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• Canada is a constitutional monarchy, a parliamentary democracy, and a federal state
• Canadians are bound together by a shared commitment to the rule of law and to the institutions of parliamentary government
• Immigrants between the ages of 18 and 54 must have adequate knowledge of English or French to become Canadian citizens
• Citizenship test requirements include knowledge of Canada, rights and responsibilities of citizenship, and adequate knowledge of English or French
• Rights of Canadian citizens include freedom of conscience, religion, thought, belief, opinion, expression, peaceful assembly, and association
• Habeas corpus, the right to challenge unlawful detention by the state, comes from English common law
• The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms guarantees mobility rights, Aboriginal peoples' rights, official language rights, minority language educational rights, and multiculturalism
• In Canada, men and women are equal under the law
• Citizenship responsibilities in Canada include obeying the law, taking responsibility for oneself and family, serving on a jury, voting in elections, helping others in the community, and protecting and enjoying the heritage and environment
• Canada is a constitutional monarchy, the only one in North America, upholding a commitment to Peace, Order, and Good Government
• Canada's oldest continuous constitutional tradition in the world includes a belief in ordered liberty, enterprise, hard work, and fair play
• To understand Canadian identity, it's important to know about the three founding peoples: Aboriginal, French, and British
• Territorial rights were first guaranteed through the Royal Proclamation of 1763 by King George III
• From the 1800s until the 1980s, the federal government placed many Aboriginal children in poorly funded residential schools to assimilate them into mainstream Canadian culture
• In 2008, Ottawa formally apologized to the former students of residential schools
• Today, Aboriginal peoples in Canada enjoy renewed pride and confidence and have made significant achievements in agriculture, the environment, business, and the arts
• Aboriginal peoples in Canada are divided into three distinct groups: Indian, First Nations, and Métis
• Inuit people live in small, scattered communities across the Arctic and have adapted to one of the harshest environments on earth
• Métis are a distinct people of mixed Aboriginal and European ancestry, mainly living in the Prairie provinces
• English and French define the reality of day-to-day life for most people in Canada and are the country's official languages
• There are 18 million Anglophones and seven million Francophones in Canada
• The Acadians are descendants of French colonists who began settling in the Maritime provinces in 1604
• Quebecers are the people of Quebec, the vast majority being French-speaking
• Canada is often referred to as a land of immigrants, with many ethnic and religious groups living and working in peace as proud Canadians
• The largest religious affiliation in Canada is Catholic, followed by various Protestant churches
• The state in Canada traditionally partners with faith communities to promote social welfare, harmony, and mutual respect
• The Quebec Act of 1774 accommodated the principles of British institutions to the reality of the province, allowing religious freedom for Catholics and permitting them to hold public office
• More than 40,000 Loyalists fled the American Revolution to settle in Nova Scotia and Quebec, coming from various origins and religious backgrounds
• Democratic institutions in Canada developed gradually and peacefully, with the first representative assembly elected in Halifax, Nova Scotia, in 1758
• The Constitutional Act of 1791 divided the Province of Quebec into Upper Canada (later Ontario) and Lower Canada (later Quebec), granting legislative assemblies elected by the people
• The Atlantic colonies and the two Canadas were known collectively as British North America
• In 1807, the British Parliament prohibited the buying and selling of slaves
• In 1833, slavery was abolished throughout the British Empire
• Thousands of slaves escaped from the United States and settled in Canada via the Underground Railroad
• The Hudson’s Bay Company dominated the fur trade in the northwest from Fort Garry (Winnipeg) to Fort Langley (near Vancouver)
• The Montreal Stock Exchange opened in 1832
• Canada's economy was based mainly on farming and exporting natural resources such as fur, fish, and timber
• Laura Secord made a dangerous 19-mile journey on foot to warn Lieutenant James FitzGibbon of a planned American attack in 1813
• The War of 1812 ensured that Canada would remain independent of the United States
• The rebellions of 1837-38 in Upper and Lower Canada were defeated by British troops and Canadian volunteers