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This page has been developed to give the reader an overview of Canadian heritage, geography, people and the economy. Understanding the historical and current framework of this country is critical to gain an understanding of the information technology landscape of Canada and its presence as a global leader in information technology initiatives. Canada is located in Northern North America, bordering the North Atlantic Ocean on the east, North Pacific Ocean on the west, and the Artic Ocean on the north, north of the conterminous United States (US).  Canada is the second largest country in the world (after Russia) with a strategic location between Russia and the US via north polar route. Approximately 85% of the population is concentrated within 300 km of the US/Canada border. 

Background 

A land of vast distance and rich natural resources, Canada became a self-governing dominion in 1867 while retaining ties to the British crown. Economically and technologically the nation has developed in parallel with its neighbor, the United States to the south, across an unfortified border. Its paramount political problem continues to be the relationship of the province of Quebec, with its French-speaking residents and unique culture, to the remainder of the country.

Canadian Geography 

Geographic Coordinates 60 00 N, 95 00 W
Map References: North America
Capital: Ottawa

Area:
total: 9,976140 sq km
land: 9,220,970 sq km
water: 755,170 sq km

Area Comparative:
slightly larger than the United States

Land Boundaries:
total: 8,893 km border 
countries: US 8,893 km (includes 2,477 km with Alaska)

Coastline: 243,791 km

Maritime Claims: 
contagious zone: 24 NM
territorial sea: 12 NM
continental shelf: 200 NM or on the edge of the continental margin
exclusive economic zone: 200 NM

Climate: varies from temperate in the south to sub arctic and artic in the north

Terrain: mostly plains with mountains in the west and lowlands in the southeast

Elevation Extremes:
lowest point: Atlantic Ocean 0 m
highest point: Mount Logan 5,959 m

Natural Resources: 
iron ore, nickel, zinc, copper, gold, lead, molybdenum, potash, silver, fish, timber, wildlife, coal, petroleum, natural gas, hydropower

Land Use:
arable land: 5%
permanent crops: 0%
permanent pastures: 3%
forests and woodlands: 54%
other: 38%

Irrigated Land: 7,200 sq km (1998 est.)

Natural Hazards:
continuous permafrost in the 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

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

Canadian Provinces & Territories

10 Provinces

Alberta (Edmonton)                 Ontario (Toronto)

British Columbia (Victoria)         Prince Edward Island (Charlottetown)

Manitoba (Winnipeg)                Québec (Québec City)

New Brunswick (Fredericton)     Saskatchewan (Regina)

Nova Scotia (Halifax)               Newfoundland (St. John's)

3 Territories

Northwest (Yellowknife)   Nunavut (Iqaluit)        Yukon (Whitehorse)

Canadian People 

POPULATION of CANADA:
31,902,268 (July 2002 est.)

Population by Provinces & Territories

Provinces:                                           Territories:
Alberta (2002): 2,789,500                        Nunavut (2002): no statistics
British Columbia (2002): 3,855,100             Northwest (2002): 66,000
Manitoba (2002): 1,143,500                     Yukon (2002): 31,400 
New Brunswick (2002): 762,500
Newfoundland (2002): 570,700
Nova Scotia (2002): 942,800
Ontario (2002): 11,252,400
Prince Edward Island (2002): 137,300
Quebec (2002): 7,389,100
Saskatchewan (2002): 1,022,500                              

Population by Major Cities: 
Toronto "Mega city" (2002): 2,300,000
Montreal (2002): 3,326,510
Vancouver (2002): 1,831,665
Ottawa (2002): 1,010,498
Edmonton (2002): 962,59
7Calgary (2002): 821,628
Quebec (2002): 671,889
Winnipeg (2002): 667,209
Hamilton (2002): 624,360
London (2002): 398,616

Age Structure: (2002 est.)
0-14 years: 18.7% (male 3,059,023; female 2,910,203)
15-64 years: 68.4% (male 10,975,701; female 10,857,869)
65+ years: 12.9% (male 1,743,654; female 2,355,818)

Population Growth Rate: 
0.96% (2002 est.)
Birth Rate:
11.09 births/1,000 population (2002 est.)

Death Rate: 
7.54 deaths/1,000 population (2002 est.)

Net Migration Rate: 6.07 migrants/1,000 population (2002 est.)

Ethnic Composition:
British Isles - 28%; French - 23%; other European - 15%; Amerindian - 2%; other - mostly (Asian, African, Arab 6%); mixed background 26%

Languages: English - 59.3% (official) French - 23.2% (official) Other - 17.5%.

Religion:
Roman Catholic - 46%; Protestant - 12%; other - 35%.

Sex Ratio at birth: 
1.05 male(s)/female(s)  under 15 years 
1.05 male(s)/female(s) 15-64 years
1.01 male(s)/female(s) 65 years and over
0.74 male(s)/female(s)  total population
0.98 male(s)/female(s) 

Infant Mortality Rate:
4.95 deaths/1,000 live births (2002 est.)

Life Expectancy at Birth:
female:83.25 years; male: 76.3 years; total population: 76.69 years (2002 est.)

Total Fertility Rate: 1.64 children born/woman (2002 est.)

Literacy definition: age 15 and over can read and write (total population: 97%)

HIV/AIDS
Adult Prevalence Rate: 0.3% (1999 est.)
People Living with HIV/AIDS: 49,000 (1999 est.,)
Deaths: 400 (1999 est.)

