Why does Canada speak both English and French? Why is Canada’s head of state the King of the United Kingdom? Why didn’t Canada become part of the United States when the rest of Britainโs North American colonies rebelled?
Canada is one of the largest countries on Earth. It stretches from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific, and all the way north to the Arctic. It has one of the world’s wealthiest economies, consistently ranks among the best places to live, and is often seen as one of the most multicultural societies in the world. Every year, hundreds of thousands of people choose to make Canada their new home.
The history of Canada is fascinating. Indigenous peoples lived there for thousands of years before Europeans arrived. It was claimed and settled by both France and Britain. It developed differently from its neighbour the United States and gradually evolved into an independent country while still having a close relationship with the British Crown.
So, in today’s episode, we’re going to explore how Canada was formed, why English and French coexist, how Canada developed its unique relationship with Britain, and the biggest challenges shaping Canada’s future.
And we will do all of this while practicing your English listening comprehension and learning some new vocabulary.
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Vocabulary
- Indigenous (adj): belonging to the original inhabitants of a place before outsiders arrived
- Indigenous communities have lived in Canada for thousands of years
- loyal (adj): continuing to support a person, country, or organisation
- Many Canadians remained loyal to the British Crown during the American Revolution.
- official language (n phr): a language that is legally recognised by a government
- English and French are Canada’s two official languages.
- sovereign (adj): completely independent and able to govern itself
- Canada is a sovereign country, even though it shares a monarch with the UK.
- multiculturalism (n): the idea or policy that different cultures should be respected and encouraged within one society
- Canada is well known for its policy of multiculturalism.
- immigration (n): the process of moving to another country to live permanently
- Immigration has played a major role in Canada’s population growth.
- identity (n): the characteristics, history, and culture that define a person, group, or country
- Canada’s national identity has been shaped by Indigenous peoples, French and British history, and immigration.
Canada Before Europe
Who was living in Canada before the Europeans arrived?
For thousands of years before any European ships crossed the Atlantic, the land we now call Canada was already home to people.
Today, indigenous peoples in Canada are generally grouped into three [00:04:00] categories: First Nations, Inuit, and the Mรฉtis.
The First Nations include hundreds of different nations spread across southern Canada. They spoke dozens of languages and lived in many different ways, depending on their environment.
On the Pacific Coast, some communities relied on fishing and built wooden longhouses. Across the Great Plains, some nations followed the migration of the bison. In the eastern forests, some farmed crops like corn or beans and squash, and they also hunted and traded.
Further north lived the Inuit, whose communities adapted to perhaps the harshest environment on Earth… the Arctic Circle. Instead of farming, the Inuit needed to depend on hunting. They hunted seals and whales and caribou. They also fished in the [00:05:00] ocean.
The Mรฉtis are different. They emerged later, during the period of European colonization. The Mรฉtis are a group of people which have both indigenous and European ancestry, particularly French ancestry. Over time, they have made their own language called Michif. I probably pronounced that wrong.
These peoples, these indigenous peoples, were not primitive societies, isolated societies. They were connected. They had trade routes that stretched for thousands of kilometers.
This is a really important point because older history books often describe Europeans as discovering North America. But from the perspective of the people living there already, there was nothing to discover.
However, the encounter, the meeting, between indigenous peoples and European [00:06:00] explorers changed the Americas forever. Diseases such as smallpox, which were introduced by Europeans, sometimes accidentally, sometimes on purpose, spread through indigenous communities. These communities had no immunity. They were not protected against European diseases, and enormous numbers of people died.
In fact, many populations in Canada and other parts of the Americas had completely collapsed and disappeared before Europeans even managed to make towns or cities.
As European colonies expanded over the following centuries, more and more indigenous peoples were displaced, kicked out of their lands, and their independence was taken away from them.
New France
The first Europeans to explore the region of modern-day Canada extensively were fishermen, usually from countries like England, France, and Portugal. It was the [00:07:00] French who went on to establish the first colonies.
In 1534, the French explorer Jacques Cartier sailed into the Gulf of Saint Lawrence. During his voyages, he claimed the land for the French king, and he made contact with some of the indigenous peoples living along the river.
Cartier actually heard the local word kanata, meaning village or settlement. Europeans started to use this word, kanata, to refer to the surrounding region. And eventually, it became the name of the entire country, Canada.
In 1608, another French explorer, Samuel de Champlain, founded the city of Quebec. Champlain wanted to build a permanent colony, and this settlement, Quebec, became the center of New France. New France was France’s North [00:08:00] American empire.
For the next century, century and a half, French settlers slowly expanded along the St. Lawrence River. They created an economy based on fur, animal skins. Wealthy Europeans loved fashionable hats made from beaver fur particularly.
