Citizenship.md

Discover Canada 🍁

Tip

Use the numbers from the official study guide, regardless of any newer or updated information.

Rights and Responsibilities of Citizenship ⚖️

• 1215 Magna Carta in England (Great Charter of Freedoms)
  • Freedom of conscience and religion
  • Freedom of thought, belief, opinion and expression, including freedom of speech and of the press
  • Freedom of peaceful assembly
  • Freedom of association
• Habeas corpus, the right to challenge unlawful detention by the state, from English common law
• 1982 Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms
  • Mobility Rights
  • Aboriginal Peoples' Rights
  • Official Language Rights and Minority Language Educational Rights
  • Multiculturalism
• Equality of Women and Men
• Citizenship Responsibilities
  1. Obeying the law (the rule of law)
  2. Taking responsibility for oneself and one's family
  3. Serving on a jury
  4. Voting in elections
  5. Helping others in the community
  6. Protecting and enjoying our heritage and environment
• Defending Canada
• Oath, Canada is personified by the Sovereign

Who We Are 👨‍👩‍👧‍👦

• Aboriginal Peoples
  1. First Nations (Indian), 65%
  2. Métis, 30%
  3. Inuit, 4%
• English and French
  • 18 million Anglophones, and 7 million Francophones
  • English, Welsh, Scottish, Irish settlers
  • Acadians, the descendants of French settlers in the Maritime provinces
  • Quebecers. In 2006, the House of Commons recognized that Quebecois form a nation within a united Canada

Canada's History 📜

• The Vikings from Iceland colonized Greenland 1000 years ago, also reached Labrador and the island of Newfoundland
• 1497 John Cabot, was the first to draw a map of Canada's East Coast
• 1534-1542 Jacques Cartier made 3 voyages across the Atlantic
• Royal New France: Samuel de Champlain founded Quebec City in 1608
• 1670 Hudson's Bay Company established, competing with Montreal-based traders
• 1759, the British defeated the French, marking the end of France's empire in America
• Quebec Act of 1774 restored French civil law while maintaining British criminal law
• More than 40,000 United Empire Loyalists fled to Canada during and after the American Revolution
• The first representative assembly was elected in Nova Scotia 1758, PEI 1773, New Brunswick 1785
• The Constitutional Act of 1791 divided the Province of Quebec into Upper Canada (Ontario, mainly Loyalist, Protestant and English-speaking) and Lower Canada (Quebec, heavily Catholic and French-speaking)
• 1783 Upper Canada, led by Lieutenant Governor John Graves Simcoe, abolished slavery
• The War of 1812: The Fight for Canada. The American attempt to conquer Canada had failed.
• Rebellions of 1837–38, the rebels did not have enough public support to succeed
• In 1848–49 the governor of United Canada, Lord Elgin, with encouragement from London, introduced responsible government (if the government loses a confidence vote in the assembly it must resign)
• 1867 The British North America Act (now known as the Constitution Act, 1867), the Dominion of Canada was born on July 1. Sir John Alexander Macdonald, a Father of Confederation, became Canada's first Prime Minister
• Métis resistance led by Louis Riel, the father of Manitoba, in response to land policies. North West Mounted Policy was established in 1873
• Expansion of the Dominion
  • 1867 Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick
  • 1870 Manitoba, Northwest Territories
  • 1871 British Columbia
  • 1873 Prince Edward Island
  • 1880 Transfer of the Arctic Island to N.W.T.
  • 1898 Yukon Territory
  • 1905 Alberta, Saskatchewan
  • 1949 Newfoundland and Labrador
  • 1999 Nunavut
• 1885 Completion of the Canadian Pacific Railway
• More than 600,000 Canadians served during World War I, 60,000 were killed and 170,000 wounded
• More than 1,000,000 Canadians served during World War II, 44,000 were killed

