Climate

In Canada, the climate ranges from temperate in the south to subarctic and arctic in the northern parts of the country. In winter, temperatures fall below freezing point throughout most of Canada. During summer, the southern provinces often experience high levels of humidity and temperatures that can surpass 30 degrees Celsius regularly. Western and south-eastern Canada experience high rainfall, but the Prairies are relatively dry.

Summer thunderstorms are common throughout Canada. Occasionally, these may become severe. Tornados also occur throughout Canada, with May to September being prime months. The peak season is June and early July in southern Ontario, Alberta, southeastern Québec, and a band stretching from southern Saskatchewan and Manitoba, through to Thunder Bay. The interior of British Columbia and western New Brunswick are also tornado zones. Earth tremors occur in the western mountains. Forest fires can occur at any time, regardless of the season, particularly in the grasslands and forests of western Canada.

Geography

Covering most of the northern part of the North American continent and with an area larger than that of the United States, Canada has an extremely varied topography. In the east, the mountainous maritime provinces have an irregular coastline on the Gulf of St. Lawrence and the Atlantic. The St. Lawrence plain, covering most of southern Quebec and Ontario, and the interior continental plain, covering southern Manitoba and Saskatchewan and most of Alberta, are the principal cultivable areas. They are separated by a forested plateau rising from Lakes Superior and Huron.

Westward toward the Pacific, most of British Columbia, the Yukon, and part of western Alberta are covered by parallel mountain ranges, including the Rockies. The Pacific border of the coast range is ragged with fjords and channels. The highest point in Canada is Mount Logan (19,850 ft; 6,050 m), which is in the Yukon. The two principal river systems are the Mackenzie and the St. Lawrence. The St. Lawrence, with its tributaries, is navigable for over 1,900 mi (3,058 km).

Topography

Canada's topography is dominated by the Canadian Shield, an ice-scoured area of Precambrian rocks surrounding Hudson Bay and covering half the country. This vast region, with its store of forests, waterpower, and mineral resources, is being increasingly developed. East of the Shield is the maritime area, separated from the rest of Canada by low mountain ranges pierced by plains and river valleys, and including the island of Newfoundland and Prince Edward Island. South and southeast of the Shield are the Great Lakes–St. Lawrence lowlands, a fertile plain in the triangle bounded by the St. Lawrence River, Lake Ontario, and Georgian Bay. West of the Shield are the farmlands and ranching areas of the great central plains, some 1,300 km (800 mi) wide along the US border and tapering to about 160 km (100 mi) at the mouth of the Mackenzie River. Toward the north of this section is a series of rich mining areas, and still farther north is the Mackenzie lowland, traversed by many lakes and rivers. The westernmost region of Canada, extending from western Alberta to the Pacific Ocean, includes the Rocky Mountains, a plateau region, the coastal mountain range, and an inner sea passage separating the outer island groups from the fjord-lined coast. Mt. Logan, the highest peak in Canada, in the St. Elias Range near the Alaska border, is 5,959 m (19,551 ft) high. The Arctic islands constitute a large group extending north of the Canadian mainland to within 885 km (550 mi) of the North Pole. They vary greatly in size and topography, with mountains, plateaus, fjords, and low coastal plains.

The central Canadian Shield area is drained by the Nelson-Saskatchewan, Churchill, Severn, and Albany rivers flowing into Hudson Bay. The 4,241-km (2,635-mi) Mackenzie River—with its tributaries and three large lakes (Great Bear, Great Slave, and Athabasca)—drains an area of almost 2.6 million sq km (1 million sq mi) into the Arctic Ocean. The Columbia, Fraser, and Yukon rivers are the principal drainage systems of British Columbia and the Yukon Territory. The Great Lakes drain into the broad St. Lawrence River, which flows into the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Other rivers flow laterally from the interior into Hudson Bay or the Atlantic or Pacific ocean.

Family

Marriage. Except for some ethnic sectors, marriages are freely chosen by the two partners. Marriage is restricted to the union of a man and a woman by statute, although this is currently under review by the country's courts. Official marriages, officiated by either religious authorities or by municipal clerks or judges, must be dissolved by the legal procedure of divorce.

A second form of marriage, the de facto or common-law union, gives the couple almost all the same privileges and obligations as official marriage. Common-law union is a matter of informal declaration by the partners. Common-law conjugal recognition has recently been extended to include same-sex partners. The dissolution of common-law unions or same-sex partnerships requires no special legal proceedings, although resolution of shared property rights and support responsibilities arising from the union often require legal intervention and enforcement.