French traders realized they could make a really good income from the fur trade. They worked with many indigenous nations, swapping European goods for furs.
Unlike Britain’s colonies further south, New France never attracted an enormous number of settlers. It was cold. It had less economic opportunities. There wasn’t as much farm ground or interesting places to set up towns.
By the middle of the 18th century, only around 70,000 French settlers lived in New France. [00:09:00] Compare this with the over a million people living in Britain’s American colonies.
British Rule
Britain and France were fierce rivals at this time.
Their rivalry eventually resulted in the Seven Years’ War. This is a conflict sometimes described as the first true global war. It was fought across Europe, Asia, Africa, and North America.
The British defeated the French in North America, and the Treaty of Paris officially transferred New France to British control.
Suddenly, Britain found itself governing, controlling, 70,000 French-speaking Catholics, who had their own language, law system, and culture.
Britain, of course, was an English-speaking Protestant country at this time. But, instead of forcing these French-speaking Catholics to abandon their [00:10:00] culture, Britain made a pragmatic decision, kind of surprising really.
The Quebec Act of 1774 allowed French Canadians to continue speaking French, continue being Catholic, and also continue using French civil law in their daily life.
Just two years after this, Britain’s 13 American colonies began their revolution. Most people in Quebec remained loyal to the British Empire rather than joining the American rebels further south. Britain had treated them relatively well and let them keep their culture.
In the USA, or what would become the USA, the religion was predominantly Protestant and quite strict in their Christianity. They were English-speaking in majority, and there was no guarantee they would let Quebec remain a French-speaking Catholic [00:11:00] province.
French-speaking communities grew in Quebec. Today, around one in five Canadians speak French as their first language, and Quebec remains one of the largest French-speaking places anywhere in the world. Quebec has a unique variety of French that has developed separately from the language spoken in modern France.
Loyalists And Bilingual Canada
Let’s go back to the end of the Seven Years’ War.
Britain had defeated France and taken control of New France. The population there was still mostly French-speaking, especially along the Saint Lawrence River.
So how did English eventually become the dominant language across Canada?
Well, just over 10 years after Britain conquered New France, the American Revolution broke out in Britain’s North American colonies. In 1776, 13 [00:12:00] British colonies declared their independence. They were arguing that they should no longer be ruled by Britain. After years of fighting, the rebels succeeded. They created the United States of America.
You can listen to my episode about this that I released at the beginning of July, maybe three or four weeks ago.
But not everyone living in the new United States supported the revolution. Many people there remained loyal to the British Crown. Once the US became independent, those loyal people decided to leave the new United States. And many of these people headed north.
Tens of thousands of English-speaking Loyalists, people loyal to Britain, settled in other parts of British North America. They particularly moved to what is now Ontario, New Brunswick, and Nova [00:13:00] Scotia.
So this meant there were now large English-speaking communities living alongside French-speaking Canadians.
Britain also encouraged further immigration from the British Isles. Throughout the 19th century, people arrived from England, Scotland, Ireland, and Wales.
One of the most significant migrations came during the Irish potato famine of the 1840s. Hundreds of thousands of Irish immigrants crossed the Atlantic, and many of these people settled in Canada.
Canada’s population was really diverse, especially by the standards of the time. There were the indigenous nations who still had a large amount of territory. There were French-speaking Canadians who were the descendants of the settlers of New France. And there were the English-speaking communities from across Britain. And also an increasing number of immigrants from other parts of Europe, [00:14:00] too.
Rather than forcing everyone to adopt a single language or culture, Canada gradually recognized that multiple cultures could exist in one place. They recognized that both English and French could be used as languages.
And today, both English and French are the official languages of Canada at the federal level. That means Canadians have the right to communicate with the federal government, the national government, in either language. And their official documents, like passports or parliamentary debates, are available in both languages.
This doesn’t mean Canada is fully bilingual or everyone in Canada is bilingual.
Quebec is overwhelmingly French-speaking, and protecting the French language is a really big part of Quebec’s identity. Quebec has introduced laws [00:15:00] to ensure that French is the dominant language in schools, businesses, and public life.
Most other provinces are primarily English-speaking, although there might be French-speaking communities. New Brunswick is Canada’s only officially bilingual province, where English and French have equal legal status.
Also, more than 70 indigenous languages are spoken across Canada. Some of these are spoken by a lot of people. For example, in the northern Canadian province of Nunavut, or territory of Nunavut, 80% of the population speaks a language called Inuktitut, which is an Inuit language.
