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• There are 12 time zones in the world, 12 to the East and 12 to the West of Greenwich Mean Time (GMT).
• Canada has 6 time zones, ranging from GMT-8 to GMT-3.
• Newfoundland observes GMT-3.5, a half-hour deviation.
• Newfoundland only joined the Confederation in 1948 and was a separate colony before standard time was implemented
• India, North Korea, Iran, Afghanistan, and Burma share this half-hour time zone quirk.
• The North Pole officially follows Alaska time, or GMT-9.
• The South Pole observes GMT.

Canadian Arctic Claims

• Denmark, Norway, Canada, Russia, and the USA each border the Arctic Ocean.
• These nations have exclusive economic rights extending 200 miles beyond their coastlines.
• The 200-mile zone does not include the North Pole itself, which remains contested.
• A country may legitimately claim the North Pole by scientifically proving its land shelf is connected to the pole.
• Pride and potential oil drilling rights motivate interest in claiming the North Pole.
• There's approximately a 10% chance of accessing the oil reserve.

Alaska's History

• Russia originally owned Alaska but sold it to the US in 1867 for $7.2 million (about $125 million today).
• Canada never forgave Britain for prioritizing Anglo-American relations over Canadian interests
• This related to selling Alaska to the United States.

Early Inhabitants and Explorers

• Algonquins and Iroquois were the First Nations encountered in the East.
• The Sioux were encountered further West as settlers expanded.
• "Eskimo" or Inuit were nomadic tribes of the North.
• Vikings, specifically Norwegians led by Leif Erikson in the 11th century, were the first Europeans in North America, predating the Spanish.
• Vikings traded timber to Greenland, but their colonies were short-lived due to native encounters.

Exploration Attempts

• John Cabot, in 1497, explored for England's Henry VII, seeking a route to China and cod fishing opportunities.
• Cabot established no permanent colonies and possibly did not explore beyond the beach.
• Jacques Cartier in 1534 sought a route through the Americas to the Pacific, venturing down the St. Lawrence River to Quebec City.
• Colonization under Cartier was unsuccessful because of weather and Iroquois conflicts.
• Martin Frobisher (1576) focused on a Northwest Passage to Asia but encountered Inuit.
• Frobisher went to Frobisher Bay for 3 voyages from 1576-78 but the Northwest Passage was not navigated until 1906.
• Henry Hudson discovered Hudson Bay in 1610 failing to find a Northwest Passage.
• Champlain founded Quebec City in 1608, which was a strategic placement to develop fur trade into settlements.
• French attempts at western control of Canada were thwarted due to war with Britain.
• Missionaries sent by the French struggled to convert Indigenous peoples, and the Iroquois were eventually conquered.
• French colonization was slower than British colonization

Conflict and Territorial Changes

• The French later transferred Acadia, Newfoundland, and Hudson Bay to the British.
• British naval dominance prevailed.
• Montcalm was defeated by Wolfe on the Plains of Abraham in 1759, resulting in Quebec becoming an English colony following the Seven Year War, also known as the French and Indian War.
• The separatist movement remains strong.

Population Growth

• Population in Canada included US Loyalists who preferred British rule during the American Revolution.
• British emigration, driven by unemployment and the Irish famine, increased Canada's population tenfold in 40 years during the mid-1800s.
• The War of 1812 was between the United States and the United Kingdom, with their respective allies, from June 1812 to February 1815.
• British historians often consider the war a minor theater of the Napoleonic Wars, whereas US and Canadian historians view it as a significant conflict.
• The British North America Act, or Constitution Act, 1867, united Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Canada into "one Dominion under the name of Canada".
• This allowed other British North American colonies and territories to be admitted.
• The Act divided the province of Canada into Quebec and Ontario.
• It served as Canada's constitution" until renamed the Constitution Act, 1867, and became the basis of Canada's Constitution Act of 1982.
• Authority transferred from British Parliament to the independent Canadian Parliament.
• Alberta joined Confederation on September 1, 1905.
• British Columbia joined Confederation on July 20, 1871.
• Manitoba joined Confederation on July 15, 1870.
• New Brunswick joined Confederation on July 1, 1867.
• Newfoundland joined Confederation on March 31, 1949.
• Northwest Territories joined Confederation on July 15, 1870.
• Nova Scotia joined Confederation on July 1, 1867.
• Nunavut joined Confederation on April 1, 1999.
• Ontario joined Confederation on July 1, 1867.
• Prince Edward Island joined Confederation on July 1, 1873.
• Quebec joined Confederation on July 1, 1867.
• Saskatchewan joined Confederation on September 1, 1905.
• Yukon joined Confederation on June 13, 1898.

Formation of the Dominion and Key Figures

• Fears of invasion prompted Canada to form a Dominion in 1867 which was initially Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia.
• John A. McDonald added BC, NWT and PEI, promising a railway. to build a railway.
• Chinese workers were brought in to build the railway
• The Fraser River Gold rush led to prospectors inundating Victoria displacing the Chinese workers
• A gold rush to Klondike facilitated access to Yukon and Alaska.
• 90% of Canadians live within 160 km of the southern border.

Notable Canadians

• Margaret Atwood wrote the Handmaid's Tale.
• Lieutenant-General Roméo Dallaire was Force Commander of UNAMIR, the UN peacekeeping force for Rwanda and tried prevent the Rwandan genocide.
• Measha Brueggergosman is an opera and soul artist.
• Chris Hadfield is an astronaut.
• David Suzuki hosts The Nature of Things and is an environmentalist.
• Laura Secord warned British forces of an impending American attack during the War of 1812.
• James Cameron is a film director.
• Terry Fox attempted to run across Canada to raise funds for cancer research.

Religion in Canada

• Roman Catholicism accounts for 39.0%.
• Other Christian denominations account for 28.3%.
• Non-religious individuals constitute 23.9%.
• Islam accounts for 3.2%.
• Hinduism accounts for 1.5%.
• Sikhism accounts for 1.4%.
• Buddhism accounts for 1.1%.
• Judaism accounts for 1.0%.

Canadian Food

• The Saskatoon berry gave the city of Saskatoon its name and has been a vital staple since before European settlers.
• Fish and brewis (pronounced "brews") is a traditional Newfoundland meal combining cod and hard bread.
• Jiggs dinner i.e. boiled dinner or cooked dinner is a traditional meal eaten on Sundays in the Atlantic provinces of Canada.
• The lumberjack breakfast of eggs, pork strips, slabs, slices, and flapjacks first served in a Vancouver Hotel in 1870.
• A touton is a traditional pancake commonly made in Newfoundland by frying leftover bread dough on a pan.