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Thehistory of Canada covers the period from the arrival of thePaleo-Indians toNorth America thousands of years ago to the present day. The lands encompassing present-dayCanada have been inhabited for millennia byIndigenous peoples, with distinct trade networks, spiritual beliefs, and styles of social organization. Some of these older civilizations had long faded by the time of the firstEuropean arrivals and have been discovered througharcheological investigations.
From the late 15th century,French andBritish expeditions explored, colonized, and fought over various places within North America in what constitutes present-day Canada. The colony ofNew France was claimed in 1534 byJacques Cartier, with permanent settlements beginning in 1608.France ceded nearly all its North American possessions toGreat Britain in 1763 at theTreaty of Paris after theSeven Years' War. The now BritishProvince of Quebec was divided intoUpper and Lower Canada in 1791. The two provinces were united as theProvince of Canada by theAct of Union 1840, which came into force in 1841. In 1867, the Province of Canada was joined with two other British colonies ofNew Brunswick andNova Scotia throughConfederation, forming a self-governing entity. "Canada" was adopted as the legal name of the new country and the word "Dominion" was conferred as the country's title. Over the next eighty-two years, Canadaexpanded by incorporating other parts ofBritish North America, finishing withNewfoundland and Labrador in 1949.
Althoughresponsible government had existed in British North America since 1848, Britain continued to set its foreign and defence policies until the end ofWorld War I. TheBalfour Declaration of 1926, the1930 Imperial Conference and the passing of theStatute of Westminster in 1931 recognized that Canada had become co-equal with the United Kingdom. The Patriation of the Constitution in 1982 marked the removal of legal dependence on the British parliament. Canada currently consists often provinces and three territories and is aparliamentary democracy and aconstitutional monarchy.
Over centuries, elements of Indigenous, French, British and more recentimmigrant customs have combined to form aCanadian culture that has also been strongly influenced by its linguistic, geographic and economic neighbour, theUnited States. Since the conclusion of theSecond World War, Canada's strong support formultilateralism andinternationalism has been closely related toits peacekeeping efforts.
Archeological andIndigenous genetic evidence indicates that North and South America were the last continents into whichhumans migrated.[1] During theWisconsin glaciation, which began 100,000–75,000 years ago and ended about 11,000 years ago, falling sea levels allowed people to move gradually across the Bering land bridge (Beringia), fromSiberia into northwestNorth America.[2] At that point, they were blocked by theLaurentide ice sheet, then covering most of Canada, confining them to Alaska and the Yukon for thousands of years.[3] The exact dates and routes of thepeopling of the Americas are the subject of an ongoing debate.[4]
About 16,000 years ago, theglacial melt allowed people to move by land south and east out of Beringia, and into Canada.[5] TheHaida Gwaii islands,Old Crow Flats, and theBluefish Caves contain some of the earliestPaleo-Indian archeological sites in Canada.[6][7][8] Ice Agehunter-gatherers of this period leftlithic flake fluted stone tools and the remains of large butchered mammals.
The North American climate stabilized around 8000 BCE (10,000 years ago). Climatic conditions were similar to modern patterns; however, the receding glacial ice sheets still covered large portions of the land, creating lakes of meltwater.[9] Most population groups during theArchaic periods were still highly mobile hunter-gatherers.[10] However, individual groups started to focus on resources available to them locally; thus with the passage of time, there is a pattern of increasing regional generalization (i.e.:Paleo-Arctic,Plano andMaritime Archaic traditions).[10]
TheWoodland cultural period dates from about 2000 BCE to 1000 CE and is applied to theOntario, Quebec, andMaritime regions.[11] The introduction of pottery distinguishes the Woodland culture from the previous Archaic-stage inhabitants. TheLaurentian-related people of Ontario manufactured the oldest pottery excavated to date in Canada.[12]
TheHopewell tradition is an Indigenous culture that flourished along American rivers from 300 BCE to 500 CE. At its greatest extent, theHopewell Exchange System connected cultures and societies to the peoples on the Canadian shores ofLake Ontario.[13] Canadian expression of the Hopewellian peoples encompasses thePoint Peninsula,Saugeen, andLaurel complexes.[14]
Theeastern woodland areas of what became Canada were home to theAlgonquian andIroquoian peoples. The Algonquian language is believed to have originated in the western plateau of Idaho or the plains of Montana and moved with migrants eastward,[15] eventually extending in various manifestations all the way fromHudson Bay to what is todayNova Scotia in the east and as far south as theTidewater region of Virginia.[16]
Speakers ofeastern Algonquian languages included theMi'kmaq andAbenaki of the Maritime region of Canada and likely the extinctBeothuk ofNewfoundland.[17][18] TheOjibwa and otherAnishinaabe speakers of thecentral Algonquian languages retain an oral tradition of having moved to their lands around the western and centralGreat Lakes from the sea, likely the Atlantic coast.[19] According to oral tradition, the Ojibwe formed theCouncil of Three Fires in 796 CE with theOdawa and thePotawatomi.[20]
The Five Nations of the Iroquois (Haudenosaunee) were centred from at least 1000 CE in northern New York, but their influence extended into what is now southern Ontario and the Montreal area of modern Quebec. They spoke varieties of Iroquoian languages.[21]The Iroquois Confederacy, according to oral tradition, was formed in 1142 CE.[22][23] In addition, there were other Iroquoian-speaking peoples in the area, including theSt. Lawrence Iroquoians, the Erie, and others.
