Want to know some facts about Canada? Being Canadian, we know a thing or two about our country, so we thought we’d share some of the more interesting and fun facts about Canada that you may not know. So get out your notebook and get ready to have your mind blown as you learn these Canadian facts right now!
Table of Contents
Facts about Canada
It wasn’t until 1982 that Canada cut ties with the British Parliament and the British monarch when the Constitution of Canada gave the country full control over constitutional amendments. Today, Canada is a fully independent country and a member of the Commonwealth, with King Charles as the monarch and a parliamentary democracy with a constitutional monarchy form of government. So what are some fun facts about Canada? Let’s get started.
1. Canadian Facts and Demographics
The population of Canada is 38.93 Million people.
Canada is the second-largest country in the world, with a total land area of 2 million square km. However, much of the land is uninhabited, and Canada has the fourth lowest population density on earth, with 3.7 people per square km. (for reference, the United States has approximately 35 people per square km.) The vast majority of Canadians live near the southern border of Canada.
Canada shares the world’s longest international border with the United States. And lucky that we do because most people in Canada live within 200km of the international boundary of the United States. Most of the population lives in urban centers like Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, and Calgary. (Top four cities by population in Canada).
The Canadian average life expectancy is 81 years old – Not bad eh?
2. The Word Canada Came from Kanata
Canada got its name from the Indigenous word Kanata, which means settlement or community in the Iroquois language. Apparently, when French explorer Jacques Cartier heard the term, he thought they said Canada and assumed it was the name of the entire country. Thus, Canada became our name. It is a fitting name, considering Canada is very much a community.
Fun Facts About Canada
Canada is pretty quirky, and while we are going to share many Canada facts regarding populations, statistics, and geography, we thought we’d start with the fun facts about Canada
3. Canada is the number 1 doughnut consumer in the world
Canadians spell it “doughnut,” not “donut.” When talking about Canadian facts, the obvious choice is to talk about donuts first. We love donuts! There are only 30 million people in Canada, but we eat 1 billion donuts annually. And there are more doughnut shops in Canada per capita than in any other country! We can thank Tim Horton’s for this title. It is Canada’s most popular coffee and donut chain.
4. In Churchill, Manitoba, Nobody Locks Their Doors
Did you know that Canada is the Polar Bear Capital of the World? Located in the far north of Manitoba, Churchill is located in the center of Polar Bear Alley, where polar bears walk freely through the town towards Hudson Bay. Because of this fact, nobody locks the doors to their houses or cars in case of a polar bear attack. Read our Walking with Polar Bears Safari.
5. Canada Has the World’s Only Polar Bear Jail
When bears roam too close to town and refuse to leave, they are captured and put into Polar Bear Jail waiting out their sentence until the weather is good to send them out onto the frozen tundra to resume their life. They are moved far away from town and sent on their merry way.
Speaking of Hudson Bay, the area around Churchill, Manitoba, has less gravity than the rest of the world. Read more: Things to do in Churchill Manitoba – Land of the Polar Bears
6. Winnie the Pooh Has Ties to Canada
Did you know Winnie the Pooh came from Canada? The story goes that after a hunter shot a bear cub’s mother and brought the cub back to town to keep as a pet (as many people did in those days). A soldier who was on his way to Europe to fight in World War I stopped in White River, Ontario, on the train and bought the bear cub from the hunter for $20. He brought the bear with him to Europe, where it stayed in the barracks with all the soldiers becomming the platoon’s mascot.
When they were shipped off to France to fight, the soldier gave the bear to a London zoo in England, and that is where the bear lived out its life. Writer A.A. Milne frequented the zoo, and his son Christopher Robin liked the bear, giving it the nickname Pooh. Thus, Winnie the Pooh was born.” Kind of sad right?
7. Canada’s National Animal is the Beaver
The Beaver became the national symbol of Canada in 1975. It seems like a strange choice, but the beaver played a large role in Canadian history. It was the beaver that helped build the nation.
Canada was built on the fur trade, and the beaver was in high demand for its pelt. In fact, the beaver was so important to building this nation that there was a conflict in Canada called the Beaver Wars, where people fought over control of the beaver hunting grounds. So in exchange for nearly hunting them to extinction, we put them on our nickel as a thank you.
