Canada

agricultural land:

6.8%;

• arable land 4.7%;
• permanent crops 0.5%;
• permanent pasture 1.6%

forest:

34.1%

other:

59.1% (2011 est.)

• vast majority of Canadians are positioned in a discontinuous band within approximately 300 km of the southern border with the United States;
• the most populated province is Ontario, followed by Quebec and British Columbia

• continuous permafrost in north is a serious obstacle to development;
• cyclonic storms form east of the Rocky Mountains, a result of the mixing of air masses from the Arctic, Pacific, and North American interior, and produce most of the country's rain and snow east of the mountains

volcanism:

the vast majority of volcanoes in Western Canada's Coast Mountains remain dormant

• metal smelting, coal-burning utilities, and vehicle emissions impacting on agricultural and forest productivity;
• air pollution and resulting acid rain severely affecting lakes and damaging forests;
• ocean waters becoming contaminated due to agricultural, industrial, mining, and forestry activities

• second-largest country in world (after Russia) and largest in the Americas;
• strategic location between Russia and US via north polar route;
• approximately 90% of the population is concentrated within 160 km (100 mi) of the US border;
• Canada has more fresh water than any other country and almost 9% of Canadian territory is water;
• Canada has at least 2 million and possibly over 3 million lakes - that is more than all other countries combined

noun:

Canadian(s)

adjective:

Canadian

• vast majority of Canadians are positioned in a discontinuous band within approximately 300 km of the southern border with the United States;
• the most populated province is Ontario, followed by Quebec and British Columbia

at birth:

1.06 male(s)/female

0-14 years:

1.05 male(s)/female

15-24 years:

1.06 male(s)/female

25-54 years:

1.03 male(s)/female

55-64 years:

0.98 male(s)/female

65 years and over:

0.8 male(s)/female

total population:

0.98 male(s)/female (2016 est.)

conventional long form:

none

conventional short form:

Canada

etymology:

the country name derives from the St. Lawrence Iroquoian word "kanata" meaning village or settlement

name:

Ottawa

geographic coordinates:

45 25 N, 75 42 W

time difference:

UTC-5 (same time as Washington, DC, during Standard Time)

daylight saving time:

+1hr, begins second Sunday in March; ends first Sunday in November

note: Canada has six time zones

• made up of unwritten and written acts, customs, judicial decisions, and traditions dating from 1763;
• the written part of the constitution consists of the Constitution Act of 29 March 1867, which created a federation of four provinces, and the Constitution Act of 17 April 1982;
• several amendments to the 1982 Constitution Act, last in 2011 (2016)

citizenship by birth:

yes

citizenship by descent:

yes

dual citizenship recognized:

yes

residency requirement for naturalization:

3 years

head of state:

Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952); represented by Governor General David JOHNSTON (since 1 October 2010)

head of government:

Prime Minister Justin Pierre James TRUDEAU (Liberal Party) (since 4 November 2015)

cabinet:

Federal Ministry chosen by the prime minister usually from among members of his own party sitting in Parliament

elections/appointments:

• the monarchy is hereditary;
• governor general appointed by the monarch on the advice of the prime minister for a 5-year term;
• following legislative elections, the leader of the majority party or majority coalition in the House of Commons generally designated prime minister by the governor general

description:

bicameral Parliament or Parlement consists of the Senate or Senat (105 seats; members appointed by the governor general on the advice of the prime minister and can serve until age 75) and the House of Commons or Chambre des Communes (338 seats; members directly elected in single-seat constituencies by simple majority vote to serve a maximum of 4-year terms)

elections:

House of Commons - last held on 19 October 2015 (next to be held in 2019)

election results:

• House of Commons - percent of vote by party - Liberal Party 39.5%, Conservative Party 31.9%, NDP 19.7%, Bloc Quebecois 4.7%, Greens 3.4%, other .8%;
• seats by party - Liberal Party 184, Conservative Party 99, NDP 44, Bloc Quebecois 10, Greens 1

highest court(s):

• Supreme Court of Canada (consists of the chief justice and 8 judges);
• note - in 1949, Canada abolished all appeals beyond its Supreme Court, which prior to that time, were heard by the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council (in London)

judge selection and term of office:

chief justice and judges appointed by the prime minister in council; all judges appointed for life with mandatory retirement at age 75

subordinate courts:

• subordinate courts: federal level: Federal Court of Appeal;
• Federal Court;
• Tax Court;
• federal administrative tribunals;
• courts martial;
• provincial/territorial level: provincial superior, appeals, first instance, and specialized courts;
• in 1999, the Nunavut Court - a circuit court with the power of a provincial superior court as well as a territorial court - was established to serve isolated settlements

• Bloc Quebecois [Rheal FORTIN (interim leader)]
• Conservative Party of Canada or CPC [Rona AMBROSE (interim leader)]
• Green Party [Elizabeth MAY]
• Liberal Party [Justin TRUDEAU]
• New Democratic Party or NDP [Thomas MULCAIR]

other:

• agricultural sector;
• automobile industry;
• business groups;
• chemical industry;
• commercial banks;
• communications sector;
• energy industry;
• environmentalists;
• public administration groups;
• steel industry;
• trade unions

chief of mission:

Ambassador Bruce A. HEYMAN (since 8 April 2014)

embassy:

490 Sussex Drive, Ottawa, Ontario K1N 1G8

mailing address:

P. O. Box 5000, Ogdensburg, NY 13669-0430; P.O. Box 866, Station B, Ottawa, Ontario K1P 5T1

telephone:

[1] (613) 688-5335

FAX:

[1] (613) 688-3082

consulate(s) general:

Calgary, Halifax, Montreal, Quebec City, Toronto, Vancouver

• two vertical bands of red (hoist and fly side, half width) with white square between them;
• an 11-pointed red maple leaf is centered in the white square;
• the maple leaf has long been a Canadian symbol

• wheat, barley, oilseed, tobacco, fruits, vegetables;
• dairy products;
• fish;
• forest products

agriculture:

2%

manufacturing:

13%

construction:

6%

services:

76%

other:

3% (2006 est.)

lowest 10%:

2.6%

highest 10%:

24.8% (2000)

• motor vehicles and parts, industrial machinery, aircraft, telecommunications equipment;
• chemicals, plastics, fertilizers;
• wood pulp, timber, crude petroleum, natural gas, electricity, aluminum

general assessment:

excellent service provided by modern technology

domestic:

domestic satellite system with about 300 earth stations

international:

• country code - 1;
• submarine cables provide links to the US and Europe;
• satellite earth stations - 7 (5 Intelsat - 4 Atlantic Ocean and 1 Pacific Ocean, and 2 Intersputnik - Atlantic Ocean region) (2011)

• 2 public TV broadcasting networks each with a large number of network affiliates;
• several private-commercial networks also with multiple network affiliates;
• overall, about 150 TV stations;
• multi-channel satellite and cable systems provide access to a wide range of stations including US stations;
• mix of public and commercial radio broadcasters with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), the public radio broadcaster, operating 4 radio networks, Radio Canada International, and radio services to indigenous populations in the north;
• roughly 2,000 licensed radio stations (2008)

number of registered air carriers:

51; inventory of registered aircraft operated by air carriers: 879

annual passenger traffic on registered air carriers:

80,228,301

annual freight traffic on registered air carriers:

2,074,830,881 mt-km (2015)

total:

77,932 km

standard gauge:

77,932 km 1.435-m gauge (2014)

country comparison to the world: 4

total:

1,042,300 km

paved:

415,600 km (includes 17,000 km of expressways)

unpaved:

626,700 km (2011)

country comparison to the world: 7

major seaport(s):

Halifax, Saint John (New Brunswick), Vancouver

river and lake port(s):

• Montreal, Quebec City, Sept-Isles (St. Lawrence);
• Fraser River Port (Fraser);
• Hamilton (Lake Ontario)

oil terminal(s):

Lower Lakes terminal

dry bulk cargo port(s):

Port-Cartier (iron ore and grain),

container port(s):

Montreal (1,362,975), Vancouver (2,507,032)(2011)

LNG terminal(s) (import):

Saint John

• 17 years of age for voluntary male and female military service (with parental consent);
• 16 years of age for Reserve and Military College applicants;
• Canadian citizenship or permanent residence status required;
• maximum 34 years of age;
• service obligation 3-9 years (2012)

• managed maritime boundary disputes with the US at Dixon Entrance, Beaufort Sea, Strait of Juan de Fuca, and the Gulf of Maine, including the disputed Machias Seal Island and North Rock;
• Canada and the United States dispute how to divide the Beaufort Sea and the status of the Northwest Passage but continue to work cooperatively to survey the Arctic continental shelf;
• US works closely with Canada to intensify security measures for monitoring and controlling legal and illegal movement of people, transport, and commodities across the international border;
• sovereignty dispute with Denmark over Hans Island in the Kennedy Channel between Ellesmere Island and Greenland;
• commencing the collection of technical evidence for submission to the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf in support of claims for continental shelf beyond 200 nm from its declared baselines in the Arctic, as stipulated in Article 76, paragraph 8, of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea

refugees (country of origin):

• 13,666 (Colombia);
• 11,415 (China);
• 8,807 (Haiti);
• 8,807 (Sri Lanka);
• 7,207 (Pakistan);
• 6,414 (Mexico) (2015)

• illicit producer of cannabis for the domestic drug market and export to US;
• use of hydroponics technology permits growers to plant large quantities of high-quality marijuana indoors;
• increasing ecstasy production, some of which is destined for the US;
• vulnerable to narcotics money laundering because of its mature financial services sector