On theGreat Plains, theCree orNēhilawē (who spoke a closely related Central Algonquian language, theplains Cree language) depended on the vast herds of bison to supply food and many of their other needs.[24] To the northwest were the peoples of theNa-Dene languages, which include theAthapaskan-speaking peoples and theTlingit, who lived on the islands of southern Alaska and northernBritish Columbia. The Na-Dene language group is believed to be linked to theYeniseian languages of Siberia.[25] TheDene of the western Arctic may represent a distinct wave of migration from Asia to North America.[25]
TheInterior of British Columbia was home to theSalishan language groups such as theShuswap (Secwepemc),Okanagan and southern Athabaskan language groups, primarily theDakelh (Carrier) and theTsilhqot'in.[26] The inlets and valleys of theBritish Columbia Coast sheltered large, distinctive populations, such as theHaida,Kwakwaka'wakw andNuu-chah-nulth, sustained by the region's abundant salmon and shellfish.[26] These peoples developedcomplex cultures dependent on thewestern red cedar that included wooden houses, both seagoing whaling and war canoes, elaborately carvedpotlatch items, andtotem poles.[26]
In theArctic Archipelago, the distinctivePaleo-Eskimos known asDorset peoples, whose culture has been traced back to around 500 BCE, were replaced by the ancestors of today'sInuit by 1500 CE.[27] This transition is supported by archeological records andInuit mythology that tells of having driven off theTuniit or 'first inhabitants'.[28]Inuit traditional laws are anthropologically different fromWestern law.Customary law was non-existent in Inuit society before the introduction of theCanadian legal system.[29]
The Norse, who had settledGreenland andIceland, arrived around 1000 CE and built a small settlement atL'Anse aux Meadows at the northernmost tip ofNewfoundland (carbon dating estimate 990 – 1050 CE).[30] L'Anse aux Meadows, the only confirmed Norse site in North America outside of Greenland, is also notable for its connection with the attempted settlement ofVinland byLeif Erikson around the same period or, more broadly, withNorse exploration of the Americas.[30][31]
Underletters patent from KingHenry VII of England, the ItalianJohn Cabot became the first European known to have landed in Canada after theViking Age. Records indicate that on June 24, 1497, he sighted land at a northern location believed to be somewhere in theAtlantic provinces.[32] Official tradition deemed the first landing site to be atCape Bonavista, Newfoundland, although other locations are possible.[33] After 1497 Cabot and his sonSebastian Cabot continued to make other voyages to find theNorthwest Passage, and other explorers continued to sail out of England to the New World, although the details of these voyages are not well recorded.[34]
Based on theTreaty of Tordesillas, theSpanish Crown claimed it had territorial rights in the area visited by John Cabot in 1497 and 1498 CE.[35] However, Portuguese explorers likeJoão Fernandes Lavrador would continue to visit the north Atlantic coast, which accounts for the appearance of "Labrador" on maps of the period.[36] In 1501 and 1502 theCorte-Real brothers explored Newfoundland (Terra Nova) and Labrador claiming these lands as part of thePortuguese Empire.[36][37] In 1506, KingManuel I of Portugal created taxes for the cod fisheries in Newfoundland waters.[38]João Álvares Fagundes andPero de Barcelos established fishing outposts in Newfoundland and Nova Scotia around 1521 CE; however, these were later abandoned, with thePortuguese colonizers focusing their efforts on South America.[39] The extent and nature of Portuguese activity on the Canadian mainland during the 16th century remains unclear and controversial.[40][41]
French interest in theNew World began withFrancis I of France, who in 1524 sponsoredGiovanni da Verrazzano's navigation of the region betweenFlorida and Newfoundland in hopes of finding a route to the Pacific Ocean.[42] Although the English had laid claims to it in 1497 when John Cabot made landfall somewhere on the North American coast (likely either modern-day Newfoundland or Nova Scotia) and had claimed the land for England on behalf of King Henry VII,[43] these claims were not exercised and England did not attempt to create a permanent colony.
As for the French, however,Jacques Cartier planted a cross in theGaspé Peninsula in 1534 and claimed the land in the name of Francis I, creating a region called "Canada" the following summer.[44] Cartier had sailed up the St. Lawrence river as far as theLachine Rapids, to the spot where Montreal now stands.[45] Permanent settlement attempts by Cartier atCharlesbourg-Royal in 1541, atSable Island in 1598 by Marquis de La Roche-Mesgouez, and atTadoussac, Quebec in 1600 byFrançois Gravé Du Pont all eventually failed.[46] Despite these initial failures, French fishing fleets visited theAtlantic coast communities and sailed into theSt. Lawrence River, trading and making alliances withFirst Nations,[47] as well as establishing fishing settlements such as inPercé (1603).[48] As a result of France's claim and activities in the colony of Canada, the nameCanada was found on international maps showing the existence of this colony within the St. Lawrence river region.[49]
In 1604, aNorth American fur trade monopoly was granted toPierre Du Gua, Sieur de Mons.[50] The fur trade became one of the main economic ventures in North America.[51] Du Gua led his first colonization expedition to an island located near the mouth of theSt. Croix River. Among his lieutenants was a geographer namedSamuel de Champlain, who promptly carried out a major exploration of the northeastern coastline of what is now the United States.[50] In the spring of 1605, under Samuel de Champlain, the newSt. Croix settlement was moved toPort Royal (today'sAnnapolis Royal, Nova Scotia).[52] Samuel de Champlain also landed at Saint John Harbour on June 24, 1604 (the feast of St. John the Baptist) and is where the city ofSaint John, New Brunswick, and theSaint John River gets their name.[53]
In 1608 Champlain founded what is nowQuebec City, one of the earliest permanent settlements, which would become the capital of New France.[54] He took personal administration over the city and its affairs and sent out expeditions to explore the interior.[55] Champlain became the first known European to encounterLake Champlain in 1609. By 1615, he had travelled by canoe up theOttawa River throughLake Nipissing andGeorgian Bay to the centre ofHuron country nearLake Simcoe.[56] During these voyages, Champlain aided the Wyandot people (aka "Hurons") in their battles against the Iroquois Confederacy.[57] As a result, the Iroquois would become enemies of the French and be involved in multiple conflicts (known as theFrench and Iroquois Wars) until the signing of theGreat Peace of Montreal in 1701.[58]
The English, led byHumphrey Gilbert, had claimedSt. John's, Newfoundland, in 1583 as the first North AmericanEnglish colony by royal prerogative of QueenElizabeth I.[59] In the reign ofKing James I, the English established additional colonies inCupids andFerryland,Newfoundland, and soon after established the first successful permanent settlements ofVirginia to the south.[60] On September 29, 1621, a charter for the foundation of a New WorldScottish colony was granted by King James toWilliam Alexander.[61] In 1622, the first settlers left Scotland. They initially failed and permanent Nova Scotian settlements were not firmly established until 1629 during the end of theAnglo-French War.[61] These colonies did not last long except the fisheries in Ferryland underDavid Kirke.[62] In 1631, underCharles I of England, theTreaty of Suza was signed, ending the war and returning Nova Scotia to the French.[63] New France was not fully restored to French rule until the 1632Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye.[64] This led to new French immigrants and the founding ofTrois-Rivières in 1634.[65]
After Champlain's death in 1635, theRoman Catholic Church and theJesuit establishment became the most dominant force in New France and hoped to establish autopian European and Aboriginal Christian community.[66] In 1642, theSulpicians sponsored a group of settlers led byPaul Chomedey de Maisonneuve, who founded Ville-Marie, the precursor to present-dayMontreal.[67] In 1663 theFrench crown took direct control of the colonies from theCompany of New France.[68]