And while we are talking about the beaver, Canada issued the world’s first pictorial postage stamp in 1851 and guess what? It featured a beaver.
8. Canada uses the British English system
Another one of our confused Canadian facts is that we can’t make up our minds when it comes to spelling. Canada spells like the English, meaning we spell things like Color with a “u” Colour, and our “theaters and meters” are spelled “re” – theatre, metre. But we also often adopt the American spelling as well.
9. Canadians Put Milk in Bags
Here’s one of the more interesting facts about Canada. Yes, we really do put milk in bags. We personally don’t drink a lot of milk ourselves, but I just recently went over to a friend’s house and she still has her bagged milk in a milk container. This was the norm while growing up and 75% of Canadians still drink their milk out of a bag. I even see bagged milk at Costco!
10. Canadians Really Do Say I’m Sorry
Canadians really do Apologize a lot. We really do say I’m sorry or sorry often. If you visit Canada for an extended period of time, chances are you’ll be going home apologizing too. We actually have a law called the Apology Act. If you you express sympathy or regret. It does not, in law, constitute an express or implied admission of fault or liability by the person in connection with that matter.
11. Weird Canadian Laws
It is illegal to kill a Sasquatch in British Columbia Yes, Bigfoot is legally protected in Canada. In the 1800s, a man asked permission to kill “the Wild Man of Home Lake.” The response was a firm no, as it is illegal to shoot Mowglis (another name for Sasquatch)
Smelling bad is illegal in Canada – Anyone offending a public place with an offending smell could face 2 years in jail. This is one of those Canada facts that I can totally get on board with.
Comic books depicting a crime are illegal -This is a funny fact since we have a few ties with very popular comic books that fight crime. Wolverine is Canadian and Superman was invented by a Canuck.
Prostitution is legal in Canada – This is a weird Canadian fact because while prostitution is legal in Canada, buying a prostitute’s services is illegal. (now that’s confusing)
Interesting Facts About Canada
12. Canada Has 2 Official Languages
As you know, Canada was made up of British and French immigrants, so it is fitting that Canada has two official languages. The only officially bilingual province is Quebec, but New Brunswick also has a large Francophone population.
13. Canada’s Money is Vision-Impaired Friendly
Canadian banknotes have braille for the blind. (I thought everyone had braille on money, but only a few other countries do.)
14. Canada is the Most Educated Country in the World
I feel really proud of this Canadian fact that Canada is the most educated country in the world. More than 50% of the population has a post-secondary education. Plus, Canada has a 99% literacy rate. Not bad eh?
15. Canada Has Two National Sports
Canada has two national sports – Ice Hockey and Lacrosse. One of the least surprising facts about Canada is that we love hockey so much that is our national sport. But not many people know of Lacrosse. Lacrosse is our country’s oldest sport and has its roots in the First Nations community.
Facts About Canada – Geography and Nature
Canada’s coastline is the longest in the world. It’s hard to believe that the world’s longest coastline is in a cold country like Canada.
Canada is bordered by the Pacific Ocean, Atlantic Ocean, and Arctic Ocean, with a combined coastline of 202,000 km (125,566.691 miles).
The Trans Canada Highway #1 is the longest highway in the world at 7821 kilometers – 4860 miles. It connects the country from the Atlantic coast in Labrador to the Pacific Coast in British Columbia.
Canada has the longest street in the world—Yonge Street in Ontario is 1,896 km (1,178 mi) long. It originates in Toronto and goes north to just shy of Lake Simcoe. It has been removed from the Guinness Book of World Records, but my research wasn’t able to find a street that was longer.
16. Size Matters
Canada is the Second Largest Country in the World, With a total area of 9.985 million square kilometres. (6.204 million miles²) making it larger than the entire European Union combined.
Canada has Provinces, not States. Canada has ten provinces and 3 Territories. The Provinces of Canada are – British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, and Newfoundland and Labrador. The Canadian Territories are Yukon Territory, Northwest Territories, and Canada’s newest territory, Nunavut.
