Discover Canada study notes: Canada's History

This chapter tells the story of Canada from its first peoples to the Second World War. These simple notes cover the main events, people and dates you need for the citizenship test.

Indigenous peoples and the first Europeans

Many different Indigenous nations lived in Canada before Europeans came. Some farmed and hunted, like the Huron-Wendat and Iroquois. Others hunted and gathered, like the Cree and Dene. The Inuit lived from Arctic animals. Contact with Europeans changed their lives forever, and many died from European diseases. But they also built trade, religious and military ties that helped form Canada.

About 1,000 years ago, the Vikings reached Newfoundland and Labrador (L'Anse aux Meadows). In 1497, John Cabot was the first to map Canada's east coast. Between 1534 and 1542, Jacques Cartier made three trips for France and explored the St. Lawrence River. He heard the Iroquoian word "kanata", meaning "village", which became the name "Canada".

New France and British rule

In 1604, the French started a settlement in Acadia. In 1608, Samuel de Champlain founded Québec City. The French and Indigenous peoples worked together in the fur trade. In 1670, the Hudson's Bay Company got trading rights around Hudson Bay. France and Britain fought for North America, and in 1759 the British won the Battle of the Plains of Abraham at Québec City.

The French-speaking Catholics, called Canadiens or habitants, wanted to keep their way of life. The Quebec Act of 1774 gave Catholics religious freedom and kept French civil law with British criminal law. After the American Revolution, more than 40,000 Loyalists moved to Nova Scotia and Quebec, including Mohawks led by Joseph Brant and about 3,000 Black Loyalists.

Early democracy and the end of slavery

The first elected assembly met in Halifax in 1758. The Constitutional Act of 1791 split Quebec into Upper Canada (later Ontario) and Lower Canada (later Quebec), each with an elected assembly. In 1793, Upper Canada, under John Graves Simcoe, was the first province in the British Empire to move toward ending slavery. Britain ended slavery in its empire in 1833. Many enslaved people escaped from the U.S. on the Underground Railroad.

The War of 1812

In 1812, the United States invaded Canada. British soldiers, Canadian volunteers and First Nations, including Chief Tecumseh, defended it. Sir Isaac Brock captured Detroit, Charles de Salaberry won at Châteauguay, and Laura Secord walked about 30 km to warn of an attack. By 1814 the invasion had failed. The war helped keep Canada independent and shaped today's border.

Responsible government and Confederation

After failed rebellions in 1837–38, Lord Durham suggested joining the two Canadas and giving them responsible government: the government needs the support of most elected members or it must resign. Nova Scotia got it first, in 1847–48. Louis-Hippolyte La Fontaine and Robert Baldwin worked for it in the Province of Canada.

The Fathers of Confederation created a country with federal and provincial governments. The British North America Act created the Dominion of Canada on July 1, 1867, with Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. July 1 is now Canada Day. Sir John A. Macdonald was the first Prime Minister, and Sir George-Étienne Cartier led Quebec into Confederation.

Growing west

The Métis of Red River, led by Louis Riel, resisted when Canada took over the Northwest without asking them. This led to the province of Manitoba in 1870. After a second rebellion in 1885, Riel was executed. Macdonald created the North West Mounted Police in 1873 (today the RCMP). The Canadian Pacific Railway was finished in 1885. Chinese workers who helped build it later paid an unfair Head Tax; the government apologized in 2006. Sir Wilfrid Laurier, the first French-Canadian Prime Minister, encouraged settlement of the West.

The world wars and the vote

In the First World War, more than 600,000 Canadians served and about 60,000 died. Their victory at Vimy Ridge in April 1917 made them famous for courage. The war ended on November 11, 1918; this is now Remembrance Day. Women won the vote in Manitoba in 1916, federally in 1918 and in Quebec in 1940. Agnes Macphail was the first woman MP (1921). The Great Depression followed the 1929 crash, and the Bank of Canada was created in 1934.

In the Second World War, more than one million Canadians and Newfoundlanders served and 44,000 died. On D-Day, June 6, 1944, Canadians captured Juno Beach in France, and they later helped free the Netherlands. Japanese Canadians were forced from their homes; the government apologized in 1988.

Key facts to remember

• "Kanata" – Iroquoian word for "village", source of the name Canada.
• 1497 – John Cabot; 1534–1542 – Jacques Cartier.
• 1608 – Champlain founds Québec City.
• 1759 – Battle of the Plains of Abraham.
• 1774 – Quebec Act; 1791 – Constitutional Act.
• 1758 – first elected assembly, in Halifax.
• 1793 – Upper Canada moves to end slavery; 1833 – slavery ends in the British Empire.
• War of 1812 – Brock, Tecumseh, de Salaberry, Laura Secord.
• July 1, 1867 – Confederation; Sir John A. Macdonald is first Prime Minister.
• Joined later: Manitoba 1870, B.C. 1871, PEI 1873, Yukon 1898, Alberta and Saskatchewan 1905, Newfoundland and Labrador 1949, Nunavut 1999.
• 1885 – railway finished; Louis Riel executed.
• April 1917 – Vimy Ridge; November 11 – Remembrance Day.
• Women's vote: Manitoba 1916, federal 1918, Quebec 1940.
• June 6, 1944 – D-Day, Juno Beach.