Canada

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Administration

The earliest Canadian schools date from the early 17th century and were conducted by French Catholic religious groups. Higher education began in 1635 with the founding of the Collège des Jésuites in the city of Québec. It was not until the transfer of Canada from French to British jurisdiction in 1763 that an educational system began to emerge that augmented church schools with secular public schools and private schools. When the dominion was created in 1867, education was defined as a provincial responsibility, and it has remained so ever since.

There is no central ministry of education in Canada. The federal government steps in only for special populations outside normal provincial jurisdiction, such as inmates of federal prisons, the families of Canada’s armed forces, and indigenous peoples on reserves. Increasingly, indigenous groups are acquiring more control over their local educational programs.

Although education is administered by the government, churches frequently play an integral role in its delivery. Church-run schools that are alternatives to the secular system of elementary and secondary schools exist in all provinces and territories. Typically these schools receive state funding if they agree to teach the regular curriculum; in addition, they offer extra language and/or religion courses.

The vast, sparsely settled areas of Canada present special problems in delivering education. Initially, governments and religious groups established residential schools, especially for indigenous children, but these were never popular. The indigenous peoples saw them as a way for white society to dominate indigenous cultures. Eventually these schools were closed. A less centralized system emerged, which increasingly has been augmented with correspondence programs and more recently with educational television, teleconferencing, and Internet programs. Some of the more successful distance education technologies, such as those developed by the Knowledge Network in British Columbia, have been exported to other provinces and countries.

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Canadian educators are increasingly occupied with the issue of funding current education programs while budgets are shrinking. Almost all provincial governments have adopted deficit reduction strategies that make money increasingly less available for schools. At the same time, schools must meet a number of demands. Many schools are faced with large numbers of immigrant children requiring language training. In Toronto and Vancouver, the two cities with the greatest ethnic diversity in Canada, more than half of all students in the regular school system did not learn English as their first language. In poor neighborhoods, the schools provide free or subsidized meals to many children.

Schools are also facing a demand for sophisticated and expensive technological training to equip students for the future. At the individual school level, parents are demanding and receiving a greater say in policy-making and program choices. In response, provincial governments have attempted to deliver education services more efficiently by consolidating school districts and collaborating with other provinces.

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Literacy

By world standards, Canada has a high literacy rate. Complete illiteracy—the inability to read or write at all in any language—is very rare in Canada, at just 3 percent of the adult population. However, there is a greater level of functional illiteracy—the inability to read well or to understand what is read. Illiteracy is more likely to be found among the elderly and poor of Canada. Programs to combat illiteracy are offered by the National Literacy Secretariat, which promotes and supports organizations dedicated to adult literacy training.

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Elementary and Secondary Schools

Education is compulsory for children from age 6 or 7 to age 15 or 16, depending on the province they live in, and it is free until the completion of secondary school studies. Participation in the school system is almost universal. After the period of mandatory education is completed, participation decreases. In 2001 some 85 percent of adults had high school degrees.

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Universities

Canada’s large universities were established in the 19th century, beginning with McGill University in 1821. Since World War II (1939-1945), higher education has expanded. Many new institutions have been founded, and the older universities have increased in size, scope, and influence. The federal and provincial governments fund the university system in Canada, including sectarian institutions, and students pay only a small portion of the cost. Universities are still the predominant institutions offering higher education, but the number of nonuniversity postsecondary institutions, particularly community colleges, has increased sharply in recent decades.

Nursing education, formerly concentrated at special schools attached to hospitals, has been transferred to universities and community colleges. Similarly, teacher training has been shifted from specialized institutions to universities.

Among the country’s larger universities are the following: the University of Alberta (1906) and the University of Calgary (1945), in Alberta; the University of British Columbia (1908) and Simon Fraser University (1963), in British Columbia; the University of Manitoba (1877); the University of Moncton (1864) and the University of New Brunswick (1785), in New Brunswick; Memorial University of Newfoundland (1925); Acadia University (1838) and Dalhousie University (1818), in Nova Scotia; Carleton University (1942), McMaster University (1887), the University of Ottawa (1848), the University of Toronto (1827), the University of Waterloo (1957), and York University (1959), in Ontario; the University of Prince Edward Island (1834); Concordia University (1974), Université Laval (1852), McGill University (1821), the Université de Montréal (1876), and the Université du Québec (1969), in Québec; and the University of Saskatchewan (1907).

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Way of Life

The complex regional and cultural composition of Canadian society means that there is no single Canadian way of life, but certain generalizations can be made. Perhaps the clearest is that Canada shares with the United States, most European countries, and Japan a high standard of living relative to the remainder of the world. Most Canadians are well housed, fed, and clothed. Canadians also enjoy an advanced, efficient health care system that is universally available to all citizens and landed immigrants (immigrants who are allowed permanent residence in the country) regardless of their location, income, or social standing. In fact, recent opinion polls have shown that Canadians see this system of socialized medicine as a defining characteristic of their national identity.

Generally, Canadians devote the highest portion of their income to housing. Most own their homes, and the majority reside in single-family detached homes. Housing quality is generally high, and only about 1 percent live in units defined by government agencies as crowded. However, housing quality is not as high in rural and northern areas as it is in Canada’s cities. Problems are especially prevalent on Indian Reserves (lands set aside for Status Indians). Housing in the Arctic region poses special problems; permafrost can cause foundations to shift and makes providing water and sanitary services difficult. Frequently, aboveground insulated utility systems are the only feasible solution.

The nature of Canadian households has changed considerably over the past quarter-century. With the liberalization of divorce legislation in the late 1960s and changing social attitudes about marriage, the number of single-parent households and common-law unions has increased.

Canadian eating habits are also being transformed. Concern for better health has led to a small decline in total meat consumption; Canadians are also spending more on fruits, vegetables, pasta, and other complex carbohydrates. Canadians, especially those in the larger cities, have also acquired more cosmopolitan tastes. The range of foods and beverages available is far greater than ever before, and includes dishes from Ethiopia, Thailand, Latin America, and a variety of Chinese regions. Still, many traditional regional eating habits have been retained, such as the distinctive diets of the Inuit and other indigenous groups, and the French-influenced cuisine of Québec.

Although lacrosse was Canada’s first national game, ice hockey is its most popular sport. At the professional level, there are six National Hockey League (NHL) teams in Canada, including two of its most venerable, the Montréal Canadiens and the Toronto Maple Leafs. The Canadian Football League was created in 1956. Baseball has been played in Canada since at least 1838, and a Canadian professional league was established in 1876. The Montréal Expos became Canada’s first major league baseball team in 1969. The Toronto Blue Jays began play eight years later and became one of the sport’s most successful teams, attracting more than 4 million fans in a single season and winning the World Series twice (1992 and 1993). After years of declining attendance, however, the Expos franchise moved to Washington, D.C., in 2005 to become the Washington Nationals. Two Canadian teams joined the National Basketball Association (NBA) in the 1990s: the Toronto Raptors and the Vancouver Grizzlies. The Grizzlies subsequently relocated to Memphis, Tennessee, in 2001.

Canada consistently produces Olympic medal winners in a variety of sports, including ice hockey, rowing, track and field, and, most notably, ice skating. A large and growing number of ordinary Canadians regularly participate in sporting leagues, fitness classes, and individual exercise.

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Social Issues