30 FUN Canada Facts That Will Blow Your Mind

Looking for some fun facts about Canada? We’ve fallen in love with the country and now call it home in the Canadian Rockies. After visiting 95 countries, we hardly see a place more beautiful. Let’s dig into a few facts about the Great White North that might impress your friends.

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1.) Canada is a monarchy.

Yep, Canada has a Queen/King. It’s the same as the UK’s – now King Charles III. That’s because Canada is a member of the British Commonwealth, having formerly been a colony of the British Empire. Though it became self-governing in 1867, there was a way to go before Canada actually became independent.

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2.) There are two official languages in Canada.

Britain wasn’t the only power-hungry colonial power during Canada’s pioneering days. There was also France, which once owned much of North America. That didn’t last, but what did last was France’s culture and language. Today, English and French are the most widely spoken languages in Canada.

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3.) Canada is the world’s second-largest country.

You may have been thinking of China, or maybe the USA, but no – it’s Canada. How big are we talking? 9.98 million km². Russia takes number one.

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4.) Canada has the longest coastline in the world.

There are so many reasons to visit Canada, and this is one of them! Have you seen a map of Canada? All those islands and jagged, irregular lines that mark where the land ends? There’s a lot of that kind of thing going on. It all adds up to the longest coastline in the world at over 125,500 miles.

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5.) Canada also has the longest international border.

This giant country’s only land neighbor is the United States, and since they’re both pretty big, you can expect that border to be big, too. It’s the longest border between two countries (well, the southern border) at a very long 5,525 miles.

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6.) The word Canada is derived from an indigenous word.

That word is Kanata, which means “settlement” or “village” in the language of the Huron-Iroquois. Sadly, these Indigenous people disappeared in the 16th century during wars with the Mohawk, who wanted a monopoly on trade with Europeans at the time.

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7.) The French and British weren’t the first Europeans to colonize Canada.

It was the Vikings. Leif Erikson led the expedition around 1000 AD; he was the grandson of a Norwegian Viking who was exiled to Iceland for “some killings.” The Viking settlement was in Newfoundland, known to them as Vinland (named for its vines, which apparently enabled them to produce great wine). It only lasted a few years, but it made an impact on the Icelandic Sagas and on the native Inuit population at the time.

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8.) The next person to claim Canada was an Italian working for the English.

Commissioned by King Henry VII of England, Venetian explorer John Cabot (Giovanni Cabotto or Zuan Chabotto) explored Canada’s Atlantic Coast in 1497. He claimed it for England. His son, Sebastian, continued exploring North America but returned to England only to find a new king – Henry VIII. He wasn’t interested in exploration at all.

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9.) There was a war in Canada called the “Beaver Wars.”

Despite the cute name, it was a pretty brutal conflict and is considered one of the most bloody in North American history. In the 17th century, the Iroquois wanted to dominate the fur trade in the region and enlisted the help of England. Rival nations sought the help of France. The result? Bloodshed that ended in a stalemate.

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10.) Canada’s national animal is actually a beaver.

It played a pretty crucial role in the history of Canada, with all the fur trappers, traders, and battles over who would be the fur king of the region. Then there are the poor beavers themselves, almost hunted to extinction! Well, at least they became the national animal of Canada in 1975. They’re on the Canadian nickel, too!

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11.) There are a lot of famous Canadians living in the US.

Seth Rogan, Mike Myers, Justin Bieber, Michael Buble, Alanis Morisette, Keanu Reeves, Jim Carey, Celine Dion, Neil Young, Drake… The list could go on. Basically, there are a lot of people from Canada who influence popular culture as we know it!

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12.) The coldest ever recorded temperature in Canada is -63°C.

If you thought winter was cold where you’re from, Canada is colder. And yes, that really is the coldest temperature to have ever been recorded in Canada. That was in Snag, Yukon and yes: it was -63°C (-81.4°F). The coldest average temperature in Canada is in Eureka, Nunavut, where it’s -19.7 °C (-3.5 °F) on average, all year. Wow.

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13.) Quebec is the only walled city in North America.

A little-known fact about Canada is that it boasts the continent’s only walled city—north of Mexico, that is. Quebec’s city walls were built in the 17th century. Then, when British forces captured the city, they made the walls even better. They’re pretty well preserved and today are a UNESCO World Heritage site.

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14.) Loonies and Toonies

One of the most fun facts about Canada is this one! First off, there’s the “loonie,” which is a $1CAD coin. We get this one, because on one side of the coin there’s a depiction of a loon. Then there’s the “toonie.” It’s a two-dollar coin, so we guess it’s “toonie” like “two-nie.” A pun of the highest degree.

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15.) Canada has a different Thanksgiving to the United States.

That’s right; not all Thanksgivings are the same. Instead of sometime in late November, like in America, Canada celebrates Thanksgiving in the middle of October. Canadian Thanksgiving is a national holiday celebrated on the second Monday of October.

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16.) Canada has one of the highest immigration rates in the world.

This is to reunify families, to help support the economy, and drive population growth.. Between 1990 and 2008, the population of Canada grew by over 5,000,000. A little-known fact about Canada is that annually, it becomes home to around a tenth of the world’s resettled refugees.

