Indigenous peoples in present-day Canada include the First Nations, Inuit, and Métis,[1] the last being of mixed descent who originated in the mid-17th century when First Nations people married European settlers and subsequently developed their own identity.[1]

The first inhabitants of North America are generally hypothesized to have migrated from Siberia by way of the Bering land bridge and arrived at least 14,000 years ago.[2][3] The Paleo-Indian archeological sites at Old Crow Flats and Bluefish Caves are two of the oldest sites of human habitation in Canada.[4] The characteristics of Indigenous societies included permanent settlements, agriculture, complex societal hierarchies, and trading networks.[5][6] Some of these cultures had collapsed by the time European explorers arrived in the late 15th and early 16th centuries and have only been discovered through archeological investigations.[7]

 

Linguistic areas of North American Indigenous peoples at the time of European contact

The Indigenous population at the time of the first European settlements is estimated to have been between 200,000[8] and two million,[9] with a figure of 500,000 accepted by Canada's Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples.[10] As a consequence of European colonization, the Indigenous population declined by forty to eighty percent and several First Nations, such as the Beothuk, disappeared.[11] The decline is attributed to several causes, including the transfer of European diseases, such as influenza, measles, and smallpox, to which they had no natural immunity,[8][12] conflicts over the fur trade, conflicts with the colonial authorities and settlers, and the loss of Indigenous lands to settlers and the subsequent collapse of several nations' self-sufficiency.[13][14]

Although not without conflict, European Canadians' early interactions with First Nations and Inuit populations were relatively peaceful.[15] First Nations and Métis peoples played a critical part in the development of European colonies in Canada, particularly for their role in assisting European coureur des bois and voyageurs in their explorations of the continent during the North American fur trade.[16] These early European interactions with First Nations would change from friendship and peace treaties to the dispossession of Indigenous lands through treaties.[17][18] From the late 18th century, European Canadians forced Indigenous peoples to assimilate into a western Canadian society.[19] These attempts reached a climax in the late 19th and early 20th centuries with forced integration,[20] health-care segregation,[21] and displacement.[22] A period of redress is underway, which started with the formation of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada by the Government of Canada in 2008.[23] This includes recognition of past colonial injustices and settlement agreements and betterment of racial discrimination issues, such as addressing the plight of missing and murdered Indigenous women.[24][25]

 

Map of territorial claims in North America by 1750, before the French and Indian War, which was part of the greater worldwide conflict known as the Seven Years' War (1756 to 1763). Possessions of Britain (pink), New France (blue), and Spain (orange; California, Pacific Northwest, and Great Basin not indicated)

It is believed that the first European to explore the east coast of Canada was Norse explorer Leif Erikson.[26][27] In approximately 1000 AD, the Norse built a small short-lived encampment that was occupied sporadically for perhaps 20 years at L'Anse aux Meadows on the northern tip of Newfoundland.[28] No further European exploration occurred until 1497, when Italian seafarer John Cabot explored and claimed Canada's Atlantic coast in the name of King Henry VII of England.[29] In 1534, French explorer Jacques Cartier explored the Gulf of Saint Lawrence where, on July 24, he planted a 10-metre (33 ft) cross bearing the words, "long live the King of France", and took possession of the territory New France in the name of King Francis I.[30] The early 16th century saw European mariners with navigational techniques pioneered by the Basque and Portuguese establish seasonal whaling and fishing outposts along the Atlantic coast.[31] In general, early settlements during the Age of Discovery appear to have been short-lived due to a combination of the harsh climate, problems with navigating trade routes and competing outputs in Scandinavia.[32][33]

In 1583, Sir Humphrey Gilbert, by the royal prerogative of Queen Elizabeth I, founded St John's, Newfoundland, as the first North American English seasonal camp.[34] In 1600, the French established their first seasonal trading post at Tadoussac along the Saint Lawrence.[28] French explorer Samuel de Champlain arrived in 1603 and established the first permanent year-round European settlements at Port Royal (in 1605) and Quebec City (in 1608).[35] Among the colonists of New France, Canadiens extensively settled the Saint Lawrence River valley and Acadians settled the present-day Maritimes, while fur traders and Catholic missionaries explored the Great Lakes, Hudson Bay, and the Mississippi watershed to Louisiana.[36] The Beaver Wars broke out in the mid-17th century over control of the North American fur trade.[37]

The English established additional settlements in Newfoundland in 1610 along with settlements in the Thirteen Colonies to the south.[38][39] A series of four wars erupted in colonial North America between 1689 and 1763; the later wars of the period constituted the North American theatre of the Seven Years' War.[40] Mainland Nova Scotia came under British rule with the 1713 Treaty of Utrecht and Canada and most of New France came under British rule in 1763 after the Seven Years' War.[41]

 

Benjamin West's The Death of General Wolfe (1771) dramatizes James Wolfe's death during the Battle of the Plains of Abraham at Quebec.