Although immigration rates to New France remained very low under direct French control,[69] most of the new arrivals were farmers, and the rate of population growth among the settlers themselves had been very high.[70] The women had about 30 per cent more children than comparable women who remained in France.[71] Yves Landry says, "Canadians had an exceptional diet for their time."[71] This was due to the natural abundance of meat, fish, and pure water; the good food conservation conditions during the winter; and an adequate wheat supply in most years.[71] The1666 census of New France was conducted byFrance's intendant,Jean Talon, in the winter of 1665–1666. The census showed a population count of 3,215Acadians andhabitants (French-Canadian farmers) in the administrative districts ofAcadia and Canada.[72] The census also revealed a great difference in the number of men at 2,034 versus 1,181 women.[73]
By the early 1700s, theNew France settlers were well established along the shores of the St. Lawrence River and parts of Nova Scotia, with a population of around 16,000.[74] However, new arrivals stopped coming from France in the proceeding decades,[75][76][77] meaning that the English and Scottish settlers in Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, and the southernThirteen Colonies outnumbered the French population approximately ten to one by the 1750s.[69][78]
From 1670, through theHudson's Bay Company, the English also laid claim to Hudson Bay and its drainage basin, known asRupert's Land, establishingnew trading posts and forts, while continuing to operate fishing settlements in Newfoundland.[79] French expansion along the Canadian canoe routes challenged the Hudson's Bay Company claims, and in 1686,Pierre Troyes led anoverland expedition from Montreal to the shore of the bay, where they managed to capture a handful of outposts.[80]La Salle's explorations gave France a claim to theMississippi River Valley, where fur trappers and a few settlers set upscattered forts and settlements.[81]
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There were fourFrench and Indian Wars and two additional wars in Acadia and Nova Scotia between the Thirteen American Colonies and New France from 1688 to 1763. DuringKing William's War (1688 to 1697), military conflicts in Acadia included theBattle of Port Royal (1690); a naval battle in the Bay of Fundy (Action of July 14, 1696); and theRaid on Chignecto (1696).[82] TheTreaty of Ryswick in 1697 ended the war between the two colonial powers of England and France for a brief time.[83] DuringQueen Anne's War (1702 to 1713), the BritishConquest of Acadia occurred in 1710,[84] resulting in Nova Scotia (other than Cape Breton) being officially ceded to the British by theTreaty of Utrecht, including Rupert's Land, which France had conquered in the late 17th century (Battle of Hudson's Bay).[85] As an immediate result of this setback, France founded the powerfulFortress of Louisbourg onCape Breton Island.[86]
Louisbourg was intended to serve as a year-round military and naval base for France's remaining North American empire and to protect the entrance to the St. Lawrence River.Father Rale's War resulted in both the fall of New France's influence in present-dayMaine and the British recognition that it would have to negotiate with the Mi'kmaq in Nova Scotia. DuringKing George's War (1744 to 1748), an army of New Englanders led byWilliam Pepperrell mounted an expedition of 90 vessels and 4,000 men against Louisbourg in 1745.[87] Within three months the fortress surrendered. The return of Louisbourg to French control by the peace treaty prompted the British to foundHalifax in 1749 underEdward Cornwallis.[88] Despite the official cessation of war between the British and French empires with theTreaty of Aix-la-Chapelle, the conflict in Acadia and Nova Scotia continued asFather Le Loutre's War.[89]
The British ordered the Acadians expelled from their lands in 1755 during theFrench and Indian War, an event called theExpulsion of the Acadians orle Grand Dérangement.[90] The "expulsion" resulted in approximately 12,000 Acadians being shipped to destinations throughout Britain's North America and to France, Quebec and the French Caribbean colony ofSaint-Domingue.[91] The first wave of the expulsion of the Acadians began with theBay of Fundy Campaign (1755) and the second wave began after the finalSiege of Louisbourg (1758). Many of the Acadians settled in southernLouisiana, creating theCajun culture there.[92] Some Acadians managed to hide and others eventually returned to Nova Scotia, but they were far outnumbered by a new migration ofNew England Planters who settled on the former lands of the Acadians and transformed Nova Scotia from a colony of occupation for the British to a settled colony with stronger ties to New England.[92] Britain eventually gained control of Quebec City after theBattle of the Plains of Abraham and theBattle of Fort Niagara in 1759, and finallycaptured Montreal in 1760.[93]
As part of the terms of theTreaty of Paris (1763), signed after the defeat of New France in theSeven Years' War, France renounced its claims to territory in mainlandNorth America, except for fishing rights off Newfoundland and the two small islands ofSaint Pierre and Miquelon where its fishermen could dry their fish. France had already secretly transferred its vastLouisiana territory to Spain under theTreaty of Fontainebleau (1762) in which KingLouis XV of France had given his cousin KingCharles III of Spain the entire area of thedrainage basin of the Mississippi River from the Great Lakes to theGulf of Mexico and from theAppalachian Mountains to theRocky Mountains. France and Spain kept the Treaty of Fontainebleau secret from other countries until 1764.[94] However under the Treaty of Paris, the eastern side of the Mississippi river basin became British territory. Great Britain returned to France its most important sugar-producing colony,Guadeloupe, which the French considered more valuable than Canada. (Guadeloupe produced more sugar than all the British islands combined, andVoltaire had notoriously dismissed Canada as "Quelques arpents de neige", "A few acres of snow").[95]
Following the Treaty of Paris, KingGeorge III issued theRoyal Proclamation of 1763.[96] The proclamation organizedGreat Britain's new North American empire and stabilized relations betweenthe British Crown and Aboriginal peoples, formally recognizing aboriginal title, regulated trade, settlement, and land purchases on thewestern frontier.[96] In the former French territory, the new British rulers of Canada first abolished and then later reinstated most of the property, religious, political, and social culture of the French-speakinghabitants, guaranteeing the right of theCanadiens to practice the Catholic faith and to the use ofFrench civil law (nowQuebec Civil Code) in theQuebec Act of 1774, passed by the British Parliament.[97]
During theAmerican Revolution, there was some sympathy for theAmerican cause among the Acadians and the New Englanders in Nova Scotia.[98] Neither party joined the rebels, although several hundred individuals joined the revolutionary cause.[98][99] Aninvasion of Quebec by theContinental Army in 1775, with a goal to take Quebec from British control, was halted at theBattle of Quebec byGuy Carleton, with the assistance of local militias. The defeat of the British army during theSiege of Yorktown in October 1781 signalled the end of Great Britain's struggle to suppress the American Revolution.[100]
When the Britishevacuated New York City in 1783, they took many Loyalist refugees to Nova Scotia, while other Loyalists went to southwestern Quebec. So many Loyalists arrived on the shores of theSt. John River that a separate colony—New Brunswick—was created in 1784;[101] followed in 1791 by the division ofQuebec into the largely French-speakingLower Canada (French Canada) along the St. Lawrence River and the Gaspé Peninsula and an anglophone LoyalistUpper Canada, with its capital settled by 1796 inYork (present-dayToronto).[102] After 1790, most of the new settlers were American farmers searching for new lands; although generally favourable to republicanism, they were relatively non-political and stayed neutral in theWar of 1812.[103] In 1785, Saint John, New Brunswick became the first incorporated city in what would later become Canada.[53]
