Portal:Canada

Wednesday, October 7, 2026

Introduction

Flag of Canada

Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the second-largest country by total area, with the longest coastline of any country. Its border with the United States is the longest international land border. The country is characterized by a wide range of both meteorologic and geological regions. With a population of over 41 million, it has widely varying population densities, with the majority residing in its urban areas and large areas being sparsely populated. Its capital is Ottawa and its three largest metropolitan areas are Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver.

A developed country, Canada's advanced economy has a high nominal per capita GDP globally and ranks among the largest in the world by nominal GDP, relying chiefly upon its abundant natural resources and well-developed international trade networks. Canada is recognized as a middle power; its support for multilateralism and internationalism has been closely related to its foreign policies of peacekeeping and aid for developing countries. Canada promotes its domestically shared values through participation in multiple international organizations and forums. (Full article...)

Refresh with new selections below (purge)

Featured article - (show another)

The unnamed hurricane at peak intensity on November 1

The 1991 Perfect Storm, also known as The No-Name Storm (especially in the years immediately after it took place) and the Halloween Gale/Storm, was a damaging and deadly nor'easter that lasted from October 28 to November 2, 1991. While initially an extratropical cyclone, it absorbed Hurricane Grace to its south, later evolving into a small, unnamed Category 1 hurricane. The storm lashed the East coast of the United States with high waves and coastal flooding during its extratropical cyclone phase. Damage from the storm totaled over $200 million (1991 USD) and resulted in thirteen fatalities, six of them from the sinking of the Andrea Gail, a fishing boat. The nor'easter received its name, playing off the common expression, after a conversation between Boston National Weather Service forecaster Robert Case and author Sebastian Junger. (Full article...)

More featured Canadian content

See also: historic events and sites

Current events

October 5, 2026 – 2026 Quebec general election: Voters in Quebec, Canada, elect members to the National Assembly. (CBC) (The Guardian); The Parti Québécois is elected into a minority government while the ruling Coalition Avenir Québec face an electoral wipeout. (CBC)
October 4, 2026 –: The United States Coast Guard suspends the search for the Latitude Air Ambulance Gulfstream G100 aircraft that went missing yesterday with six passengers on board after finding a debris field in the ocean south of Nantucket, Massachussetts. All six passengers, including four Canadian pilots and crew and two Bermudian passengers, are presumed dead. (CBC) (Winnipeg City News)
October 3, 2026 –: A Latitude Air Ambulance Gulfstream G100, flying from St. David's Island, Bermuda, to Boston, United States, goes missing over the Atlantic Ocean with six people on board, including four Canadian crew and two Bermudian passengers. (News 18)
September 27, 2026 – 2026 UCI Road World Championships: In cycling, Brandon McNulty of the United States wins the men's road race world title in Montreal, Canada, becoming the first American champion in 33 years after finishing 13 seconds ahead of Australia's Michael Matthews. (AFP)
September 26, 2026 – 2026 UCI Road World Championships: In cycling, the Netherlands' Demi Vollering wins the women's road race world title in Montreal, Canada, defeating Poland's Katarzyna Niewiadoma-Phinney in the final sprint, while Italy's Elisa Longo Borghini takes bronze. (AFP)

Past Canadian events

Selected panorama - (show another)

Panoramic view of Niagara Falls

Credit: MamaGeek

More Canadian panoramas

National symbol - (show another)

Adult in breeding plumage in Minocqua, Wisconsin

The common loon or great northern diver (Gavia immer) is a large member of the loon, or diver, family of birds. Breeding adults have a plumage that includes a broad black head and neck with a greenish, purplish, or bluish sheen, blackish or blackish-grey upperparts, and pure white underparts except some black on the undertail coverts and vent. Non-breeding adults are brownish with a dark neck and head marked with dark grey-brown. Their upperparts are dark brownish-grey with an unclear pattern of squares on the shoulders, and the underparts, lower face, chin, and throat are whitish. The sexes look alike, though males are significantly heavier than females. During the breeding season, loons live on lakes and other waterways in Canada, the northern United States (including Alaska), and southern parts of Greenland and Iceland. Small numbers breed on Svalbard and sporadically elsewhere in Arctic Eurasia. Common loons winter on both coasts of North America as far north as Newfoundland and Alaska, and as far south as Mexico, as well as on the Atlantic coast of Europe. (Full article...)

More symbols of Canada

Selected vital article - (show another)

'Healthcare in Canada is delivered through the provincial and territorial systems of publicly funded single-payer healthcare, informally called Medicare. It is guided by the provisions of the Canada Health Act, adopted during 1984, and is universal. The 2002 Royal Commission, known as the Romanow Report, revealed that Canadians consider universal access to publicly funded health services as a "fundamental value that ensures national health care insurance for everyone wherever they live in the country".' (Full article...)

More Canadian vital articles

Selected picture - (show another)

Barred Owl, Whitby, Ontario
Credit: Mdf

More information

Featured Canadian picture

More Canadian pictures

Featured biography - (show another)

Kellie Loder at one of two free coffeehouses in Newfoundland in December 2012

Kellie Loder (born 1988) is an independent singer-songwriter from Newfoundland who plays drums, guitar and piano. They have released three albums: The Way in 2009, Imperfections & Directions in 2010 and Benefit of the Doubt in 2018. With a voice that St. John's-based newspaper The Telegram has described as "powerful yet serene and soulful", they received critical recognition from Canada, including a nomination at the Juno Awards. (Full article...)

More featured Canadian biographies

See also: historically significant biographies

Did you know - (show another)

... that Riho Furui wrote her debut song after struggling with life in Canada?
... that a journalists' poll rated Billy Fitzgerald the second-best Canadian lacrosse player of the first half of the 20th century?
... that Canadian peacekeepers participated in every UN peacekeeping effort from its inception until 1989?
... that Niko Resources pleaded guilty to bribery in Canada over the Chhatak Gas Field explosion, but the Bangladeshi officials whom it bribed were acquitted at home?
... that despite not owning a road bike the year before, Nickolas Zukowsky placed third in the 2016 Canadian National Junior Road Race Championships?
... that the Canada Centre Building has one of the first aquifer thermal energy storage systems?
... that the anniversary of the Singh v Canada decision is observed as Refugee Rights Day?

More Did you know facts

Featured list - (show another)

The Prince of Wales Trophy, also known as the Wales Trophy, is a team award presented by the National Hockey League (NHL). Named for Edward, Prince of Wales (later King Edward VIII and then Duke of Windsor), it has been awarded for different accomplishments throughout its history. (Full article...)

More featured Canadian content