The Royal Proclamation of 1763 established First Nation treaty rights, created the Province of Quebec out of New France, and annexed Cape Breton Island to Nova Scotia.[42] St John's Island (now Prince Edward Island) became a separate colony in 1769.[43] To avert conflict in Quebec, the British Parliament passed the Quebec Act 1774, expanding Quebec's territory to the Great Lakes and Ohio Valley.[44] More importantly, the Quebec Act afforded Quebec special autonomy and rights of self-administration at a time when the Thirteen Colonies were increasingly agitating against British rule.[45] It re-established the French language, Catholic faith, and French civil law there, staving off the growth of an independence movement in contrast to the Thirteen Colonies.[46] The Proclamation and the Quebec Act in turn angered many residents of the Thirteen Colonies, further fuelling anti-British sentiment in the years prior to the American Revolution.[42]

After the successful American War of Independence, the 1783 Treaty of Paris recognized the independence of the newly formed United States and set the terms of peace, ceding British North American territories south of the Great Lakes and east of the Mississippi River to the new country.[47] The American war of independence also caused a large out-migration of Loyalists, the settlers who had fought against American independence. Many moved to Canada, particularly Atlantic Canada, where their arrival changed the demographic distribution of the existing territories. New Brunswick was in turn split from Nova Scotia as part of a reorganization of Loyalist settlements in the Maritimes, which led to the incorporation of Saint John, New Brunswick, as Canada's first city.[48] To accommodate the influx of English-speaking Loyalists in Central Canada, the Constitutional Act of 1791 divided the province of Canada into French-speaking Lower Canada (later Quebec) and English-speaking Upper Canada (later Ontario), granting each its own elected legislative assembly.[49]

 

War of 1812 heroine Laura Secord warning British commander James FitzGibbon of an impending American attack at Beaver Dams

The Canadas were the main front in the War of 1812 between the United States and the United Kingdom. Peace came in 1815; no boundaries were changed.[50] Immigration resumed at a higher level, with over 960,000 arrivals from Britain between 1815 and 1850.[51] New arrivals included refugees escaping the Great Irish Famine as well as Gaelic-speaking Scots displaced by the Highland Clearances.[52] Infectious diseases killed between 25 and 33 percent of Europeans who immigrated to Canada before 1891.[8]

The desire for responsible government resulted in the abortive Rebellions of 1837.[53] The Durham Report subsequently recommended responsible government and the assimilation of French Canadians into English culture.[42] The Act of Union 1840 merged the Canadas into a united Province of Canada and responsible government was established for all provinces of British North America east of Lake Superior by 1855.[54] The signing of the Oregon Treaty by Britain and the United States in 1846 ended the Oregon boundary dispute, extending the border westward along the 49th parallel. This paved the way for British colonies on Vancouver Island (1849) and in British Columbia (1858).[55] The Anglo-Russian Treaty of Saint Petersburg (1825) established the border along the Pacific coast, but, even after the US Alaska Purchase of 1867, disputes continued about the exact demarcation of the Alaska–Yukon and Alaska–BC border.[56]

 

Animated map showing the growth and change of Canada's provinces and territories since Confederation in 1867

Following three constitutional conferences, the British North America Act, 1867 officially proclaimed Canadian Confederation on July 1, 1867, initially with four provinces: Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick.[57][58] Canada assumed control of Rupert's Land and the North-Western Territory to form the Northwest Territories, where the Métis' grievances ignited the Red River Rebellion and the creation of the province of Manitoba in July 1870.[59] British Columbia and Vancouver Island (which had been united in 1866) joined the confederation in 1871 on the promise of a transcontinental railway extending to Victoria in the province within 10 years,[60] while Prince Edward Island joined in 1873.[61] In 1898, during the Klondike Gold Rush in the Northwest Territories, Parliament created the Yukon Territory. Alberta and Saskatchewan became provinces in 1905.[61] Between 1871 and 1896, almost one quarter of the Canadian population emigrated south to the US.[62]

To open the West and encourage European immigration, the Government of Canada sponsored the construction of three transcontinental railways (including the Canadian Pacific Railway), passed the Dominion Lands Act to regulate settlement and established the North-West Mounted Police to assert authority over the territory.[63][64] This period of westward expansion and nation building resulted in the displacement of many Indigenous peoples of the Canadian Prairies to "Indian reserves",[65] clearing the way for ethnic European block settlements.[66] This caused the collapse of the Plains Bison in western Canada and the introduction of European cattle farms and wheat fields dominating the land.[67] The Indigenous peoples saw widespread famine and disease due to the loss of the bison and their traditional hunting lands.[68] The federal government did provide emergency relief, on condition of the Indigenous peoples moving to the reserves.[69] During this time, Canada introduced the Indian Act extending its control over the First Nations to education, government and legal rights.[70]

1918 Canadian War bond posters depicting three French women pulling a plow that had been constructed for horses.

 

French version of the poster roughly translates as "They serve France–Everyone can serve; Buy Victory Bonds".

 

The same poster in English, with subtle differences in text. "They serve France—How can I serve Canada? Buy Victory Bonds".