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17.) There’s more to language in Canada than English and French

With all that immigration, there’s a whole selection of other languages being spoken in Canada. There are well over 1.2 million speakers of Chinese languages, Punjabi-speakers number around 500,000 people, then German, Italian, Tagalog, Spanish, and Arabic all have hundreds of thousands of speakers.

There are also 11 different indigenous language groups, which can be further divided into 65 actual languages—for example, Inuktitut.

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18.) The Northwest Territories recognizes 11 official languages

It might just be the only political subdivision in the world to recognize so many official languages. We’re going to list them here for your curiosity: Gwich’in, Chipewyan/Dené, Inuinnaqtun, Tłįchǫ Inuktitut, Cree, North Slavey, South Slavey, Inuvialuktun, English, and French.

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19.) Minus its lakes, Canada would only be the fourth-largest country in the world

Lakes make up a lot of this country. Canada is home to the highest proportion of fresh water in the world. Let’s not forget that vast portions of the Great Lakes (Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, and Ontario) are also located in Canada, and Alberta has tons of beautiful lakes.

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20.) Canadians love mac and cheese.

One of my favorite Canadian facts is that many Canadians love mac and cheese. Or, as they call it, Kraft Dinner. Around seven million of these boxes are sold worldwide each year, and Canada buys a big chunk of them; that’ll be around 1.7 million boxes of Kraft Dinner.

You would’ve thought Americans eat more of it, but Canadians eat approximately 55% more mac and cheese than their neighbors to the south do.

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21.) Lacrosse is the national sport of Canada.

With its pretty French-sounding name, you might be forgiven for thinking this stick-and-basket sport came across the Pond to Canada from Europe. Lacrosse was actually first played by First Nations people in the 1600s, first picked up by Canada’s Anglophone middle classes in the 19th century, and officially declared the national sport of Canada by an act of parliament in 1994. For summer, anyway, ice hockey was deemed the official winter sport.

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22.) Canada only officially became independent from Britain in 1982.

Not many people know this fact about Canada: It was actually still legally dependent on the UK until 1982. Part of this meant that the British Parliament could vote to amend Canada’s constitution—if they wanted to, anyway. In 1982, the Canadian Parliament requested that Canada be allowed to control its own destiny, and voila—full autonomy for Canada.

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23.) Canada Day celebrates semi-independence from Britain in 1867.

Back then, the British North America Act of 1867 made Canada a “federal dominion” with more autonomy than it had previously enjoyed. Good news for Canada. Today, Canada Day (July 1st) commemorates this move towards freedom with much merriment – drinking, eating, partying, parades, fireworks, and wearing red and white, of course.

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24.) One of the longest highways in the world is in Canada.

The Trans-Canada Highway is one of the world’s longest highways, traveling from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean. At 4,860 miles long, there’s a lot of scope for road trips along this epic highway. To give it a number, it’s actually the fourth-longest in the world.

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25.) The maple leaf has been a symbol of Canada for a long time

The use of the maple leaf as a symbol of Canada actually dates back to the 18th century. In fact, it was originally a symbol used by French Canadians.

The first mayor of Montreal said of the maple leaf in 1834, “It was the king of our forests, the symbol of the Canadian people.” To blow your minds even more, different colored leaves represented various parts of Canada: Ontario = gold; Quebec = green. It also used to appear on the coins. And, of course, it’s on the Canadian flag.

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26.) Toronto has the world’s biggest underground shopping complex

You were thinking Japan, right? Maybe China. But actually, it’s inToronto where you will find this feat of engineering. Connecting metro stops and a bunch of office buildings, it’s called PATH, and it comprises four million square feet of retail space. That’s wild. It’s a series of tunnels, elevated walkways, and other fancy sidewalks, to keep people out of the cold.

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27.) Canada has some super grand hotels

There’s a style of architecture called “chateauesque” based on French Renaissance architecture. Many buildings in Canada utilize this style, mainly the epic “grand railway hotels” that were built by railway companies when train travel became a thing in the 20th century. Banff Springs, the Royal York, Toronto, and Hotel Vancouver are all insanely beautiful!

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28.) You’ll find the world’s oldest pool of water in a Canadian mine.

Say what now? Yes. The oldest pool of water. In the world. It’s located around two miles underground in a mine in Timmins, Ontario. The pool bubbles up with mineral-rich water innocently enough, but scientists in 2016 discovered that it’s actually two billion years old. That’s too old to even think about.

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29.) Winnie-the-Pooh was named after a bear from Canada.

And it wasn’t Pooh creator A. A. Milne who came up with the name, either – it was his son, Christopher (yep, guess who Christopher Robin is based on). Christopher had seen a black bear called Winnie, after Winnipeg, at the London Zoo and named his own bear after it.

Milne named Pooh after his son’s bear. Case closed. Incidentally, the actual living black bear was purchased (as a cub) for $20 in Canada by a soldier returning to England after WWI.

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30.) The most powerful part of Niagara Falls is in Canada.

Though Niagara Falls can be seen from both sides of the border, Horseshoe Falls—the most powerful falls—is in the Canadian section. Approximately 90% of the water from the Niagara River that flows over the falls crashes down the Horseshoe Falls; the US side comprises the American Falls and Bridal Veil Falls, where the other 10% flows.

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