Nationality:
noun: Canadian(s)
adjective: Canadian

[Sources: The World Factbook 2002]

Canadian Economy 

As an affluent, high-tech industrial society, Canada today closely resembles the United States in its market-oriented economic system, pattern of production, and high living standards. Since World War II, the impressive growth of the manufacturing, mining, and service sectors has transformed the nation from a largely rural economy into one primarily industrial and urban. The 1989 US-Canada Free Trade Agreement (FTA) and 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) (which includes Mexico) touched off a dramatic increase in trade and economic integration with the US. 

As a result of the close cross-border relationship, the economic downturn in the United States in 2001 had a negative impact on the Canadian economy. Real growth averaged nearly 3% during 1993-2000, but declined in 2001. Unemployment is up, with contraction in the manufacturing and natural resource sectors. Nevertheless, with its great natural resources, skilled labor force, and modern capital plant. Canada enjoys solid economic prospects.  

Two shadows loom, the first being the continuing constitutional impasse between English - and French - speaking areas, which has been raising the possibility of a split in the federation. Another long-term concern is the flow south to the US of professionals lured by higher pay, lower taxes, and the immense high-tech infrastructure.

Gross Domestic Product (GDP):
Purchasing Power Parity: $875 billion (2001 est.)
Real Growth Rate:1.9% (2001 est.)
per capita purchasing power parity: $27,700 (2001 est.)
Composition by Sector: Agriculture 2%; Industry 29%; Services 69% (2001 est.)

Population Below Poverty Level: NA%

Household Income or Consumption by Percentage Shares: lowest 10%:2.8%highest 10%:23.8%

Inflation Rate: 2.8% (2001 est.)

Labor Force:
16.4 million (2001 est.)

Labor Force by Occupation Services:
services 74%, manufacturing 15 %, construction 5%, agriculture 3%, other 3% (2000)

Unemployment Rate: 7.2% (2001 est.)

Budget:
Revenues $178.6 billion 
expenditures: $161.4 billion (FY00/01 est.)

Industries:
transportation equipment, chemicals, processed and unprocessed minerals, food products; wood and paper products; fish products, petroleum and natural gas

Industrial Production Growth Rate: 0.5% (2001 est.)

Electricity Production: 576.218 billion kWh (2000)

Electricity Production by Source:
fossil fuel: 25.3%
hydro: 61.22%
nuclear: 11.92%
other: 1.56% (2000)

Electricity Consumption:
499,766 billion kWh (2000)

Electricity Exports:
48.802 billion kWh (2000)

Electricity Imports:
12.685 billion kWh (2000)

Agricultural Products:
wheat, barley, oilseed, tobacco, fruits, vegetables, dairy products, forest products, fish

Exports:
$273.8 billion (f.o.b., 2001 est.)

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

Export Partners:
US 86%; Japan 3%; UK, Germany, South Korea, Netherlands, China (1999)

Imports: $238.3 billion (f.o.b., 2001 est.)

Import Commodities:
machinery and equipment, motor vehicles and parts, crude oil, chemicals, electricity, durable consumer goods Import 

Partners: US 74%; EU 9%; Japan 3% (2000)

Debt External: $1.9 billion (2000)

Economic Aid Donor: $1.3 billion (1999)



Canadian Standards & Units of Measurement

Time:
Canada Covers 5 Time Zones
Eastern Standard (EST) in Ottawa, same as the U.S.&

Weights and Measures:
The metric system is in use.

Canadian Money 

Currency:
Canadian Dollar 
Abbreviation: CAD
Measurement: 1 CAD = 100 Cents

Exchange Rates: 
Canadian Dollars (Can$) per US Dollars (US$)1.6003 (January 2002)1.5488 (2001)1.4851 (2000)1.4857 (1999)1.4835 (1998)1.3846 (1997)

Fiscal Year:
1 April - 31 March
Currency100 cents = 1 Canadian dollar

[Sources: The World Factbook 2002]

Canadian Transportation 

Railways:
total: 36,114 km
Canada has two major transcontinental freight railway systems: Canadian National (privatized November 1995) and Canadian Pacific Railway; passenger service is provided by the government-operated firm VIA, which has no trackage of its own. (2000 est.)

Highways:
paved: 318,371 km (including 16,571 km of expressways)
unpaved: 583,531 km (1999)
total: 901,902 km

Waterways:
3,000 km (including Saint Lawrence Seaway)

Pipelines:
crude and refined oil: 23,564 km
natural gas: 74,980 km

Ports and Harbors:
Becancour (Quebec), Churchill, Halifax, Hamilton, Montreal, New West minister, Prince Rupert, Quebec, Saint John (New Brunswick), St. John's (Newfoundland), Sept Isles, Sydney, Trois-Rivieres, Thunder Bay, Toronto, Vancouver, Windsor

Merchant Marine:
total: 122 ships

Airports:
total: 1,419 (2001)
With Paved runways: 519 (2001)
With Unpaved runways: 900 (2001)

Heliports:
18 (2001)

Canadian Military 

Military Branches:
Canadian Armed Forces (comprising of Land Forces Command, Maritime Command, Air Command, Communications Command, Training Command)

Military Manpower:
age: 17 years of age (2002 est.)
availability: males age 15-49: 8,361,475 (2002est.)
fit for military: males 15-49: 7,139,068 (2002 est.)
reaching military age annually: males: 217,516 (2002 est.)
expenditures in dollars: $7,860,500,000 (FY01/02)
expenditures as a percent of GDP: 1.1% (FY01/02)

Canadian Transnational Issues 

International Disputes:
maritime boundary disputes with the US (Dixon Entrance, Beaufront Sea, Strait of Juan de Fuca, Machias Seal Island)

Illicit Drugs:
illicit producer of cannabis for the domestic drug market; use of hydroponics technology permits growers to plant large quantities of high-quality marijuana indoors; transit point for heroin and cocaine entering the US market

[Source: The World Factbook 2002]