And here is a surprising fact, the southernmost point of Canada (Middle Island in Lake Erie) is actually on the same latitude as northern California. It’s no wonder Ontario has such great wines.
17. The World’s Oldest Pool of Water is in Canada
A bubbling pool of water that is the world’s oldest pool of water is 3.2 km or 2 miles below the earth, deep in a Canadian mine in Ontario. How old is said water? It is more than 2 billion years old!
18. Canada’s National Parks Are Awesome
Canada has 48 national parks and national park reserves. Plus, Canada’s national parks are massive, in fact 30 national parks in Canada are larger than many countries! Read: Best Canada National Parks – That We’ve Seen
The first national park in Canada was Banff National Park established in 1885. Three years after the first National Park in the world was established in the United States (Yellowstone National Park) Wood Buffalo National Park is the second-largest national park on earth and Nahanni National Park Reserve in the Northwest Territories is larger than many countries. Located between Alberta and the Northwest Territories it was established to allow the Wood Bison to roam freely.
10. Canada is Cold
Canada is a wonderful country, but it is cold. Luckily, we aren’t the coldest country in the world. Antarctica, Russia, and Greenland are colder. The coldest ever recorded temperature in Canada was in Snag, Yukon Territories, at -63C. That is the same temperature as Mars, so if anyone is going to settle on Mars, it will be Canadians.
20. The Maple Leaf is the Symbol of Canada
The maple leaf is definitely identified with our country. The maple leaf is prominent on our Canadian flag, however, the maple leaf was only added to our flag in 1965 with Queen Elizabeth II making the official proclamation.
21. Government of Canada Facts
Canada’s Prime Minister is Justin Trudeau. Canada works on a parliamentary system similar to the British parliament, which was inherited from England.
Canada has a Governor General in Canada. The Governor General is the federal viceregal representative of the Queen of England who is the head of state of Canada. However, it really is more of a tradition and she doesn’t have any real powers.
The federal government has five official parties. Trudeau is part of the Liberal Party currently in power, with the Conservative Party as the official opposition. The New Democratic Party (NDP), Bloc Québécois, and Green Party make up the rest of the government.
22. Toronto is Not the Capital of Canada
Toronto is not Canada’s Capital City – Canada’s Largest City is Toronto with a population of 6.97 million people – People often mistake Toronto as the capital city of Canada, however Ottawa is the Capital City of Canada.
While we are in Toronto, I must mention the PATH which is the world’s largest indoor retail space comprising a whopping 4-million square feet under the city.
23. Canada has the only walled city north of Mexico
Quebec City is one of the oldest cities in North America, dating back to 1608, when Samuel de Champlain founded it. It is the only walled city north of Mexico and was built in the 17th century when British forces captured the city.
All of these attributes helped make it a UNESCO World Heritage Site. In Fact, Quebec City and Lunenburg are the only two urban centres in North America with UNESCO World Heritage Site designations.
24. Waters and Islands of Canada
Canada has the highest tides in the world. The Bay of Fundy. houses the world’s highest tides. Located between Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, this body of water moves 100 billion tons of water through its tides twice daily.
Canada has the Largest Freshwater Island in the World – Manitoulin Island in Ontario, is the largest fresh freshwater island in the world.
Canada has Big Islands. Three of the largest islands in the world are located within Canada -Baffin Island, Victoria Island, and Ellesmere Island.
Canada has more lakes than the rest of the world combined with 20 percent of the world’s freshwater. An here’s a fun fact, if you took away the lakes of Canada, we’d only be the fourth largest country in the world. Now that’s a lot of water!
Canada has the longest freshwater beach in the world—Wasaga Beach in Ontario is located on Lake Huron. And we have the second-longest freshwater beach in the world innearby Sauble Beach. Canada’s coastline is also along many lakes.
25. Canadian Mountains
Canada has many mountain ranges, making it one of the most beautiful countries in the world. Our major mountain ranges include the Canadian Rockies, Laurentians, Coast Mountains, St. Elias Mountains, Mackenzie Mountains, and Torngat Mountains.