The signing of theTreaty of Paris in 1783 formally ended the war. Great Britain made several concessions to the US at the expense of the North American colonies.[104] Notably, theborders between Canada and the United States were officially demarcated;[104] all land south and west of the Great Lakes, which was formerly a part of theProvince of Quebec and included modern-day Michigan, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana and Ohio, was ceded to the Americans. Fishing rights were also granted to the United States in theGulf of St. Lawrence and on the coast of Newfoundland and theGrand Banks.[104] The British ignored part of the treaty and maintained their military outposts in the Great Lakes areas it had ceded to the U.S., and they continued to supply their native allies with munitions. The British evacuated the outposts with theJay Treaty of 1795, but the continued supply of munitions irritated the Americans in the run-up to the War of 1812.[105]
Canadian historians have had mixed views on the long-term impact of the American Revolution.Arthur Lower in the 1950s provided the long-standard historical interpretation that for English Canada the results were counter-revolutionary:
[English Canada] inherited, not the benefits, but the bitterness of the Revolution…. English Canada started its life with as powerful a nostalgic shove backward into the past as the Conquest had given to French Canada: two little peoples officially devoted to counter-revolution, to lost causes, to the tawdry ideals of a society of men and masters, and not to the self-reliant freedom alongside of them.[106]
Recently Michel Ducharme has agreed that Canada did indeed oppose "republican liberty", as exemplified by the United States and France. However, he says it did find a different path forward when it fought against British rulers after 1837 to secure "modern liberty". That form of liberty focused not on the virtues of citizens but on protecting their rights from infringement by the state.[107][108]
The War of 1812 was fought between the United States and the British, with the British North American colonies being heavily involved.[109] Greatly outgunned by theBritish Royal Navy, the American war plans focused on an invasion of Canada (especially what is todayeastern andwestern Ontario). The American frontier states voted for war to suppress the First Nations raids that frustrated the settlement of the frontier.[109] The war on the border with the United States was characterized by a series of multiple failed invasions and fiascos on both sides. American forces took control ofLake Erie in 1813, driving the British out of western Ontario, killing the Shawnee leaderTecumseh, and breaking the military power ofhis confederacy.[110] The war was overseen by British army officers likeIsaac Brock andCharles de Salaberry with the assistance of First Nations and loyalist informants, most notablyLaura Secord.[111]
The War ended with no boundary changes thanks to theTreaty of Ghent of 1814, and theRush–Bagot Treaty of 1817.[109] A demographic result was the shifting of the destination of American migration from Upper Canada toOhio,Indiana andMichigan, without fear of Indigenous attacks.[109] After the war, supporters of Britain tried to repress therepublicanism that was common among Americanimmigrants to Canada.[109] The troubling memory of the war and the American invasions etched itself into the consciousness of Canadians as a distrust of the intentions of the United States towards the British presence in North America.[112]pp. 254–255
Therebellions of 1837 against theBritish colonial government took place in both Upper and Lower Canada. In Upper Canada, a band of Reformers under the leadership ofWilliam Lyon Mackenzie took up arms in a disorganized and ultimately unsuccessful series of small-scale skirmishes around Toronto,London, andHamilton.[113]
In Lower Canada, a more substantial rebellion occurred against British rule. Both English- and French-Canadian rebels, sometimes using bases in the neutral United States, fought several skirmishes against the authorities. The towns ofChambly andSorel were taken by the rebels, and Quebec City was isolated from the rest of the colony. Montreal rebel leaderRobert Nelson read the "Declaration of Independence of Lower Canada" to a crowd assembled at the town ofNapierville in 1838.[114] The rebellion of thePatriote movement was defeated after battles across Quebec. Hundreds were arrested, and several villages were burnt in reprisal.[114]
The British government then sentLord Durham to examine the situation; he stayed in Canada for five months before returning to Britain, bringing with him hisDurham Report, which strongly recommendedresponsible government.[115] A less well-received recommendation was the amalgamation of Upper and Lower Canada for the deliberate assimilation of the French-speaking population.The Canadas were merged into a single colony, theUnited Province of Canada, by the 1840Act of Union, and responsible government was achieved in 1848, a few months after it was accomplished in Nova Scotia.[115] The parliament ofUnited Canada in Montreal wasset on fire by a mob of Tories in 1849 after the passing of an indemnity bill for the people who suffered losses during the rebellion in Lower Canada.[116]
Between theNapoleonic Wars and 1850, some 800,000 immigrants came to the colonies of British North America, mainly from theBritish Isles, as part of thegreat migration of Canada.[117] These includedGaelic-speakingHighland Scots displaced by theHighland Clearances to Nova Scotia and Scottish and English settlers to the Canadas, particularly Upper Canada. The Irish Famine of the 1840s significantly increased the pace ofIrish Catholic immigration to British North America, with over 35,000 distressed Irish landing in Toronto alone in 1847 and 1848.[118]
Spanish explorers had taken the lead in thePacific Northwest coast, with the voyages ofJuan José Pérez Hernández in 1774 and 1775.[119] By the time the Spanish determined to build a fort onVancouver Island, the British navigatorJames Cook had visitedNootka Sound and charted the coast as far as Alaska, while British and Americanmaritime fur traders had begun a busy era of commerce withthe coastal peoples to satisfy the brisk market for sea otter pelts in China, thereby launching what became known as theChina Trade.[120]In 1789 war threatened between Britain and Spain on their respective rights; theNootka Crisis was resolved peacefully largely in favour of Britain, the much stronger naval power at the time. In 1793Alexander MacKenzie, a Scotsman working for theNorth West Company, crossed the continent and with his Aboriginal guides and French-Canadian crew, reached the mouth of theBella Coola River, completing the first continental crossing north of Mexico, missingGeorge Vancouver's charting expedition to the region by only a few weeks.[121] In 1821, the North West Company and Hudson's Bay Company merged, with a combined trading territory that was extended by a licence to theNorth-Western Territory and theColumbia andNew Caledonia fur districts, which reached the Arctic Ocean on the north and the Pacific Ocean on the west.[122]
TheColony of Vancouver Island was chartered in 1849, with the trading post atFort Victoria as the capital. This was followed by theColony of the Queen Charlotte Islands in 1853, and by the creation of theColony of British Columbia in 1858 and theStikine Territory in 1861, with the latter three being founded expressly to keep those regions from being overrun and annexed by American gold miners.[123] The Colony of the Queen Charlotte Islands and most of the Stikine Territory were merged into the Colony of British Columbia in 1863 (the remainder, north of the 60th Parallel, became part of the North-Western Territory).[123]