It’s important to know that Canada has different languages because I was talking to someone recently, one of my Patreon subscribers, who mentioned that they had gone to Canada with the intention of studying and improving their English, but they went [00:16:00] to Montreal. Montreal is in Quebec, and Montreal is a French-speaking city.
Although you could probably use English and there will be lots of bilingual people, the major language there is French, not English. So it’s important to know if you’re visiting Canada, are you going to an English-speaking place or a French-speaking place?
Why Not USA
I think a really interesting and relevant question about Canada is why isn’t Canada part of the United States?
Trump has made comments about Canada becoming part of the US in the past, the 51st state, but why isn’t it already? They share the world’s longest international border. The two countries have similar cultures, similar economies, and similar histories. They were both former British colonies. So why are they not one country?
Well, as I mentioned earlier, thousands of [00:17:00] loyalists fled the United States because they supported Britain. They moved north to the area that is now Canada because they wanted to be British subjects. They did not want to be Americans.
French-speaking Canadians also had their own reasons for staying loyal. The American revolutionaries were English-speaking Protestants. French Canadians were not convinced that joining the revolution would be good for them, whereas Britain had promised they could continue being Catholic and speaking French.
In 1775, American forces invaded Quebec. The aim was to take control of the province of Quebec and persuade French Canadians to join the revolution. The invasion failed, and Canada stayed British.
40 years later was the War of 1812. The United States declared war on Britain, [00:18:00] and one of its major goals was invading British North America. Some politicians in the US believed that conquering Canada would be easy. But they were wrong.
British soldiers and the Canadian militia resisted invasion. For over two years, they continued fighting, but no one achieved a clear victory. Peace was finally agreed in 1814, and the border since then has remained almost exactly the same.
The War of 1812 became a really important moment in Canadian history because it was a demonstration that British North America was not the United States. And would never be part of the United States.
Confederation To Independence
Canada wasn’t an independent country, though. Canada was still governed by Britain. And actually, Canada wasn’t really Canada. It was a set of provinces and [00:19:00] colonies stretched across North America.
Over the 19th century, that began to change. Britain gradually gave colonies more freedom to govern themselves, and then some different problems encouraged provinces and colonies to work together.
One problem was the railways. They wanted to build railways across Canada, and this required colonies working together. There were also concerns about whether the US was going to try and invade again after the Civil War in the middle of the 19th century.
In 1867, four colonies, Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick, joined together to form the Dominion of Canada. This moment is known as Confederation. Although Canada was part of the British Empire, it now had its own parliament and could govern itself [00:20:00] in almost all domestic matters.
Over the following decades, more provinces and territories joined the Federation. These are the territories in the north and in the west of the country. Even after Confederation, though, Britain still had some power over parts of Canadian life and the Canadian government.
Canada signed the Statute of Westminster in 1931, which gave it almost complete independence legally from Britain. Then, in 1982, Canada took the final constitutional step by taking the British Constitution and moving it into Canada. From 1982 onwards, the British Parliament no longer had any authority to make laws for Canada. Canada was now in control of its constitution.
Canada And The Monarchy
But, [00:21:00] Canada still has a king. And their king is King Charles, the same king as the United Kingdom has.
When a new government is formed in Canada, the Prime Minister is invited to form a government by the Governor General, who is the representative of the King. Canadian passports mention the King. New members of Parliament swear an oath to the King. And some Canadian money has the King’s portrait on.
There is something important here, though. The King of the United Kingdom is not the King of Canada. The King of the United Kingdom is also the King of Canada. He has separate jobs.
When King Charles III performs his duties in Britain, he is the King of the United Kingdom. But when he performs duties related to Canada, he is the King of Canada, and he follows the advice of the Canadian prime minister. He has two completely separate roles. In fact, he has more roles. He’s [00:22:00] also the king of Australia and New Zealand and other places, too.
Britain cannot tell Canada what to do. The British Parliament has no power over Canadian laws. The British prime minister has no role in the Canadian government. Canada is completely sovereign. But they have a king, and that king happens to also be the King of England.
What does the king actually do, though?
In practice, not really anything.
Like the British monarch, Canada’s monarch is almost entirely a ceremonial figure. The day-to-day running of the country is carried out by elected politicians led by a prime minister. The monarch, the King’s, responsibilities include opening Parliament, appointing governors, and giving assent to new laws, giving their permission for new laws to be made.
In Canada, these roles are usually performed by the [00:23:00] governor general, the King’s representative in Canada, and they are mainly ceremonial. For example, a bill passed by Canada’s Parliament does not become law officially until it receives Royal Assent, permission from the King.
This is always a formality. The governor general acts according to the advice of Canada’s elected government. So if the government wants something, the King will do it.