The highest mountain in Canada is Mount Logan at 5,959 m/ 19,551 ft. Mount Logan is the second-highest mountain in North America in the Canadian Rockies after Denali in Alaska and it is located in the Yukon.
Cool Canada Facts About Canadian Food
Canada doesn’t have much of a food identity. I would say what gives us our identity is that we have a very multicultural palette. One night we will eat Italian, then we’ll order in Thai or Korean, and others we’ll be dining Ethiopian or Indian. But there are a few things that set Canadian food apart.
26. Canada’s National Drink is the Ceasar
It’s like a Bloody Mary, but instead of tomato juice, we use Clamato Juice (A mixture of Clam Juice and Tomato Juice). Our unofficial national beer is called Molson Canadian, but a fun fact, Canada’s oldest independent brewery is Moosehead. In case you were wondering the drinking age in Canada is 19 however, Quebec, Alberta, and Manitoba let people legally drink at the age of 18.
27. Poutine is Canada’s National Dish
Take it from us, poutine is the best hangover food out there. Harvey’s (a burger chain that is delicious up here) serves great poutine and it’s vegetarian! Poutine consists of french fries and cheese curds melted in gravy.
28. Gotta Be KD (Kraft Dinner)
Canadians love mac and cheese, but we don’t call it mac and cheese, we call it Kraf Dinner. Canadians eat more Macaroni and Cheese than anyone else in the world. Gotta have KD. And Canadian people can be blamed for inventing Hawaiian Pizza.
29. Canada Produces a Lot of Maple Syrup
In 2012 the Great Canadian Maple Syrup Heist was national news when someone stole 3000 tons of maple syrup in Quebec valued at $18 million dollars. It sounds funny, but this is big business. Canada produces 80% of the world’s maple syrup.
More Fun Facts About Canada
30. Canadians love to skate
Everyone knows that Canadians are very passionate about ice hockey, but we also love to ice skate ourselves. Canada has the longest skating rink in the world located in Winnipeg, and Canada has the World’s Largest Skating rink in Ottawa on the Rideau Canal.
The village of Alert in the Northwest Territories is the northernmost permanent settlement in the world. (my sister was stationed there while in the military in the 1990s!)
31. Canadians Have Invented A Lot of Cool Stuff
A lot of Surprising things were Invented in Canada. Most people think these things were invented in America or somewhere else. But surprise, they were created in Canada!
The Telephone Was Invented in Canada. While Alexander Graham Bell wasn’t officially Canadian, he spent most of his time between Brantford Ontario, Boston Massachusetts, and Baddeck Nova Scotia. and much of his work was done at his workshop in Brantford and then later in life in Baddeck, Nova Scotia. The first phone call was made from Brantford to our home town of Paris Ontario.
Basketball was invented by Canadian, Dr. James Naismith who in 1891 defined 13 rules of the game that while teaching at a local YMCA in Springfield, Massachusetts
Superman was created by a Canadian – Canadian Joe Shuster co-created Superman with Jerry Siegel. The Daily Planet is actually based on the Toronto Star and Metropolis was modeled after Toronto.
IMAX was invented by Three Canadian filmmakers – Graeme Ferguson, Roman Kroitor and Robert Kerr in 1967.
Insulin was discovered by doctor Frederick Banting in 19921 at the University of Toronto. It was developed further by him, Charles Best, Bertram Collip and John Mcleod.
The Snowblower was invented in Canada – Okay, this one isn’t surprising. It makes sense that the snowblower was invented by a Canadian. Arthur Sicard made shoveling snow easier in 1927.
32. A Lot of People Don’t Realize These are Famous Canadians
There are a lot of famous Canadians that you probably didn’t know. We Canadians love to point out famous Canadians to other people. We always drop names in sentences to tell people that someone famous is actually Canadian.