TheSeventy-Two Resolutions from the1864 Quebec Conference andCharlottetown Conference laid out the framework for uniting British colonies in North America into a federation.[124] The Resolutions became the basis for theLondon Conference of 1866, which led to the formation of the Dominion of Canada on July 1, 1867.[124] The termdominion was chosen to indicate Canada's status as a self-governingpolity of the British Empire, the first time it was used about a country.[125] With the coming into force of theBritish North America Act, 1867 (enacted by theBritish Parliament), Canada became a federated country in its own right.[126][127][128] (According to James Bowden, writing inThe Dorchester Review, "Ottawa turned its back on 'Dominion' in the 1940s and 1950s," impelled by what historian C.P. Champion referred to as "neo-nationalism.")[129]Federation emerged from multiple impulses: the British wanted Canada to defend itself; the Maritimes needed railroad connections, which were promised in 1867;English-Canadiannationalism sought to unite the lands into one country, dominated by the English language andloyalist culture; many French-Canadians saw an opportunity to exert political control within a new largely French-speaking Quebec[112]pp. 323–324 and exaggerated fears of possible U.S. expansion northward.[130][125] On a political level, there was a desire for the expansion of responsible government and elimination of the legislative deadlock between Upper and Lower Canada, and their replacement with provincial legislatures in a federation.[125] This was especially pushed by the liberalReform movement of Upper Canada and the French-CanadianParti rouge in Lower Canada who favoured a decentralized union in comparison to the Upper Canadian Conservative party and to some degree the French-CanadianParti bleu, which favoured a centralized union.[125][131]
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Using the lure of theCanadian Pacific Railway, a transcontinental line that would unite the nation, Ottawa attracted support in the Maritimes and in British Columbia. In 1866, the Colony of British Columbia and the Colony of Vancouver Island merged into asingle Colony of British Columbia. After Rupert's Land was transferred to Canada by Britain in 1870, connecting to the eastern provinces, British Columbia joined Canada in 1871. In 1873,Prince Edward Island joined. Newfoundland—which had no use for a transcontinental railway—voted no in 1869, and did not join Canada until 1949.[132]
In 1873,John A. Macdonald (First Prime Minister of Canada) created theNorth-West Mounted Police (now theRoyal Canadian Mounted Police) to help police theNorthwest Territories.[133] Specifically the Mounties were to assert Canadian sovereignty to prevent possible American encroachments into the area.[133] The Mounties' first large-scale mission was to suppress the second independence movement byManitoba'sMétis, amixed-blood people of joint First Nations and European descent, who originated in the mid-17th century.[134] The desire for independence erupted in theRed River Rebellion in 1869 and the laterNorth-West Rebellion in 1885 led byLouis Riel.[133][135] Suppressing the Rebellion was Canada's first independent military action and demonstrated the need to complete the Canadian Pacific Railway. It guaranteed Anglophone control of the Prairies and demonstrated the national government was capable of decisive action. However, it lost the Conservative Party most of their support in Quebec and led to a permanent distrust of the Anglophone community on the part of the Francophones.[136]
As Canada expanded, the Canadian government rather than the British Crown negotiated treaties with the resident First Nations' peoples, beginning withTreaty 1 in 1871.[137] The treaties extinguishedaboriginal title on traditional territories, createdreserves for the indigenous peoples' exclusive use, and opened up the rest of the territory for settlement. Indigenous people were induced to move to these new reserves, sometimes forcibly.[138] The government imposed theIndian Act in 1876 to govern the relations between the federal government and the Indigenous peoples and govern the relations between the new settlers and the Indigenous peoples.[139] Under theIndian Act, the government started theResidential School System to convert the Indigenous peoples to "industrious Christian Canadians" and extinguish native language and culture.[140][141][142]
In the 1890s, legal experts codified a framework of criminal law, culminating inThe Criminal Code, 1892.[143] This solidified the liberal ideal of "equality before the law" in a way that made an abstract principle into a tangible reality for every adult Canadian.[144]Wilfrid Laurier who served 1896–1911 as the Seventh Prime Minister of Canada felt Canada was on the verge of becoming a world power, and declared that the 20th century would "belong to Canada"[145]
TheAlaska boundary dispute, simmering since theAlaska Purchase of 1867, became critical when gold was discovered in theYukon during the late 1890s, with the U.S. controlling all the possible ports of entry. Canada argued its boundary included the port ofSkagway. The dispute went to arbitration in 1903, but the British delegate sided with the Americans, angering Canadians who felt the British had betrayed Canadian interests to curry favour with the U.S.[146]
In 1905,Saskatchewan andAlberta were admitted as provinces. They were growing rapidly thanks toabundant wheat crops that attracted immigration to the plains byUkrainians and Northern and Central Europeans and by settlers from the United States, Britain and eastern Canada.[147][148]
Laurier signed a reciprocity treaty with the U.S. that would lower tariffs in both directions. Conservatives underRobert Borden denounced it, saying it would integrate Canada's economy into that of the U.S. and loosen ties with Britain. The Conservative party won the1911 Canadian federal election.[149]
TheCanadian Forces andcivilian participation in the First World War helped to foster a sense ofBritish-Canadian nationhood. The highpoints ofCanadian military achievement during the First World War came during theSomme,Vimy,Passchendaele battles and what later became known as "Canada's Hundred Days".[150] The reputation Canadian troops earned, along with the success of Canadian flying aces includingWilliam George Barker andBilly Bishop, helped to give thenation a new sense of identity.[151] TheWar Office in 1922 reported approximately 67,000 killed and 173,000 wounded during the war.[152] This excludes civilian deaths in war-time incidents like theHalifax Explosion.[152]
Support for Great Britain during the First World War caused a majorpolitical crisis over conscription, withFrancophones, mainly from Quebec,rejecting national policies.[153] During the crisis, large numbers of enemy aliens (especially German and Ukrainian immigrants) were put under government controls.[154] TheLiberal party was deeply split, with most of itsAnglophone leaders joining theunionist government headed by Prime Minister Borden, the leader of theConservative party.[155] The Liberals regained their influence after the war under the leadership ofWilliam Lyon Mackenzie King, who served as prime minister with three separate terms between 1921 and 1949.[156]
When Canada was founded, women could not vote in federal elections. Women did have a local vote in some provinces, as inCanada West from 1850, where women owning land could vote for school trustees. By 1900 other provinces adopted similar provisions, and in 1916 Manitoba took the lead in extending fullwomen's suffrage.[157] Simultaneously suffragists gave strong support to the prohibition movement, especially in Ontario and the Western provinces.[158][159]
TheMilitary Voters Act of 1917 gave the vote to British women who were war widows or had sons or husbands serving overseas. Unionist Prime Minister Borden pledged himself during the 1917 campaign to equal suffrage for women. After his landslide victory, he introduced a bill in 1918 for extending the franchise to women. This passed without division but did not apply to Quebec provincial and municipal elections. The women of Quebec gained full suffrage in 1940. The first woman elected to Parliament wasAgnes Macphail of Ontario in 1921.[160]
Convinced that Canada had proven itself on the battlefields of Europe, Prime Minister Borden demanded that it have a separate seat at theParis Peace Conference in 1919. This was initially opposed not only by Britain but also by the United States, which saw such a delegation as an extra British vote. Borden responded by pointing out that since Canada had lost nearly 60,000 men, a far larger proportion of its men, its right to equal status as a nation had been consecrated on the battlefield. British Prime MinisterDavid Lloyd George eventually relented, and convinced the reluctant Americans to accept the presence of delegations from Canada,India, Australia,Newfoundland, New Zealand, and South Africa. These also received their own seats in the League of Nations.[161] Canada asked for neither reparations nor mandates. It played only a modest role in Paris, but just having a seat was a matter of pride. It was cautiously optimistic about the new League of Nations, in which it played an active and independent role.[162]
