth of the Canadian economy is secured thanks to continued profitable trade made possible through the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and membership in the association for Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation (APEC). Canada's enduring ties with the United States, by far our largest trading partner at $1.7 billion in trade daily, as well as strong historical ties with Europe, the Middle East and Asia, have opened doors to limitless opportunities for immigrant investors.

Strong international ties for prosperity... and peace Beyond the business aspect, Canada is also a prominent member of the United Nations: its multiculturalism and bilingualism providing a model for all members of this world body. Furthermore, over the past 60 years, Canada has strongly advocated resolving global issues in collaboration with other nations, a value best exemplified by Canada's proposal in 1956 of peacekeeping forces to maintain peace and security around the world.

Canada's strong economy, robust trade and the natural resources, as well as its reputation as a good global citizen has helped foreign direct investment in Canada rise to $465 billion in 2005.

Admired and respected "For years, Canada has been one of the pillars of the United Nations; In fact, it would be difficult to imagine the United Nations without Canada. Multicultural and bilingual, your country is a model amongst the members of the organization."

                                                      -Kofi Annan, Former Secretary General of the United Nations

The Canadian economy: performance excellence and prosperity Canada has the fastest growing and most competitive economy of the G8 nations. In fact, Canada is currently enjoying one of the longest periods of uninterrupted economic growth since WWII, thanks to robust foreign trade, highly-skilled workers, quality infrastructures, and great market opportunities in the United States and abroad

Furthermore, the Canadian economy has been growing steadily over the last five years, producing consistently low unemployment rates (approx. 6.5%), large government surpluses, a low inflation rate (approx. 2.4%) and a rising Canadian dollar.

One of the wealthiest nations in the world As Canada is recognized as the most cost-competitive G7 nation in which to do business, the Canadian economy is dominated by the manufacturing and service sectors (retail, tourism, banking, education). However, thanks to its abundance of natural resources, Canada also has healthy industries in the primary sector (forestry, oil, mining) and manufacturing (automobiles).

The future of the Canadian economy is already being secured through the development of a dazzling new knowledge-based economy based on Canada's abundance of knowledge workers and technological capacity.

A top trading partner Canada is the United States' largest trading partner, largely due to NAFTA, which eases Canadian access to more than 420 million consumers across the United States and Mexico.

Additionally, with the creation of fast and efficient road, rail, air and marine routes, most production sites in Quebec and south-western Ontario enjoy greater accessibility to large American markets (New York, Boston, Chicago) than other American production hubs.

Led by economic powerhouses like Toronto, Montréal and Vancouver, Canada is successfully leveraging their connection to the lucrative U.S. market and the world.

Some interesting facts about Canada's economy:

• The national inflation rate has averaged only 2.2% over the past five years

• Canada is the only G8 nation to run surplus budgets in recent years

• Canadians have seen seven consecutive federal budget surpluses since 1997

• Canada has the lowest cost of living among G8 countries and the highest quality of life

A Soaring Canadian Economy and a Plummeting National Debt

Canada is currently enjoying one of the longest periods of uninterrupted economic growth since the Second World War.

A Canadian Innovation

The BlackBerry, an innovation that is uniquely Canadian, supports email, mobile telephone, text messaging, GPS, and web browsing.

Business Opportunities Canada's rich and vast natural resources have greatly contributed to expanding its national economy. However, with the surge in knowledge-based industries, innovations in key technology sectors, and a dramatic rise in high-tech exports, Canada now offers investors like you unlimited growth potential.

Sowing the seeds for growth

If you dream of starting your own business, it is easier to start a business in Canada than in any other G8 nation. With over $465 billion of annual foreign direct investments, generous tax incentives and flourishing R & D, Canada offers the most favourable environment for making your business vision come true.

Strategic relations with the United States

As the fastest growing and most competitive member of the G8, Canada benefits from strong international ties to Europe, Asia and the United States. Thanks to its strategic location and the signing of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), Canada gives business people like you access to markets in the United States and Mexico with a combined gross domestic product (GDP) of over US$11.4 trillion.

Opening the door to world markets Thanks to strategic locations on the west coast, a successful Asian community, and the port of Vancouver, Canada has unique access to Asia-Pacific markets which promise long-term potential.

The Middle Eastern community in Canada is growing every year. To help all Canadian companies who want to do business internationally - including emerging Middle East markets - the Canada Trade Commissioner Service has offices located in 12 cities across the country, as well as 140 offices worldwide, to find new markets abroad and identify key contacts.

Furthermore, the province of Québec is conveniently located near the United States border, with the city of Montréal a mere 90-minute drive from the beginning of major U.S. markets. The Port of Montréal, as well as two international airports, also ensures that merchandise can be quickly moved to European markets. Not only does Canada offer the ideal environment for starting or investing in a new business, but it also offers the infrastructure and location to help international business people create strong relationships with major world markets.

Low labour costs Canada's competitive position vis-à-vis the G8 has improved substantially in the past 10 years as the skills and productivity of Canadian workers have risen while labour costs have dropped. As a result, Canada continues to record the lowest operating costs among the world’s 11 major economies.