Schitt’s Creek was created by famous Canadians, Eugene and Dan Levy, this sitcom is set and filmed in Canada. It also stars multi-talented award-winning Catherine O’Hara,
Marvel employs several famous Canadians – Simu Liu plays Shang-Chi, Evangeline Lily is the star of Ant Man and the Wasp, Ryan Reynolds is Deadpool), Ellen Page was in X-men, Cobie Smulders is in The Avengers and Rachel McAdams is in Dr. Strange)
Famous Canadian Musicians include Drake, Justin Bieber, Michael Buble, Shawn Mendes, Alanis Morisette, Avril Lavine, Sarah Mclachlan, Rush, Neil Young, Celine Dion, Shania Twain, Rush, Barenaked Ladies, Brian Adams, Leonard Cohen, Michael Bublé, The Weekend, The Guess Who.
Famous Canadian Actors: Keanu Reeves, Ryan Gosling, Jason Priestley, Ryan Reynolds, Ellen Page, Rachel McAdams, Donald and Kieffer Sutherland, Christopher Plumber, Joshua Jackson, Eugene Levy.
Famous Canadian Actresses: Sandra Oh, Anna Paquin, Pamela Anderson
Famous Canadian Comedians: Seth Rogan, Jim Carey, Mike Myers, Lorne Michaels, Howie Mandel, Martin Short, Dan Akroyd, Will Arnet. Catherine Ohara, Lorne Michaels, Samantha Bee
And those are some of our favourite facts for today. Canada is quirky, Canada is fun and Canada is weird, it’s just the way we like it!
Impressive! Thanks for the post
It is illegal to carry a product designed for personal protection against a human attack, according to the Criminal Code. This cant be a real law…
I have some relatives that migrate over there some years ago. They always have good things to say about Canada. After the pandemic, I’d take a break from business to visit Ontario or Quebec.
Wow! Canada is such an amazing place to live,cant wait to see all this amazing things after this world pandemic
I now feel really homesick. I live in the UK, I was born in the UK but my home will always be Canada. Thank you
Canada has no shortage of beautiful landscapes and unique sites for travelers to explore. The country is home to vibrant and culturally rich cities, along with incredible natural wonders. Thanks for sharing.
It really helped me to know a lot about Canada .There are many intresting facts about Canada which are new to me like Canada has more number of lakes and world largest fresh water lakes island is also situated there and most recently they legalised cannabis also.Any way most facts are intresting and i love this a lot.
Good Article i had fun reading it thanks for sharing we us.
So I hear that their air is cleaner than the United States and their subway way cleaner than the New York City subway. Is this correct? 🙂
I love this . I plan to travel here very soon
Love this article! As a fellow Canadian, it’s nice to see you included the part about the Bay Of Fundy. I live in Nova Scotia very close to the bay. it’s so nice here! If anyone gets a chance to visit, you won’t be disappointed 🙂
Well done eh!!
It was a pleasure to read this, thank you! My husband’s father is a Canadian citizen and he loves to include such facts in every discussion:) But I didn’t know even a half of things. My next visit to Canada I’ll definitely try Ceasar – with Clamato Juice.
It’s not spelled Skreech but Screech
The Trans-Canada Highway is ‘only’ 7’800 kilometres long. I think the figure in the article might be the total length of highways in the country.
I’m not quite sure what you are talking about, but the Trans Canada highway is 7,821 km. Canada is a huge country. Here are the details in Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trans-Canada_Highway
You guys make me feel so proud to be Canadian. Thanks so much for your time, energy and effort putting these facts together. I always visit your website whenever I’m planning a trip.
Missed Gordon Lightfoot as a famous entertainer.
So many interesting things about Canada. The facts about food are really funny!
What a funny fact about Canada. Smelling bad is illegal. Its so funny!
What a nice country in Canada !
These all places to visit that are great when there is come to choose one of them then I would like to choose canada is a great way to drive and more places to see.
One thing I never knew as a child growing up in New York City is Canada is possibly 10 hours or less driving by car away from the Big Apple. I once drove from Brooklyn, New York to Maine in my teenage years without making it to my final destination. I drove to Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Vermont, and New Hampshire before reaching Maine. we came into knowledge of cities in Maine such as Kittery and Kennebunkport but never got to where we originally intended, but learned that if we continued driving up the highway which I think at the time was I-95, we would’ve driven right into the Canadian border. Hopefully someday I might make it there but I’m not counting on it. 🙂