Modern Canada 📰

• The Official Languages Act (1969)
• Discoveries and Inventions
  • 🏀 Basketball - James Naismith
  • ☎️ Telephone - Alexander Graham Bell
  • 🛷 Snowmobile - Joseph-Armand Bombardier
  • 🕑 Time zones - Sir Sandford Fleming
  • 💡 Lightbulb - Mathew Evans and Henry Woodward
  • 📻 Wireless voice message - Reginald Fessenden
  • 💓 Pacemaker - John Hopps
  • 🦾 Canadarm - SPAR Aerospace/National Research Council
  • 📱 Blackberry - Mike Lazaridis and Jim Balsillie

How Canadians Govern Themselves 🏛️

Canada is a federal state, a parliamentary democracy and a constitutional monarchy

Federal State

• 3 levels of government
• 1️⃣ Federal
  • Responsibilities: Defence, foreign policy, interprovincial trade and communication, currency, navigation, criminal law and citizenship
• 2️⃣ Provincial
  • Responsibilities: Municipal government, education, health, natural resources, property and civil rights, highways
• 3️⃣ Local or municipal
  • A mayor (or a reeve) and councillors or aldermen
  • Council passes by-laws
  • Responsibilities: Urban or regional planning, streets and roads, sanitation, snow removal, firefighting, ambulance and other emergency services, recreational facilities, public transit and some local health and social services. Major urban centres have municipal police forces
• Shared Jurisdictions
  • Agriculture, immigration

Parliamentary Democracy

• Parliament has 3 parts:
  • 1️⃣ Sovereign 👑
  • 2️⃣ Senate, appointed by the Governor General on the advice of the Prime Minister
  • 3️⃣ House of Commons, elected by the people every 4 years
• Prime Minister selects the Cabinet ministers
• Cabinet ministers are responsible to the elected representatives
• No bill (proposals for new laws) can become law until passed by both chambers

Constitutional Monarchy

• Head of State - the Sovereign
  • Represented by the Governor General of Canada, the Lieutenant Governor (10 provinces), for 5 years
• Head of Government - the Prime Minister
  • Premier (each province)
  • Commissioner (3 territories)
• 3 branches of government - Executive, Legislative, and Judicial

Federal Elections ✅

• 308 electoral districts (aka ridings or constituencies)
• Secret ballot, no one can watch you vote and no one should look at how you voted

The Justice System 👩‍⚖️

• Presumption of innocence
• Rule of law, freedom under the law, democratic principals and due process
• The Supreme Court of Canada is the highest court

Canadian Symbols 🪿

• 👑 The Canadian Crown, symbol of the state
• 🇨🇦 Flags in Canada, the new Canadian flag was raised for the first time since 1965
• 🍁 The Maple Leaf
• ⚜️ The Fleur-de-lis
• 🌊 Coat of Arms and Motto - "A Mari Usque Ad Mare" (From Sea to Sea)
• 🏰 Parliament Buildings
• 🏒 Popular Sports: hockey, football, curling, lacrosse
• 🦫 The beaver
• 💬 Two official languages
• 🎖️ The Order of Canada recognizes outstanding citizens
• ✝️ The Victoria Cross, the highest honour to Canadians

Canada's Economy 💰

• 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA)
• 75% Service industries

Canada's Regions 🗺️

• Regions - Provinces and Territories (Capital Cities)
  • 🦞 Atlantic Provinces
    • Newfoundland and Labrador (St. John's), own time zone
    • Prince Edward Island (Charlottetown)
    • Nova Scotia (Halifax)
    • New Brunswick (Fredericton), bilingual province
  • 🏭 Central Canada
    • Quebec (Quebec City)
    • Ontario (Toronto)
  • 🌽 Prairie Provinces
    • Manitoba (Winnipeg)
    • Saskatchewan (Regina)
    • Alberta (Edmonton)
  • 🪵 West Coast
    • British Columbia (Victoria)
  • ⛏️ North
    • Yukon (Whitehorse)
    • Northwest Territories (Yellowknife)
    • Nunavut (Iqaluit)
• National Capital: Ottawa, chosen by Queen Victoria in 1857
• Population: 34 million

Useful Links 🔗

1. Official Study Guide - Discover Canada
2. Canoo Citizenship Practice Test
3. Toronto Public Library