Our northern neighbors sing about the "True North, strong and free" on Canada Day. Here's why—and when Canada became a country.
As Americans gear up for the Fourth of July each summer with parades, fireworks and lots of flag-waving, their neighbors to the north have already kicked off their own national celebration. Canada Day, which takes place every year on July 1, often flies under the radar. And while the fireworks and festivities may all look familiar, behind them lies a pivotal chapter in Canada’s history. Yet most Americans can’t answer some basic questions about the notable date, including: When did Canada become a country, exactly?
Unlike the United States’, Canada’s origin story doesn’t involve a war or dramatic declarations of independence. Instead, it unfolded through quieter means, with laws, signed documents and the reallocation of power. But that doesn’t make the journey any less fascinating. Ahead, we’re exploring the story of when and how a collection of British colonies slowly stitched themselves together to become the country we know today as Canada.
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When did Canada become a country?
Canada became a country in 1982. Yes, you read that right!
Canada became a self-governing nation on July 1, 1867, with the British North America Act, and its independence increased over the years, with full legal freedom granted in 1931 by the Statute of Westminster. But it was only on April 17, 1982, when the constitution was repatriated, that Canada achieved full independence. That meant changes to the constitution no longer needed to be approved by the British Parliament and that the Great White North was now an independent country.
While 1982 might pop up as the answer to “When did Canada become a country?”, the real story is a lot more layered—and way more fascinating. Let’s dig in to how Canada went from colonies to confederation to a country carving out its place on the world stage.
What’s the extent of the Great White North?
The country now known as Canada is—generally—the land north of the United States that’s between the Pacific, Atlantic and Arctic oceans (plus 52,455 islands and minus the state of Alaska). Canada’s southern border is usually said to be the 49th parallel.
Take a closer look at that map. The line at the 49th parallel marking the U.S. border looks like it was drawn with a ruler from the Pacific Ocean to just after Winnipeg, Manitoba, near the east-west center of the country. Then the border dips south, cuts through four Great Lakes and continues, bumping up and down until it reaches the Atlantic Ocean between Maine and New Brunswick. Not only is a significant portion of Canadian soil below the 49th parallel, but 72% of Canadians actually live south of it.
That may be because the northern expanse of Canada can get quite cold. Still, though Canada’s nickname is the Great White North, that’s not because it’s always snowing north of the U.S. border. A July weather map might say that it’s 30 degrees in Vancouver and 86 in Seattle, but that’s because Canada uses Celsius rather than Fahrenheit for temperature. Like Seattle, Vancouver also sees snow rarely.
Ahead, we’ve got an explainer on how this huge portion of the sometimes snowy land became Canada, the second-largest country in the world.
Who were the First Peoples of Canada?
Indigenous people have lived on this huge landmass since about 21,000 B.C.E. One of its first names was Turtle Island—referring to all of North America—used by many people who spoke the Algonquian and Iroquoian languages. Other First Nations used different names, as did European explorers when they started to arrive.
Though they were the First Peoples, they had no say in the decisions that eventually formed the country of Canada from their lands. Even their influence on the country’s name was the result of a misunderstanding. Indigenous people were forced to move from their lands to more remote areas that Europeans didn’t want. This is one of the reasons that, as Canadian Geographic describes, “there’s not a single Indigenous culture group [that] is wholly contained within Canada’s borders.”
When did the first Europeans arrive in Canada?
Only Indigenous people lived in what is now called Canada until the 11th century. That’s when the first Europeans arrived—the Vikings. They built a settlement in what is now the province of Newfoundland and Labrador and called it Vinland, meaning Wine Land. The area is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site, L’Anse aux Meadows.
Later, English and French explorers came. John Cabot, an Englishman of Italian origin, arrived in 1497 and claimed “New Founde Land” for England. In 1534, French explorer Jacques Cartier sailed into the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Thinking they had arrived in the East Indies, these early explorers called the people they met “Indians.” The name they used for the land was, eventually, Canada.
How did Canada get its name?
The first time the word Canada was used to refer to a specific geographical entity was in 1535, by Cartier, the French explorer who later claimed the land as property of France. Cartier had met an Iroquois chief, Donnacona, and had taken two of his sons to France. When they returned with Cartier, the two acted as his guides.