In 1922 British Prime Minister David Lloyd George appealed repeatedly for Canadian support in theChanak crisis, in which a war threatened between Britain and Turkey. Canada refused, leading to the fall of Lloyd George.[163] TheDepartment of External Affairs, which had been founded in 1909, was expanded and promoted Canadian autonomy as Canada reduced its reliance on British diplomats and used its own foreign service.[164] Thus began the careers of such important diplomats asNorman Robertson andHume Wrong, and future prime ministerLester Pearson.[165]
In the 1920s, Canada set up a successful wheat marketing "pool" to keep prices high. Canada negotiated with the United States, Australia, and the Soviet Union to expand the pool, but the effort failed when the Great Depression caused distrust and low prices.[166]
With prohibition underway in the United States, smugglers bought large quantities of Canadian liquor. Both the Canadian distillers and the U.S. State Department put heavy pressure on the Customs and Excise Department to loosen or tighten border controls. Liquor interests paid off corrupt Canadian border officials until the U.S. finally ended prohibition in 1933.[167]
In 1921 to 1926, William Lyon Mackenzie King's Liberal government pursued a conservative domestic policy with the object of lowering wartime taxes and, especially, cooling wartime ethnic tensions, as well as defusing postwar labour conflicts. The Progressives refused to join the government but did help the Liberals defeat non-confidence motions. King faced a delicate balancing act of reducing tariffs enough to please the Prairie-based Progressives, but not too much to alienate his vital support in industrial Ontario and Quebec, which needed tariffs to compete with American imports. King and Conservative leaderArthur Meighen sparred constantly and bitterly in Commons debates.[168] The Progressives gradually weakened. Their effective and passionate leader,Thomas Crerar, resigned to return to his grain business, and was replaced by the more placidRobert Forke. The socialist reformerJ. S. Woodsworth gradually gained influence and power among the Progressives, and he reached an accommodation with King on policy matters.[169]
In 1926 Prime Minister Mackenzie King advised theGovernor General,Lord Byng, to dissolve Parliament and call another election, but Byng refused, the only time that the Governor General has exercised such a power. Instead, Byng called upon Meighen, the Conservative Party leader, to form a government.[170] Meighen attempted to do so but was unable to obtain a majority in the Commons and he, too, advised dissolution, which this time was accepted. The episode, theKing–Byng affair, marks a constitutional crisis that was resolved by a new tradition of complete non-interference in Canadian political affairs on the part of the British government.[171]
Canada was hit hard by the worldwideGreat Depression that began in 1929. Between 1929 and 1933, the gross national product dropped 40 per cent (compared to 37 per cent in the US). Unemployment reached 27 per cent at the depth of the Depression in 1933.[172] Many businesses closed, as corporate profits ofCA$396 million in 1929 turned into losses ofCA$98 million in 1933. Canadian exports shrank by 50% from 1929 to 1933. Construction all but stopped (down 82 per cent, 1929–33), and wholesale prices dropped 30%. Wheat prices plunged from 78c per bushel (1928 crop) to 29c in 1932.[172]
Urban unemployment nationwide was 19 per cent; Toronto's rate was 17 per cent, according to the census of 1931. Farmers who stayed on their farms were not considered unemployed.[173] By 1933, 30 per cent of the labour force was out of work, and one-fifth of the population became dependent on government assistance. Wages fell as did prices. The worst hit were areas dependent on primary industries such as farming,mining and logging, as prices fell and there were few alternative jobs. Most families had moderate losses and little hardship, though they too became pessimistic and their debts became heavier as prices fell. Some families saw most or all of their assets disappear and suffered severely.[174][175]
In 1930, in the first stage of the long depression, Prime Minister Mackenzie King believed that the crisis was a temporary swing of the business cycle and that the economy would soon recover without government intervention. He refused to provide unemployment relief or federal aid to the provinces, saying that if Conservative provincial governments demanded federal dollars, he would not give them "a five-cent piece."[176] The main issue was the rapid deterioration in the economy and whether the prime minister was out of touch with the hardships of ordinary people.[177][178] The winner of the 1930 election wasRichard Bedford Bennett and the Conservatives. Bennett had promised high tariffs and large-scale spending, but as deficits increased, he became wary and cut back severely on Federal spending. With falling support and the depression getting only worse, Bennett attempted to introduce policies based on theNew Deal of PresidentFranklin D. Roosevelt (FDR) in the United States, but he got little passed. Bennett's government became a focus of popular discontent. For example, auto owners saved on gasoline by using horses to pull their cars, dubbing themBennett Buggies. The Conservative failure to restore prosperity led to the return of Mackenzie King's Liberals in the1935 election.[179]
In 1935, the Liberals used the slogan "King or Chaos" to win a landslide in the 1935 election.[180] Promising a much-desired trade treaty with the U.S., the Mackenzie King government passed the 1935 Reciprocal Trade Agreement. It marked the turning point in Canadian-American economic relations, reversing the disastrous trade war of 1930–31, lowering tariffs and yielding a dramatic increase in trade.[181]
The worst of the Depression had passed by 1935, as the Government of Canada launched relief programs such as theNational Housing Act and the National Employment Commission. TheCanadian Broadcasting Corporation became acrown corporation in 1936. Trans-Canada Airlines (the precursor toAir Canada) was formed in 1937, as was theNational Film Board of Canada in 1939. In 1938, Parliament transformed theBank of Canada from a private entity to a crown corporation.[182]
One political response was a highly restrictive immigration policy and a rise innativism.[183]
Times were especially hard in western Canada, where a full recovery did not occur until the Second World War began in 1939. One response was the creation of new political parties such as theSocial Credit movement and theCooperative Commonwealth Federation, as well as popular protest in the form of theOn-to-Ottawa Trek.[184]
Following theBalfour Declaration of 1926, the British Parliament passed theStatute of Westminster in 1931 which acknowledged Canada as coequal with the United Kingdom and the otherCommonwealth realms. It was a crucial step in the development of Canada as a separate state in that it provided for nearly complete legislative autonomy from the Parliament of the United Kingdom.[185][186] Although the United Kingdom retained formal authority over certain Canadian constitutional changes, it relinquished this authority with the passing of theCanada Act 1982 which was the final step in achieving full sovereignty.
Canada's involvement in the Second World War began when Canada declared war onNazi Germany on September 10, 1939, delaying it one week after Britain acted to symbolically demonstrate independence. Canada played a major role in supplying food, raw materials, munitions and money to the hard-pressed British economy, training airmen for the Commonwealth, guarding the western half of theNorth Atlantic Ocean against GermanU-boats, and providing combat troops for the invasions of Italy, France and Germany in 1943–45.