In both cases, the marriage union involves mutuality of financial support, some degree of joint ownership of property, and joint responsibility for the care and support of children. Under Canadian law, all marriages must be monogamous. The de facto or common-law union is considered to be annulled should either partner take on a new conjugal partnership.

Marriages are most often celebrated privately between the two families involved. There is, however, an interesting rural/urban distinction. Engagement or marriage celebrations in smaller communities are often community events at which anyone may attend, usually for a small fee.

Domestic Unit. The most common domestic unit is the nuclear family, made up of both parents and their children. Almost all newlywed couples start their own family unit independent of their parents. A demographic shift, which has seen a slow and steady increase in the number of elderly in Canada, has led to an increase in the number of domestic units in which one or more elderly relative can also be present. Increases in rate of divorce since the 1970s has also meant an increase in the number of single-parent households, most often headed by women.

Authority in domestic units is generally shared by adult members, though men most often exercise more power in financial and disciplinary matters than their female partners.

Inheritance. Inheritance radiates outward from the nuclear family to more distance relatives, with members of the immediate nuclear family taking precedence. All manner of property, as well as most if not all of a deceased person's debt, can be inherited. There are no gender differences in what can be bequeathed and what can be inherited, although in rural communities and areas there is a tendency for male children to inherit land, while female children inherit more liquid forms of property. In most instances, spouses take precedence over children in matters of inheritance. All inheritances can be contested through legal proceedings.

Kin Groups. Allowing for some ethnic variation, in general, kinship is a dispersed system of relatedness in Canada, and while there are general expectations of mutual support along kin lines, levels of which diminish with kin distance, there are no formal rules of kinship observance, other than those statutory prohibitions against marrying close kin, or criminal code provisions regarding incest. Kinship does not determine residence, though kin networks are often used to gain access to employment.

Education

In Canada, the provinces and territories are responsible for education so there is no national department of education. The mandatory school age ranges from 5-7 to 16-18. Adult literacy rate is at 99%.

Postsecondary education is the responsibility of the provincial and territorial governments and the federal government provides additional funding through research grants. All schools—universities, colleges, technical schools, community colleges and private career colleges—set their own admission requirements. Accreditation applies to programs of study rather than institutions, both of which are of consistent high quality.

Canada offers a huge number of options in terms of higher education and there are universities spread out across this vast country. University programs range from fine art, biology and commerce to astronomy, media studies and religion. Canadian degrees are globally recognized and considered equivalent to those from American and other Commonwealth universities.

More than 1.2 million Canadians are enrolled in full-time or part-time postsecondary programs at universities and colleges. In the fall of 2002, the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada reported an estimated 684,000 full-time and 271,000 part-time students enrolled in Canadian universities. According to the Association of Canadian Community Colleges, almost 2.5 million students were enrolled in postsecondary programs in Canadian colleges and related institutions in 2001–02 — 900,000 full-time and 1.5 million part-time.

Enrolments among students over the age of 24 years have declined in recent years and made up about 29% of university enrolments in undergraduate programs in 2000–01, down from almost 32% three years before. Reductions in enrolments of part-time students have been particularly marked. Women continue to be the majority on both university and college campuses at 59% of undergraduates in 2000–01. They account for 51% of students in master's programs and about 46% of those at the doctoral level.

Canada gets a “B” and ranks 4th out of 14 countries on the percentage of adults scoring high on adult literacy rate tests.

Political System

The political system of Canada has federal system of Parliament with serious democratic values embedded into its functioning. The system has its roots in the Westminster Parliament of the United Kingdom, which has brought some alternations and revisions to it. If compared with the United Kingdom’s system in terms of values and discipline, Canadian political system is far better, stronger and responsive. This is because the democratic values are well preserved and implemented with the help of confidence voting system. Thus the members of the parliament remain quite out of the democratic scenario.

The political system of Canada came into recognition with the initiative taken by the British government. The British government established a recognized governing system in 1867,especially for the countries that had self-governments gearing them up to play the desired role, in order to bring regulations and political stability to the country. Today, Canada is heading towards the attainment complete constitutional democracy.

Political Structure

Canada's legal framework is completely governed by its constitution. The federal government and the governments of nine provinces agreed to patriation of the constitution, with procedures for amending it (1981). Quebec did not agree to the changes and thus Quebec nationalists refer to the night as the Night of Long Knives.

