Canada's History Study Guide

Aboriginal peoples have lived in what is now Canada for thousands of years, long before European explorers arrived. Their societies were rooted in the land and organized around hunting, fishing, farming and trade.

The first Europeans to reach Canada were the Vikings from Iceland, who reached Labrador and Newfoundland about 1,000 years ago; the remains of their settlement are at L'Anse aux Meadows. Later, many Aboriginal children were placed in residential schools run by churches and funded by the federal government. In 2008 Ottawa formally apologized to the former students.

French explorers and fur traders built New France along the St. Lawrence River. In 1759 the British defeated the French at the Battle of the Plains of Abraham, and the colony came under British rule. The Quebec Act of 1774 let the French-speaking Catholic majority keep their religion and French civil law.

After the American Revolution, more than 40,000 Loyalists moved north to Nova Scotia and Quebec. In 1791 the colony was split into Upper Canada (later Ontario, mostly English-speaking) and Lower Canada (later Quebec, mostly French-speaking), each with its first elected assembly.

After the War of 1812 and the rebellions of 1837–38, Upper and Lower Canada were united as the Province of Canada in 1840. Reformers such as Robert Baldwin and Louis-Hippolyte La Fontaine won responsible government, meaning the government must have the support of the elected assembly.

From 1864 to 1867, the Fathers of Confederation worked to unite the colonies. On July 1, 1867, Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick became the Dominion of Canada, a term suggested by Sir Leonard Tilley. Sir John A. Macdonald became the first Prime Minister, and Sir George-Étienne Cartier led Quebec into Confederation.

Canada took over the vast North-West from the Hudson's Bay Company. The Métis of the Red River, led by Louis Riel, resisted, and Manitoba became a province in 1870. The North West Mounted Police was created in 1873 to keep the peace in the West.

British Columbia joined in 1871 on the promise of a railway to the Pacific, and Prince Edward Island joined in 1873. The Canadian Pacific Railway, built with the help of thousands of Chinese workers, was finished in 1885. Alberta and Saskatchewan became provinces in 1905.

In the First World War, over 600,000 Canadians served and about 60,000 were killed. The capture of Vimy Ridge in April 1917 became a symbol of national pride, and Canadians mark the end of the war on Remembrance Day, November 11.

In the Second World War, more than one million Canadians served. Canadians fought in Hong Kong, at Dieppe, in Italy and in the Battle of the Atlantic, landed at Juno Beach on D-Day in 1944, and helped liberate the Netherlands in 1944–45.