Of a population of approximately 11.5 million, 1.1 million Canadians served in the armed forces in the Second World War.[187] Many thousands more served with theCanadian Merchant Navy.[188] In all, more than 45,000 died, and another 55,000 were wounded.[189][190] Building up theRoyal Canadian Air Force was a high priority; it was kept separate from Britain'sRoyal Air Force. TheBritish Commonwealth Air Training Plan Agreement, signed in December 1939, bound Canada, Britain, New Zealand, and Australia to a program that eventually trained half the airmen from those four nations in the Second World War.[191]
TheBattle of the Atlantic began immediately, and from 1943 to 1945 was led byLeonard W. Murray, from Nova Scotia. German U-boats operated in Canadian and Newfoundland waters throughout the war, sinking many naval and merchant vessels.[192] TheCanadian army was involved in the faileddefence of Hong Kong, the unsuccessfulDieppe Raid in August 1942, theAllied invasion of Italy, and the highly successfulinvasion of France and the Netherlands in 1944–45.[193]
On the political side, Mackenzie King rejected any notion of a government of national unity.[194] The1940 federal election was held as normally scheduled, producing another majority for the Liberals. TheConscription Crisis of 1944 greatly affected unity between French and English-speaking Canadians, though was not as politically intrusive as that of the First World War.[195]
During the war, Canada became more closely linked to the U.S. The Americans took virtual control of Yukon in order to build theAlaska Highway, and were a major presence in the British colony of Newfoundland with major airbases.[196] After the start of the war with Japan in December 1941, the government, in cooperation with the U.S., began theJapanese-Canadian internment, which sent 22,000 British Columbia residents of Japanese descent to relocation camps far from the coast. The reason was intense public demand for removal and fears of espionage or sabotage.[197] The government ignored reports from the RCMP and Canadian military that most of the Japanese were law-abiding and not a threat.[198]
Prosperity returned to Canada during the Second World War and continued in the following years, with the development ofuniversal health care,old-age pensions, andveterans' pensions.[199][200] The financial crisis of the Great Depression had led the Dominion of Newfoundland to relinquish responsible government in 1934 and become acrown colony ruled by a British governor.[201] In 1948, the British government gave voters threeNewfoundland Referendum choices: remaining a crown colony, returning to Dominion status (that is, independence), or joining Canada. The British and Canadian governments collaborated to ensure that joining the United States was not an option.[202] After bitter debate Newfoundlanders voted to join Canada in 1949 as a province.[203]
The foreign policy ofCanada during the Cold War was closely tied to that of the United States. Canada was a founding member ofNATO (which Canada wanted to be a transatlantic economic and political union as well[204]). In 1950, Canada sent combat troops to Korea during theKorean War as part of the United Nations forces. The federal government's desire to assert itsterritorial claims in the Arctic during the Cold War manifested with theHigh Arctic relocation, in which Inuit were moved fromNunavik (the northern third of Quebec) to barrenCornwallis Island;[205] this project was later the subject of a long investigation by theRoyal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples.[206]
In 1956, theUnited Nations responded to theSuez Crisis by convening aUnited Nations Emergency Force to supervise the withdrawal of invading forces. The peacekeeping force was initially conceptualized by the Secretary of External Affairs and future Prime MinisterLester B. Pearson.[207] Pearson was awarded theNobel Peace Prize in 1957 for his work in establishing the peacekeeping operation.[207]
Throughout the mid-1950s, prime ministersLouis St. Laurent and his successorJohn Diefenbaker attempted to create a new, highly advanced jet fighter, theAvro Arrow.[208] The controversial aircraft was cancelled by Diefenbaker in 1959. Diefenbaker instead purchased theBOMARC missile defence system and American aircraft. In 1958 Canada established (with the United States) theNorth American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD).[209]
There were voices on both left and right that warned against being too close to the United States. Few Canadians listened before 1957. Instead, there was wide consensus on foreign and defence policies from 1948 to 1957. Bothwell, Drummond and English state:
However, the consensus did not last. By 1957 the Suez crisis alienated Canada from both Britain and France; politicians distrusted American leadership, businessmen questioned American financial investments; and intellectuals ridiculed the values of American television and Hollywood offerings that all Canadians watched. "Public support for Canada's foreign policy came unstuck. Foreign policy, from being a winning issue for the Liberals, was fast becoming a losing one."[210]
In 1960, the Government under John Diefenbaker passed theCanadian Bill of Rights. While this only applied to the federal government, it provided the groundwork for what became theCanadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms that was added to the Constitution in 1982.
In the 1960s, theQuiet Revolution took place in Quebec, overthrowing the old establishment which centred on theRoman Catholic Archdiocese of Quebec and led to modernizing of the economy and society.[211]Québécois nationalists demanded independence, and tensions rose until violence erupted during the 1970October Crisis. John Saywell says, "The two kidnappings and the murder of Pierre Laporte were the biggest domestic news stories in Canada's history."[212][213] In 1976 theParti Québécois was elected to power in Quebec, with a nationalist vision that included securingFrench linguistic rights in the province and the pursuit of some form ofsovereignty for Quebec. This culminated in the1980 referendum in Quebec on the question ofsovereignty-association, which was turned down by 59% of the voters.[213]
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In 1965, Canada adopted themaple leaf flag, although not withoutconsiderable debate and misgivings among large number of English Canadians.[214] TheWorld's Fair titledExpo 67 came to Montreal, coinciding with theCanadian Centennial that year. The fair opened on April 28, 1967, with the theme "Man and His World" and became the best attended of allBIE-sanctionedworld expositions until that time.[215]
Legislative restrictions on Canadian immigration that had favoured British and other European immigrants were amended in the 1960s, opening the doors to immigrants from all parts of the world.[216] While the 1950s had seen high levels of immigration from Britain,Ireland,Italy, and northern continental Europe, by the 1970s immigrants increasingly came fromIndia,China,Vietnam,Jamaica andHaiti.[217]Immigrants of all backgrounds tended to settle in themajor urban centres, particularly Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver.[217]
During his long tenure in the office (1968–1979, 1980–1984), Prime MinisterPierre Trudeau made social and cultural change his political goals, including the pursuit ofofficial bilingualism in Canada and plans for significantconstitutional change.[218] The west, particularly thepetroleum-producing provinces like Alberta, opposed many of the policies emanating from central Canada, with theNational Energy Program creating considerable antagonism and growingwestern alienation.[219]Multiculturalism in Canada was adopted as the official policy of the Canadian government during the prime ministership of Pierre Trudeau.[220]
In 1981, the Canadian House of Commons and Senate passed a resolution requesting that the British Parliament enact a package of constitutional amendments which would end the last powers of the British Parliament to legislate for Canada and would create an entirely Canadian process for constitutional amendments. The resolution set out the text of the proposed Canada Act, which also included the text of theConstitution Act, 1982.[221] The British Parliament duly passed the Canada Act 1982, the Queen grantingRoyal Assent on March 29, 1982, 115 years to the day since Queen Victoria granted Royal Assent to theConstitution Act, 1867. On April 17, 1982, the Queen signed the Proclamation on the grounds of Parliament Hill in Ottawa bringing theConstitution Act, 1982 into force, thus patriating theConstitution of Canada.[222]
Previously, the main portions of the constitution had existed only as an act passed of the British parliament, though under the constitutional convention recognized in theBalfour Declaration of 1926, it could not be altered without Canadian consent. Canada had established complete sovereignty as an independent country, with the Queen's role as monarch of Canada separate from her role as the British monarch or the monarch of any of the other Commonwealth realms.[223]
In addition to the enactment of a constitutional amending formula, theConstitution Act, 1982 enacted theCanadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The Charter is a constitutionally entrenchedbill of rights which applies to both the federal government and the provincial governments, unlike the earlierCanadian Bill of Rights.[224] Thepatriation of the constitution was Trudeau's last major act as Prime Minister; he resigned in 1984.
