CANADA

WARLY G. PABLO | GEOPOLITICS | PRELIMS

The Canada Guide
PROFILE
PROFILE
 Official Name: Canada
 Form of Government: Federal Multiparty
Parliamentary
 Head of State:
Queen of Canada (British Monarch): Queen Elizabeth
II, represented by Governor-General: Julie Payette
 Head of Government:
 Prime Minister: Justin Trudeau
 Capital: Ottawa
PROFILE
 Official Languages: English and French
 Currency: Canadian Dollar (Can$)
 Life Expectancy:
 Male: 80.5 years (2016)
 Female: 84.3 years (2016)
 Literacy percentage of population age 15 and over
 Male: 100% (2016)
 Female: 100% (2016)

Bercuson, D. et al. (n.d) Canada

 Canada is ranked 38th in the total population
in the world

Population: 39,546,000 (2017 est.)

 Canada, Second largest country in the
world in area (next to Russia),
occupying roughly the northern 2/5ths of
the continent of North America making
the majority of Canada “sparsely
inhabited”.

Total Area (SQ KM): 9,984,670

HISTORY
HISTORY
• The first people to come to Canada arrived between 15,000 and
30,000 years ago across a land bridge that joined Asia and North
America. Around A.D 1000, the Viking explorer Lief Erikson
reached Newfoundland, Canada. He tried to establish a
settlement, but it didn’t last.
• In the 16th century, French and British settlers arrived. Land
disputes between farmers and fur traders led to four wars
between 1689 and 1763. The final war, called the French and
Indian War, left the British in control of Canada, but French
influence remains strong even today.
• In 1867, Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick
combined to form a dominion with its own government,
parliament and prime minister. Manitoba joined soon after. In
1931, Canada became an independent nation.
“Canadian history has wars and revolutions, but also a lot of
politics and economics. The country wasn’t created to be a home
for any particular race or religious group, but instead to create a
peaceful, orderly, well-governed society amid harsh geography
and a diverse population”
- The Canada Guide
QUICK FACTS
 The Fur Trade was a hugely important industry for the
early colonists

National Archives of Canada

 Canada Act of 1982 – British Parliament made Canada

fully Sovereign
QUICK FACTS
 The word “Canada” is derived from the Huron-iroquois
“Kanata”, meaning a village or settlement.
 Jacques Cartier first used it around the settlement that is now
Quebec city.
 Quebec often used to name the country until 1791 and the name
Canada restored when Britain divided the old Quebec into East
and West Canada respectively.
 Canada is use as a synonym for New France from 1534 to 1763.
 The key date in Canadian history is JULY 1, 1867 – also known
as Confederation Day – in which Canada adopted its current
constitution and thus, in the minds of most Canadians, officially
“became a country”.
The Canada Guide
Bercuson, D. et al. (n.d) Canada
Cohen, S. (2015). Geopolitics: The Geography of International Relations
DURING WAR
During WWII, US and Canada developed a close strategic partnership.
• Ice-free Halifax harbor, the largest in North America, was
used as the marshaling and take-off point for American
convoys in their crossings of the Atlantic, and the
Canadian escort vessels shared with the US navy the task
of guarding them.
• Canada also provided the vital land link to Alaska during
the war, when Alaska (Alcan) Highway was built through
its territory.
• Their first foray, the Dieppe raid of Aug 1943, was mainly a
Canadian operation resulted in a resounding defeat,
following the battles for Sicily, the spine of Italy, Normandy
and Germany.

