About Canada

On July 1, 1867, Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia formed a confederation. The British North America Act (BNA) officially declared Canada a country. We celebrate Canada's national day on July 1st as Canada Day. In 1965, we adopted the red and white flag with the maple leaf as our official flag.

Canada is the second largest country in the world with 10 million square kilometers of landmass. The country has a population of approximately 30 million people -- only one-tenth the population of the United States. Three oceans border our vast country: the Atlantic, the Pacific and the Arctic. Due to Canada's size, it is made up of many different geographical areas and regions. We divide these into the following: the Atlantic Region, Central Canada, the Prairie Provinces, the West Coast and the North. Politically we have divided the country into 10 provinces and 3 territories, each possessing its own capital. The national capital of Canada is Ottawa.

Canada is one the leading G-7 Nations. It is a highly developed country with excellent working conditions, an outstanding education system, a very high standard of living, and a health care system ranked one of the best in the world.

Canada is a country composed of immigrants from practically every country in the world. Canada's success is largely due to the contributions made by these immigrants. Each year, Canada welcomes more than 200,000 new immigrants. The diversified backgrounds and cultures are what make Canada unique. Multiculturalism is promoted by both the federal and provincial governments to help maintain this unique "melting pot".

Regardless of where you came from, once you are a permanent resident, you have all the rights of a Canadian citizen. These rights are protected under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Should you wish to become a citizen, you can do so after you have lived in Canada for three years. As a Canadian citizen, you can apply for a Canadian passport and you are eligible to vote.

Canadian politics
 

Canada is an independent constitutional monarchy and has three tiers of government: federal, provincial, and municipal.

England's Queen Elizabeth II is still Canada's head of state, and until 1982 Canada could not make any changes to its constitution without the approval of the British government. Then in 1982, the Constitution Act came into effect, which allowed Canada to make constitutional changes without approval from the British government. We made the Charter of Rights and Freedoms part of the Constitution in 1982. The Official language Act protects English and French, the two official languages in Canada.

The political party with the most elected members forms the federal government and its leader becomes the Prime Minister. The party with a second largest number of elected members becomes official opposition, and its role is to offer constructive criticism to the government.

The four main political parties are:
The Liberal Party
The Progressive Conservative Party
The New Democratic Party
The Canadian Alliance

The federal government is based in the capital city of Ottawa.

Geography

Canada has 10 provinces and 3 territories. These include:

Provinces: 1. New Foundland 2. Nova Scotia 3. New Brunswick 4. Prince Edward Island 5. Quebec 6. Ontario 7. Manitoba 8. Saskatchewan 9. Alberta 10. British Columbia

Territories: 1. Yukon 2. Nunavit 3. Northwestern Territories

The Justice System

The violent crime rate in Canada is among the lowest in the world, and continues to steadily decline, year after year.

As a citizen or a permanent resident, you have equal access to the justice system. The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms guarantees fundamental freedoms, legal rights and equality under the law to every resident.

 

Health Care

Canada has one of the world's best health care systems. Every citizen and permanent resident is covered by the insurance plan of the province in which he or she resides. The health plan is funded by tax measures and provides one of the world's best-quality essential health services, including doctor's fees, hospital charges and, in many cases, prescription drugs.

 

Quality of Education

Canada offers free primary and secondary education and subsidized post-secondary studies. Every child must attend school until the age of 16-17 years of age. Ninety-five percent of Canada's children go to the public schools, which are free. Students are assigned to a public school according to where they live. The education system is funded primarily by the provinces. And Canada spends more on education than any other industrialized nation on the planet.

 

Social services

Canada is a welfare state. This means that the government takes care of its citizen's basic social services. These services are funded by taxes collected by the various levels of government.

Some of these social services include:  

Business and industry 

Canadian Immigration

Throughout the world, Canada is known as a prosperous and strong nation valued for its stability, respect for diversity and democratic institutions. With a huge landmass, a relatively small population and abundant natural resources, it has prospered to the point where a recent United Nations study lists it as the best place in the world to live. This is why Canada has recently become the destination of choice for many of the world's immigrants.
Under the new Immigration Act enacted on June 28, 2002 many occupations that could not qualify under the previous legislation are now able to qualify e.g. Doctors, Dentists, Teachers, Nurses, Lawyers, Managers, all other professional and technical occupations, skilled trades. Unmarried live-in couples are now recognized and may apply for Permanent Residence. The Canadian Government lowered the pass mark to 67 points on September 18, 2003. However, according to the present Immigration Act and its Regulations, the Minister of Immigration can change the pass mark at any time, without notice. The Government is planning for continuous increases in the number of new immigrants each year until 10% of Canada's population or 325,000 immigrants are admitted to Canada annually in five years time. This would represent an annual increase of 100,000 new permanent residents over current immigration levels. On a per capita basis, this level of immigration ranks among the highest in the world. The Canadian government has announced its targets for Canadian immigration in 2008 and the minister of citizenship and immigration says the country expects to welcome between 240,000 and 265,000 new immigrants.

"Our government believes that immigration plays an important role in building our communities and growing our economy," Diane Finley said.

"The immigration targets tabled today will help ensure that Canada continues to grow and benefit from all that newcomers and their families bring to our country," she added.

The government's long-term immigration plan includes the Canadian Experience Class for certain skilled temporary workers and international students with Canadian degrees and Canadian work experience. This will be implemented next year, meaning individuals meeting specific criteria will be able to apply for permanent resident status from within Canada.

Immigration representatives

In accordance with the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations, CIC only recognizes representatives who are members of

1. a Canadian provincial or territorial law society,

2. the Canadian Society of Immigration Consultants (CSIC) or

3. the Chambre des notaires du Québec.

No other representative may charge a fee in relation to an application or proceeding, be it inland or overseas, before the Minister or an officer, or before the Immigration Refugee Board. Applications to CIC submitted by other representatives who charge a fee will not be processed and will be returned to the applicant.

 

Canadian Society of Immigration Consultants (CSIC)