Canada’s political system is therefore very similar to Britain’s. Both countries use the Westminster parliamentary system. This is where voters elect members of Parliament, and the leader of the largest party in Parliament usually is the prime minister, and the King is politically neutral.
Not everyone thinks Canada should be a monarchy. Some Canadians see it as a outdated thing. Why should an independent country like Canada have a monarch [00:24:00] who lives thousands of kilometers away in London and rarely visits Canada? They believe that Canada should become a republic with its own Canadian head of state.
This debate does receive attention from time to time in Canada, but it isn’t a issue that dominates Canadian politics. People tend to care more about healthcare, housing, immigration, the economy. The royal family doesn’t really matter to most voters.
Immigration Multicultural Identity
Today, Canada sees itself as a country built through immigration. It doesn’t necessarily see itself as a former British or former French colony. That’s not what its identity is.
For example, nearly one in four Canadians right now were born in another country. This is one of the highest proportions anywhere in the world. 25% of Canada was not born in Canada. It has one of the highest immigration rates in the Western world.
If you walk through [00:25:00] Toronto or Vancouver, you will find neighborhoods of Chinese, Indian, Filipino, Italian, Caribbean, Middle Eastern, African, and Latin American communities.
This diversity is not an accident. Canada has always been a nation of immigration. Originally, the immigration policies in Canada favored British people, and then people from Northern Europe.
In some cases, they actually restricted immigration from other parts of the world. An infamous example is the Chinese Head Tax, which was introduced in the late 19th century to discourage Chinese immigration. Even though thousands of Chinese workers had helped build Canada’s railways, the government didn’t want them to stay living there.
From the 1960s onwards, though, Canada transformed its immigration system. It has a points-based immigration [00:26:00] system. They award points to potential immigrants based on factors like education, work experience, language ability, and professional skills. The goal was to attract talented people who could contribute to Canada’s economy.
Many of Canada’s largest immigrant communities now come from countries like India, China, the Philippines, Nigeria, Pakistan, and many others. Canada is one of the most ethnically and culturally diverse societies in the world.
Alongside immigration, Canada has also followed a policy of multiculturalism. Canada officially encourages people to keep their own cultural heritage and their own languages while becoming Canadian.
Of course, people continue to question whether this is a successful policy. Is [00:27:00] multiculturalism successful really? But it is one of the country’s most important and most defining values.
Economy And Modern Challenges
Economically, Canada is also one of the world’s wealthiest nations. It has a lot of natural resources. It produces oil, natural gas, timber, minerals, agricultural products. It is one of the world’s largest exporters of wheat, potash, and uranium. And Alberta’s oil sands contain some of the largest oil reserves on Earth.
Cities like Toronto are major financial centers. Montreal has become a place recognized for its aerospace and artificial intelligence industries. Vancouver is a place of technology and film production and international trade with Asia.
Because Canada shares a long border with the United States, the two countries’ economies are [00:28:00] interconnected. Every day, billions of dollars of goods and services cross the border. Canada is the largest trading partner of the United States by far.
Internationally, Canada has a reputation as a stable democracy and as a middle power.
There are a lot of challenges in Canada, though.
Housing is really expensive. The cost of living has risen sharply. Indigenous communities continue to seek justice for the horrific and historic abuses they suffered. And there are now many debates over immigration, identity, climate change, and economic growth.โ
Final Thought
What might Canada look like in another 50 years?
One possibility is that it becomes even more diverse. Canada’s population will keep growing, largely because of [00:29:00] immigration. But whether Canada will be successful depends on if it can build enough homes, schools, infrastructure to support population growth. Immigration has definitely been one of Canada’s strengths, but it can only continue being a strength if Canada can offer a high quality of life to everyone.
Climate change will also really influence Canada’s future. It’s one of the world’s largest countries and has really been affected by climate change already.
Temperatures are rising. There are more wildfires, changing weather patterns. Canada also has the Arctic, which could really change due to climate change.
Another important question is about what it means to be Canada. For much of its history, Canada has defined itself through its relationship with France and Britain and now maybe perhaps with the [00:30:00] United States.
Modern Canada is indigenous. It is French-speaking. It is English-speaking. It’s multicultural. It is a country of immigration from almost every place on Earth. Canada’s identity is not based on a single history or a single language or a single ethnicity. It is the idea that many different identities can exist within the same country.
Can this continue? Can Canada continue protecting French while also having English as its main language? Can it remain open to immigration? Can it balance its economic growth with environmental responsibility?
These are really difficult questions, and there are no easy answers.
But what do you think? What do you think about Canada? Have you ever visited Canada? Do you want to visit? Let me know what people in your country think about Canada. Do you have any [00:31:00] stereotypes about Canada?
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