On June 23, 1985,Air India Flight 182 was destroyed above the Atlantic Ocean by a bomb on board exploding; all 329 on board were killed, of whom 280 wereCanadian citizens.[225] The Air India attack is the largest massmurder in Canadian history.[226]
TheProgressive Conservative (PC) government ofBrian Mulroney began efforts to gain Quebec's support for theConstitution Act, 1982 and end western alienation. In 1987, theMeech Lake Accord talks began between the provincial and federal governments, seeking constitutional changes favourable to Quebec.[227] The failure of the Meech Lake Accord resulted in the formation of a separatist party,Bloc Québécois.[228] The constitutional reform process under Prime Minister Mulroney culminated in the failure of theCharlottetown Accord which would have recognized Quebec as a "distinct society" but was rejected in 1992 by a narrow margin.[229]
Under Brian Mulroney,relations with the United States began to grow more closely integrated. In 1986, Canada and the U.S. signed the "Acid Rain Treaty" to reduce acid rain. In 1989, the federal government adopted theCanada–United States Free Trade Agreement (Agreement) with the United States despite significant animosity from the Canadian public who were concerned about the economic and cultural impacts of close integration with the United States.[230] The Agreement would later be replaced with theNorth American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and its side agreement, theNorth American Agreement on Environmental Cooperation in 1994.
On July 11, 1990, theOka Crisisland dispute began between theMohawk people ofKanesatake and the adjoining town ofOka, Quebec.[231] The dispute was the first of a number of well-publicized conflicts between First Nations and the Canadian government in the late 20th century. In August 1990, Canada was one of the first nations to condemnIraq'sinvasion of Kuwait, and it quickly agreed to join theU.S.-led coalition. Canada deployed destroyers and later aCF-18 Hornet squadron with support personnel, as well as afield hospital to deal with casualties.[232]
Following Mulroney's resignation as prime minister in 1993,Kim Campbell took office and became Canada's first female prime minister.[233] Campbell remained in office for only a few months: the 1993 election saw the collapse of the Progressive Conservative Party from government to two seats, while the Bloc Québécois became theofficial opposition.[234] Prime MinisterJean Chrétien of the Liberals took office in November 1993 with amajority government and was re-elected with further majorities during the1997 and2000 elections.[235]
In 1995, the government of Quebec held asecond referendum on sovereignty that was rejected by a margin of 50.6% to 49.4%.[236] In 1998, the Canadian Supreme Court ruledunilateral secession by a province to be unconstitutional, and Parliament passed theClarity Act outlining the terms of a negotiated departure.[236]
Environmental issues increased in importance in Canada during the late 1990s, resulting in the signing of theKyoto Accord on climate change by Canada's Liberal government in 2002. The accord was in 2007 nullified by Prime Minister Stephen Harper's Conservative government, which proposed a "made-in-Canada" solution to climate change.[237]
Canada became the fourth country in the world and the first country in the Americas to legalizesame-sex marriage nationwide with the enactment of theCivil Marriage Act in 2005.[238] Court decisions, starting in 2003, had already legalizedsame-sex marriage in eight out of ten provinces and one of three territories. Before the passage of the act, more than 3,000 same-sex couples had married in these areas.[239]
TheCanadian Alliance and PC Party merged into theConservative Party of Canada in 2003, ending a 13-year division of the conservative vote. The party was elected twice as a minority government under the leadership ofStephen Harper in the2006 federal election and2008 federal election.[235] Harper's Conservative Party won a majority in the2011 federal election with theNew Democratic Party underJack Layton forming the Official Opposition for the first time.[240]
Under Harper, Canada and the United States continued to integrate state and provincial agencies to strengthen security along the Canada–United States border through theWestern Hemisphere Travel Initiative.[241] From 2002 to 2011,Canada was involved in the Afghanistan War as part of theU.S. stabilization force and the NATO-commandedInternational Security Assistance Force. In July 2010, the largest purchase inCanadian military history, totallingCA$9 billion for the acquisition of 65F-35 fighters, was announced by the federal government.[242] Canada is one of several nations that assisted in thedevelopment of the F-35 and has invested overCA$168 million in the program.[243]
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In 2008, the Government of Canada formally apologized to the indigenous peoples of Canada for the residential school system and the damage it caused.[244] The government set up theTruth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada that year to document the damage caused by the residential school system and the reconciliation needed to proceed into the future. It provided a "call to action" report in 2015.[245]
On 19 October 2015, Stephen Harper's Conservatives were defeated by a newly resurgent Liberal party under the leadership ofJustin Trudeau and which had been reduced to third-party status in the 2011 elections.[246]
Multiculturalism (cultural and ethnic diversity) has been emphasized in recent decades. Ambrose and Mudde conclude that: "Canada's unique multiculturalism policy ... which is based on a combination of selective immigration, comprehensive integration, and strong state repression of dissent on these policies. This unique blend of policies has led to a relatively low level of opposition to multiculturalism".[247][248]
In 2013, the consumption ofcannabis for medical reasons was legalized. In October 2018, the Canadian government under Justin Trudeau passed theCannabis Act, legalizing the recreational use and sale of cannabis. Under thenew law, Canadians could consume cannabis and cannabis products in public, grow limited numbers of plants themselves, pardons for simple possession convictions were promised, while drivers could not have any traces of THC in their blood.[249]
From January 2020 to May 2022, Canada was greatly impacted by theCOVID-19 pandemic,[250] which caused over 40,000 deaths in the country, the third highest mortality toll in North America (behind the United States and Mexico).[251]
On 28 April 2025,Mark Carney's Liberals secured a third consecutive minority government, beatingPierre Poilievre's Conservatives, a Liberal upset largely attributed to a rise in Canadian patriotism following United States PresidentDonald Trump'sthreats to annex Canada andannouncement of tariffs against the country.
The Conquest of New France has always been a central and contested theme of Canadian memory. Cornelius Jaenen argues:
Historians of the 1950s tried to explain the economic inferiority of the French Canadians by arguing that the Conquest:
destroyed an integral society and decapitated the commercial class; leadership of the conquered people fell to the Church; and, because commercial activity came to be monopolized by British merchants, national survival concentrated on agriculture.[253]
At the other pole, are those Francophone historians who see the positive benefit of enabling the preservation of language, religion, and traditional customs under British rule. French-Canadian debates have escalated since the 1960s, as the Conquest is seen as a pivotal moment in the history of Quebec's nationalism. Historian Jocelyn Létourneau suggested in the 21st century, "1759 does not belong primarily to a past that we might wish to study and understand, but, rather, to a present and a future that we might wish to shape and control."[254]
Anglophone historians, on the other hand, portray the Conquest as a victory for British military, political and economic superiority that was a permanent benefit to the French.[255]
Allan Greer argues thatWhig history was once the dominant style of scholars. He says the:
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{{cite book}}:ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)it is fairly clear that up to 1800 or maybe 1750, no society had experienced sustained growth in per capita income. (Eighteenth-century population growth also averaged one-third of one per cent, the same as production growth.) That is, up to about two centuries ago, per capitaincomes in all societies stagnated at around $400 to $800 per year.
{{cite book}}:ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)In order to redress the legacy of residential schools and advance the process of Canadian reconciliation, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission makes the following calls to action.
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