The head of Canadian government is the Prime Minister, who in practice belongs to the leader of the political party able to command a majority of the House of Commons. The governor general and confirmed by a vote of confidence in the Commons formally appoints the Prime Minister. The Prime Minister, once elected, appoints the Cabinet from the members of his party in both legislative houses. The prime minister and cabinet, all of whom are sworn into the Privy Council of Canada (and become ministers of the Crown), exercise executive power.

The legislative branch is comprised of two houses, the elected House of Commons and the appointed Senate. Members of the Commons are elected by "simple plurality" in one electoral district; the governor general calls elections when the prime minister advises so, and must occur at least every five years. The Senate members are chosen by the prime minister and appointed by the governor general; they serve until age 75.

The judicial branch is vital to the Canadian government for interpreting laws. The judiciary has the power to strike down any laws that violate the constitution in its opinion. The Supreme Court of Canada is the nation's highest court and final arbiter. All judges are the superiors, appellate and Supreme Court levels are selected and appointed by the federal government, after consultation with non-governmental legal bodies.

The nation is governed by common law except for in Quebec, where civil law predominates. Criminal law is solely a federal responsibility and is uniform throughout Canada. Law enforcement, including criminal courts, is a provincial responsibility, but in most provinces policing is contracted to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP). The RCMP is the only police force in the world to perform three different levels of enforcement: municipal, provincial, and federal.

* Prominent Figures Governor General: Michalle Jean

* Prime Minister: Stephen Harper

* Deputy Prime Ministers: None currently appointed

* Governor, Bank of Canada: David Dodge

Political parties

Provincial/Territorial Parties:

• Alberta

• British Columbia

• Manitoba

• New Brunswick

• Newfoundland and Labrador

• Northwest Territories

• Nova Scotia

• Nunavut

• Ontario

• Prince Edward Island

• Quebec

• Saskatchewan

• Yukon

Role of local government

Local government plays a significant role in the everyday lives of Canadians. This feature provides an introduction to the organization and institutions of local government. In particular, it offers a general discussion of what local governments are and their relationship to other levels of government in Canada.

RELIGION

Religious Beliefs. Religious affiliation is more prevalent than religious observance, though this varies by ethnic and religious group. Most Canadians claim some religious affiliation, most often Christian, although between the 1981 and 1991 census periods, the number of people claiming no religious affiliation has almost doubled from about 1.7 million to a little under 3.4 million. Nevertheless, there are significant practitioners of all the major world religions in Canada. Officially, Canada is a Christian nation, with respect for the Christian God enshrined in statute. Swearing on the Bible, for example, is part of most legal proceedings, though nonsecular alternatives are also practiced. Prayers open many official functions.

Personal religious observance has declined in the last several decades, a phenomenon similar to that found in most industrialized countries. This appears to be mostly a Christian phenomenon. Often new Canadians will make special efforts to maintain their religious observances as part of the process of retaining their original ethnic or cultural identity. Some religious groups have grown in membership, such as those associated with evangelical Christianity, but overall the trend in Canada has been toward increasing secularism in public and in private lives. An exception is the increase in the observance of traditional religious practices among First Nations peoples in recent decades, which should be seen both as a spiritual revitalization and as part of the historic process of reasserting their ethnic and political identities in Canada.

Religious Practitioners. Most religious officials are associated with the mainstream world religions, although there are some ethnic differences. For example, specialist religious practitioners such as healers are common in Portuguese communities such as the one in Toronto. With changes in migration patterns, important religious practitioners associated with non-world religions, such as local religious traditions found among different people from Africa, are becoming common. Excepting those religious practitioners who function for political bodies, such as the chaplain of the federal parliament, religious practitioners in general have authority in, and serve the needs of, only their own locally defined communities.

One exception is the increasing importance of First Nations spiritual leaders, who also serve as political leaders in their communities. These practitioners are often directly involved in negotiations with the wider Canadian community, and their spiritual and political roles are indivisible.

Rituals and Holy Places. There is too much religious diversity throughout Canada to make any general observations on rituals and sacred sites. Churches of many types are important locales in almost all communities, not only to practitioners of the particular religion, but also as community centers and bases of operation in community emergencies. In both large and small communities, churches are often the site of community activism and the provision of community services, such as shelter for homeless people. While religion might be said to play less and less of a role in the cultural life of Canada, religious institutions and practitioners play significant roles in nonspiritual aspects of community life.

Death and the Afterlife. The majority of Canadians believe in the Christian model of the afterlife, of heaven and of hell. Burial practices vary by religious group, but for the most part funeral and burial observances are the responsibility of the deceased's family. Funerals are both private functions, attended by family and friends, and public, as in the funeral procession from a church to a burial site. The funerals of important political or cultural figures may be televised.