Country name:
conventional long form:
none
conventional short form:
Canada
etymology:
the country name likely derives from the St. Lawrence Iroquoian word "kanata" meaning village or settlement
Government type:
federal parliamentary democracy (Parliament of Canada) under a constitutional monarchy; a Commonwealth realm; federal and state authorities and responsibilities regulated in constitution
Capital:
name:
Ottawa
geographic coordinates:
45 25 N, 75 42 W
time difference:
UTC-5 (same time as Washington, DC, during Standard Time)
daylight saving time:
+1hr, begins second Sunday in March; ends first Sunday in November
note: Canada has six time zones
Administrative divisions:
10 provinces and 3 territories*; Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Northwest Territories*, Nova Scotia, Nunavut*, Ontario, Prince Edward Island, Quebec, Saskatchewan, Yukon*
Independence:
1 July 1867 (union of British North American colonies); 11 December 1931 (recognized by UK per Statute of Westminster)
National holiday:
Canada Day, 1 July (1867)
Constitution:
history:
consists of unwritten and written acts, customs, judicial decisions, and traditions dating from 1763; the written part of the constitution consists of the Constitution Act of 29 March 1867, which created a federation of four provinces, and the Constitution Act of 17 April 1982
(2018)
amendments:
proposed by either house of Parliament or by the provincial legislative assemblies; there are 5 methods for passage though most require approval by both houses of Parliament, approval of at least two-thirds of the provincial legislative assemblies and assent to and formalization as a proclamation by the governor general in council; the most restrictive method is reserved for amendments affecting fundamental sections of the constitution such as the office of the monarch or the governor general, and the constitutional amendment procedures, which require the unanimous approval by both houses and by all the provincial assemblies, and assent to by the governor general in council; amended 11 times, last in 2011 (Fair Representation Act, 2011)
(2018)
Legal system:
common law system except in Quebec, where civil law based on the French civil code prevails
International law organization participation:
accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction with reservations; accepts ICCt jurisdiction
Citizenship:
citizenship by birth:
yes
citizenship by descent only:
yes
dual citizenship recognized:
yes
residency requirement for naturalization:
minimum of 3 of last 5 years resident in Canada
Suffrage:
18 years of age; universal
[see also: Suffrage country ranks ]
Executive branch:
chief of state:
Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952); represented by Governor General Julie PAYETTE (since 2 October 2017)
head of government:
Prime Minister Justin Pierre James TRUDEAU (Liberal Party) (since 4 November 2015)
cabinet:
Federal Ministry chosen by the prime minister usually from among members of his/her own party sitting in Parliament
elections/appointments:
the monarchy is hereditary; governor general appointed by the monarch on the advice of the prime minister for a 5-year term; following legislative elections, the leader of the majority party or majority coalition in the House of Commons generally designated prime minister by the governor general
note: the governor general position is largely ceremonial; Julie PAYETTE, a former space shuttle astronaut, is Canada's fourth female governor general but the first to have flown in space
Legislative branch:
description:
bicameral Parliament or Parlement consists of:
Senate or Senat (105 seats; members appointed by the governor general on the advice of the prime minister and can serve until age 75)
House of Commons or Chambre des Communes (338 seats; members directly elected in single-seat constituencies by simple majority vote with terms up to 4 years)
elections:
Senate - appointed; latest appointments in December 2018
House of Commons - last held on 19 October 2015 (next to be held on 21 October 2019)
election results:
Senate - composition as of December 2018 - men 51, women 54, percent of women 51.4%
House of Commons - percent of vote by party - Liberal Party 39.5%, CPC 31.9%, NDP 19.7%, Bloc Quebecois 4.7%, Greens 3.4%, other 0.8%; seats by party - Liberal Party 184, CPC 99, NDP 44, Bloc Quebecois 10, Greens 1; composition - men 250, women 88, percent of women 26%; note - total Parliament percent of women 32.1%