Cohen, S. (2015). Geopolitics: The Geography of International Relations

 Dieppe raid of Aug 1943

Halifax Harbor

National Archives of Canada

DURING WAR
The Cold War
• The Cold War thrust the Canadian Artic into new
prominence.
• The DEW Line was constructed as a defense against a
transpolar attack and consisted of a series of roughly
concentric circles of antiaircraft and antimissile bases
in Canada and North America
• The North American Defense Command (NORAD)
became a cornerstone of US Strategic policy as some
of its most important bases, both defensive and
offensive, were placed on Canadian Soil. To detect
and prevent ballistic missile attacks.
Cohen, S. (2015). Geopolitics: The Geography of International Relations
DEW Line

NORAD

The Canada Guide

GEOGRAPHY
GEOGRAPHY
Canada shares a 5,525 mile long border with the United States
(including Alaska) – the longest border in the world not patrolled
by military forces.
GEOGRAPHY
Canada has coastlines on the Atlantic and Pacific and the Artic
Ocean, giving it the longest coastline of any country.
GEOGRAPHY
Canada is divided into six physiographic regions:
1. The Canadian Shield
2. The Interior plains
3. The Great Lakes – St. Lawrence lowlands
4. The Appalachian region
5. The Western Cordillera and
6. The Artic Archipelago
 Forests and Lakes of the Canadian Shield
© Media Storehouse

The Canadian
The Canadian Shield
Shield -- The
The largest
largest of
of Canada’s
Canada’s physiographic
physiographic regions,
regions, sometimes
sometimes
called the
called the Precambriam
Precambriam Shield,
Shield, occupies
occupies about
about half
half of
of the
the total
total area
area of
of the
the
country.
country.
The Interior
The Interior Plains
Plains –– extends
extends from
from the
the Artic
Artic Ocean
Ocean in
in the
the north
north to
to the
the U.S
U.S border
border
in the
in the south,
south, edge
edge of
of Canadian
Canadian shield
shield in
in the
the east
east and
and toto the
the Rocky
Rocky Mountain
Mountain
foothills in
foothills in the
the west.
west.
The Great
The Great Lakes,
Lakes, St.
St. Lawrence
Lawrence Lowlands
Lowlands –– fairly
fairly small
small in
in area,
area, is
is nevertheless
nevertheless
important for
important for its
its high
high agriculture
agriculture productivity,
productivity, intensive
intensive industrialization
industrialization and
and
high degree
high degree of
of urbanization.
urbanization.
The Appalachian Region – Consist of ancient folded rock
formations.
The Western Cordillera - comprises of series of mountain belts
The Artic
The Artic Archipelago
Archipelago –– composed
composed of
of thousands
thousands of
of islands
islands north
north of
of the
the
Canadian mainland.
Canadian mainland.
QUICK FACTS
 Canada has 1/7th of the world’s supply of accessible fresh water.
 The Great Lake – the world’s largest surface of fresh water
shared with U.S

National Geographic
ECONOMY
RESOURCES AND POWER
RESOURCES AND POWER
• Canada is rich in mineral resources.
• Canada has long ranked among the world leaders in the
production of uranium, zinc, nickel, potash, asbestos, sulfur,
cadmium and titanium.
• It is also a major producer of iron, ore, coal, petroleum, gold,
copper, silver, lead, and a number of ferroalloys and Diamond
through mining
• Canada is richly endowed with hydroelectric power resources. It
has about one-sixth of the world’s total installed generating
capacity.
• Canada is one of the World’s leading economies,
driven largely by Canada’s incredible wealth of natural
resources. Despite having little over a tenth of
population of the U.S, Canada still produces more
energy than its neighbor. The low population and high
energy production makes Canada a major economic
power, helped by its healthy services industry, strong
tech and automotive industries.
OVERVIEW
• GDP – $1.764 trillion (2017)
• Growth Rate – 3% (2017)
• Inflation – 1.6% (2017)
• Government Revenues – 38% of GDP (2017)
• Public Debt – 98.2% of GDP (2017)
• Working Population – 19.52 million (2017)
• Unemployment Rate – 6% (2017)
• Below poverty line – 9.4% (Note: this figure is the low income
cut-off. Canada does not have an official poverty line)
www.infoplease.com
TradingEconomics.com/Statisticscanada
OVERVIEW
• Total Exports - $433 billion (2017)
• Major Exports – Motor Vehicles and parts, industrial machinery,
aircraft, telecommunications equipment, chemicals, plastics,
fertilizers, wood pulp, timber, crude, petroleum, natural gas,
electricity and aluminum.
• Total Imports - $433.7 billion (2017)
• Major imports – Machinery and equipment, durable consumer
goods.