Because Britain still maintained control of Canada's foreign affairs under the British North America Act, 1867, its declaration of war in 1914 automatically brought Canada into the First World War.[71] Volunteers sent to the Western Front later became part of the Canadian Corps, which played a substantial role in the Battle of Vimy Ridge and other major engagements of the war.[72] Out of approximately 625,000 Canadians who served in World War I, some 60,000 were killed and another 172,000 were wounded.[73] The Conscription Crisis of 1917 erupted when the Unionist Cabinet's proposal to augment the military's dwindling number of active members with conscription was met with vehement objections from French-speaking Quebecers.[74] The Military Service Act brought in compulsory military service, though it, coupled with disputes over French language schools outside Quebec, deeply alienated Francophone Canadians and temporarily split the Liberal Party.[74] In 1919, Canada joined the League of Nations independently of Britain,[72] and the Statute of Westminster, 1931, affirmed Canada's independence.[75]

The Great Depression in Canada during the early 1930s saw an economic downturn, leading to hardship across the country.[76] In response to the downturn, the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF) in Saskatchewan introduced many elements of a welfare state (as pioneered by Tommy Douglas) in the 1940s and 1950s.[77] On the advice of Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King, war with Germany was declared effective September 10, 1939, by King George VI, seven days after the United Kingdom. The delay underscored Canada's independence.[72]

The first Canadian Army units arrived in Britain in December 1939. In all, over a million Canadians served in the armed forces during the Second World War and approximately 42,000 were killed and another 55,000 were wounded.[78] Canadian troops played important roles in many key battles of the war, including the failed 1942 Dieppe Raid, the Allied invasion of Italy, the Normandy landings, the Battle of Normandy, and the Battle of the Scheldt in 1944.[72] Canada provided asylum for the Dutch monarchy while that country was occupied and is credited by the Netherlands for major contributions to its liberation from Nazi Germany.[79]

The Canadian economy boomed during the war as its industries manufactured military materiel for Canada, Britain, China, and the Soviet Union.[72] Despite another Conscription Crisis in Quebec in 1944, Canada finished the war with a large army and strong economy.[80]

The financial crisis of the Great Depression had led the Dominion of Newfoundland to relinquish responsible government in 1934 and become a Crown colony ruled by a British governor.[81] After two referendums, Newfoundlanders voted to join Canada in 1949 as a province.[82]

Canada's post-war economic growth, combined with the policies of successive Liberal governments, led to the emergence of a new Canadian identity, marked by the adoption of the maple leaf flag in 1965,[83] the implementation of official bilingualism (English and French) in 1969,[84] and the institution of official multiculturalism in 1971.[85] Socially democratic programs were also instituted, such as Medicare, the Canada Pension Plan, and Canada Student Loans; though, provincial governments, particularly Quebec and Alberta, opposed many of these as incursions into their jurisdictions.[86]

 

A copy of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms

Finally, another series of constitutional conferences resulted in the Canada Act 1982, the patriation of Canada's constitution from the United Kingdom, concurrent with the creation of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.[87][88][89] Canada had established complete sovereignty as an independent country under its own monarchy.[90][91] In 1999, Nunavut became Canada's third territory after a series of negotiations with the federal government.[92]

At the same time, Quebec underwent profound social and economic changes through the Quiet Revolution of the 1960s, giving birth to a secular nationalist movement.[93] The radical Front de libération du Québec (FLQ) ignited the October Crisis with a series of bombings and kidnappings in 1970[94] and the sovereignist Parti Québécois was elected in 1976, organizing an unsuccessful referendum on sovereignty-association in 1980. Attempts to accommodate Quebec nationalism constitutionally through the Meech Lake Accord failed in 1990.[95] This led to the formation of the Bloc Québécois in Quebec and the invigoration of the Reform Party of Canada in the West.[96][97] A second referendum followed in 1995, in which sovereignty was rejected by a slimmer margin of 50.6 to 49.4 percent.[98] In 1997, the Supreme Court ruled unilateral secession by a province would be unconstitutional and the Clarity Act was passed by Parliament, outlining the terms of a negotiated departure from Confederation.[95]

In addition to the issues of Quebec sovereignty, a number of crises shook Canadian society in the late 1980s and early 1990s. These included the explosion of Air India Flight 182 in 1985, the largest mass murder in Canadian history;[99] the École Polytechnique massacre in 1989, a university shooting targeting female students;[100] and the Oka Crisis of 1990,[101] the first of a number of violent confrontations between the government and Indigenous groups.[102] Canada also joined the Gulf War in 1990 as part of a United States–led coalition force and was active in several peacekeeping missions in the 1990s, including the UNPROFOR mission in the former Yugoslavia.[103] Canada sent troops to Afghanistan in 2001 but declined to join the United States–led invasion of Iraq in 2003.[104]

In 2011, Canadian forces participated in the NATO-led intervention into the Libyan Civil War[105] and also became involved in battling the Islamic State insurgency in Iraq in the mid-2010s.[106] The country celebrated its sesquicentennial in 2017, three years before the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada began, on January 27, 2020, with widespread social and economic disruption.[107] In 2021, the possible remains of hundreds of Indigenous people were discovered near the former sites of Canadian Indian residential schools.[108] Administered by the Canadian Catholic Church and funded by the Canadian government from 1828 to 1997, these boarding schools attempted to assimilate Indigenous children into Euro-Canadian culture.[20]