note: seats by party, as of December 2018 - Liberal Party 181, CPC 96, NDP 41, Bloc Quebecois 10, Greens 1, People's Party of Canada 1, independent 4, vacant 4; composition - men 250, women 88, percent of women 26%; note - total Parliament percent of women 26.9%
Judicial branch:
highest courts:
Supreme Court of Canada (consists of the chief justice and 8 judges); note - in 1949, Canada abolished all appeals beyond its Supreme Court, which prior to that time, were heard by the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council (in London)
judge selection and term of office:
chief justice and judges appointed by the prime minister in council; all judges appointed for life with mandatory retirement at age 75
subordinate courts:
federal level: Federal Court of Appeal; Federal Court; Tax Court; federal administrative tribunals; Courts Martial; provincial/territorial level: provincial superior, appeals, first instance, and specialized courts; in 1999, the Nunavut Court - a circuit court with the power of a provincial superior court, as well as a territorial court - was established to serve isolated settlements
Political parties and leaders:
Bloc Quebecois [Mario BEAULIEU]
Conservative Party of Canada or CPC [Andrew SCHEER]
Green Party [Elizabeth MAY]
Liberal Party [Justin TRUDEAU]
New Democratic Party or NDP [Jagmeet SINGH]
People's Party of Canada [Maxime BERNIER]
International organization participation:
ADB (nonregional member), AfDB (nonregional member), APEC, Arctic Council, ARF, ASEAN (dialogue partner), Australia Group, BIS, C, CD, CDB, CE (observer), EAPC, EBRD, EITI (implementing country), FAO, FATF, G-7, G-8, G-10, G-20, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC (national committees), ICCt, ICRM, IDA, IEA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IGAD (partners), IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, IMSO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITSO, ITU, ITUC (NGOs), MIGA, MINUSTAH, MONUSCO, NAFTA, NATO, NEA, NSG, OAS, OECD, OIF, OPCW, OSCE, Pacific Alliance (observer), Paris Club, PCA, PIF (partner), UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNFICYP, UNHCR, UNMISS, UNRWA, UNTSO, UPU, WCO, WFTU (NGOs), WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO, ZC
Diplomatic representation in the US:
chief of mission:
Ambassador David Brookes MACNAUGHTON (since 2 March 2016)
chancery:
501 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20001
telephone:
[1] (202) 682-1740
FAX:
[1] (202) 682-7726
consulate(s) general:
Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Detroit, Los Angeles, Miami, Minneapolis, New York, San Francisco/Silicon Valley, Seattle
trade office(s):
Houston, Palo Alto (CA), San Diego; note - there are trade offices in the Consulates General
Diplomatic representation from the US:
chief of mission:
Ambassador Kelly CRAFT (since 23 October 2017)
embassy:
490 Sussex Drive, Ottawa, Ontario K1N 1G8
mailing address:
P. O. Box 5000, Ogdensburg, NY 13669-0430; P.O. Box 866, Station B, Ottawa, Ontario K1P 5T1
telephone:
[1] (613) 688-5335
FAX:
[1] (613) 688-3082
consulate(s) general:
Calgary, Halifax, Montreal, Quebec City, Toronto, Vancouver
consulate(s):
Winnipeg
Flag description:
two vertical bands of red (hoist and fly side, half width) with white square between them; an 11-pointed red maple leaf is centered in the white square; the maple leaf has long been a Canadian symbol
National symbol(s):
maple leaf, beaver; national colors: red, white
National anthem:
name:
O Canada
lyrics/music:
Adolphe-Basile ROUTHIER [French], Robert Stanley WEIR [English]/Calixa LAVALLEE
note: adopted 1980; originally written in 1880, "O Canada" served as an unofficial anthem many years before its official adoption; the anthem has French and English versions whose lyrics differ; as a Commonwealth realm, in addition to the national anthem, "God Save the Queen" serves as the royal anthem (see United Kingdom)
NOTE: 1) The information regarding Canada on this page is re-published from the 2019 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Canada Government 2019 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Canada Government 2019 should be addressed to the CIA.
2) The rank that you see is the CIA reported rank, which may habe the following issues:
a) They assign increasing rank number, alphabetically for countries with the same value of the ranked item, whereas we assign them the same rank.
b) The CIA sometimes assignes counterintuitive ranks. For example, it assigns unemployment rates in increasing order, whereas we rank them in decreasing order
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This page was last modified 08-Feb-19