www.infoplease.com
TOP TRADING PARTNERS
1.United States – US$319.6
billion (76% of total
Canadian exports)
2.China – $18.2 billion (4.3%)
3.United Kingdom – $13.6
billion (3.2%)
4.Japan – $9.1 billion (2.2%)
5.Mexico – $6 billion (1.4%)
6.South Korea – $4 billion
(1%)
7.India – $3.2 billion (0.8%)
8.Germany – $3.2 billion (0.8%)
9.France – 2.6 billion (0.6%)
10.
Belgium – $2.6 billion (0.6)
11.
Netherlands – $2.4 billion (0.6%)
12.
Italy – $1.8 billion (0.4%)
13.
Hong Kong – $1.7 billion (0.4%)
14.
Australia – $1.5 billion (0.4%)
15.
Switzerland – $1.5 billion (0.4%)
www.worldstopexports.com/canadas-top-import-partners
HDI
INTERNATIONAL
AFFAIRS
BEST FRIENDS
Canada’s strongest international ties continue to be with the
United States and the United Kingdom, though the Canadian
relationship with France, Australia and Israel is exceptionally close
as well. For historical, ideological, cultural and strategic reasons,
these are the countries to which Canada and Canadians maintains
the deepest bonds, and any disputes or disagreements between
them are bound to provide headlines.
CANADA & U.S.A
• Canada is well within the U.S. sphere of influence and the
country’s freedom to act is constrained by U.S interests.
• Canada’s strategic interests must align with those of the US.
There are three reasons
1. The well-being of the US is a Canadian national concern
2. Canada cannot defend itself from a global threat
3. Canada is exposed to any threat the US is exposed to.

• Canada can go its own way within limits. Not because US

demands it, but because geography has closely linked Canada
and US
• It is clear that Canada has a single overriding strategic interests
– maintaining close relations with the United States.
Friedman, M. (2016). Canada’s Geographical Reality
ORGANIZATIONS
• Canada has been an influential member of the Commonwealth
• Has played a leading role in the organization of French-
Speaking countries known as La Francophonie.
• Founding member of the United Nations.
• Signed free trade agreement with U.S upon joining the
Organization of American States.
• Canada is also a member of Group of 7 (G7), which includes the
world’s seven largest industrial democracies and also in G8.
Canada is a member of one of the
most elite intelligence-sharing
alliances on earth, the UKUSA
(yoo-koo-sa) coalition between the
UK, US, Australia, and New
Zealand, also known as “Five
Eyes”. Started in the aftermath of
the Second World War.

“Five Eyes” were a critical alliance

during the Cold War, and continue
to work together closely today in
combatting extremist terror.
INT’L DISPUTES
• Managed maritime boundary disputes with the US at Dixon
Entrance.
• Canada and U.S dispute on how to divide the Beaufort Sea and
the status of the Northwest passage but continue to work
cooperatively to survey the Artic Continental shelf.
• U.S and Canada intensify security measures for monitoring and
controlling legal and illegal movement of people, transport and
commodities across the international border.
• Sovereignty dispute with Denmark over Hans island in the
Kennedy Channel on the Limits of continental shelf in support
of claims for continental shelf beyond 200nm form its baselines
in the Artic.
National Geographic
Infoplease.com
QUICK FACTS – FOREIGN
POLICY
• Canada gained the ability to make foreign policy decisions
independent from Britain in 1931
• The guiding values of Canadian foreign policy are
independence, defense of democracies and economic interests.
• Canada has used both war and peace to pursue its foreign
policy goals
• Many Canadians believe non-militaristic techniques like
peacekeeping and multilateral diplomacy form proper
“Canadian” style of foreign policy.
THANK YOU