They explained to Cartier how to get to the village of Stadacona, which is now Quebec City, and used the Huron-Iroquois word kanata, which means a settlement or a village. Cartier misunderstood both the pronunciation and the meaning of the word. He thought the word was Canada and took it to mean the specific area of land that was under Donnacona’s authority, rather than the generic word for settlement.
Cartier and other European explorers used the word Canada to describe increasingly larger areas of land. Early in the 18th century, Canada was one of the names for all the French-controlled lands in North America, as far South as Louisiana and west to the American Midwest.
France and England fought over the lands that became Canada and parts of the United States for decades. In 1759, the British won a battle on the Plains of Abraham—now a historic site in Quebec City. With the 1763 Treaty of Paris, France ceded its colony, and Canada became an English possession. A few years later, in 1776, 13 British colonies south of Quebec declared independence from Great Britain and formed the United States.
Canada was first used in an official way in 1791, with the naming of the colonies of Upper Canada and Lower Canada. In 1841, the two were united into the Province of Canada. On July 1, 1867, the country called the Dominion of Canada was formed from New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and the Province of Canada.
Next to join Canada were Manitoba and the Northwest Territories (1870), British Columbia (1871), Prince Edward Island (1873), Yukon (1898) and Alberta and Saskatchewan (1905). Eighty-two years after confederation, the last to join was Newfoundland (now called Newfoundland and Labrador) in 1949. The territory of Nunavut was created from the Northwest Territories in 1999, giving Canada the 10 provinces and three territories it has today.
How are Canada’s present ties with Britain and France?
Though an independent country, Canada maintains ties to both France and the United Kingdom. For a long time, Queen Elizabeth II held the title of Queen of Canada, and her picture could be found on Canadian stamps, money and in government offices. Since the queen’s death in 2022, King Charles III is now Canada’s monarch and holds the title King of Canada. The country has two official languages: French and English.
Canada is also one of the 88 members of La Francophonie and one of the 54 members of the Commonwealth of Nations, which represent about 12% and 25% of the world’s population, respectively. In Singapore in 1971, Commonwealth countries pledged to pursue a set of principles including world peace, equal rights, free trade, international cooperation and democracy, as well as to combat racial prejudice and oppression, injustice, poverty, ignorance and disease. Canada can now pick and choose the ties it wants to maintain with its former colonizers.
What does Indigenous self-governance look like in Canada?
Indigenous people in Canada have had a more challenging road to independence, equal rights and other Commonwealth principles. Long before European explorers arrived, Indigenous people had their own forms of government. The agreements and treaties that Europeans forged with Indigenous nations were not based on equal relationships, and colonialism eroded Indigenous independence over the centuries.
Canada’s Constitution Act, 1982 guarantees Indigenous people the “inherent right to self-government.” Negotiations to define and implement that have taken decades and continue to this day. Self-government agreements are different for each First Nation; only 25 exist involving 43 different Indigenous communities, though 50 more are in various stages of negotiation. One day, everyone who lives in what is now called Canada may proudly proclaim that they are “True North, strong and free.”
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Sources:
- The Canadian Encyclopedia: “Patriation of the Constitution”
- Statistics Canada: “Geography”
- Maclean’s: “The centre of controversy: Where is Canada’s middle?”
- Daily Pilot: “Column: I have an affection for our friends above the 49th Parallel”
- Worldometer: “Largest Countries in the World (by area)”
- Canada Guide: “Early History of Canada”
- The Canadian Encyclopedia: “Turtle Island”
- Canadian Geographic: “The 49th parallel: Our defining line”
- UNESCO World Heritage Convention: “L’Anse aux Meadows National Historic Site”
- Government of Canada: “Discover Canada – Canada’s History”
- Government of Canada: “Origin of the name “Canada””
- CBC: “LESSON 3: Cartier and Donnacona”
- History: “The 13 Colonies”
- CBC: “July 1, 1867”
- Government of Canada: “Canada and La Francophonie”
- Government of Canada: “Canada and the Commonwealth”
- Government of Canada: “Self-government”
