Until the Second World War, every Canadian province except Quebec was overwhelmingly British. Some Canadians were more patriotic than the British themselves and were really angry if anyone walked out of a cinema while ‘God Save the King’ was being played. Now Canadians think of themselves as a people in their own right, not tied to either Britain or the USA. The USA has not been a threat to Canada for almost two hundred years. In fact, the 6,416 km US-Canadian frontier is the longest continuous frontier in the world, has no wire fence, no soldiers, no guns on either side. It is called ‘The Border’.
| Date | People | Influences, results |
| 25000 years ago | From Asia across the Bering Strait | People can be divided into 6 groups: The arctic peoples (in the far north) à hunting. The sub-arctic peoples (from Newfoundland to British Columbia) à hunting, fishing à the Beothuks. The eastern woodlands tribes (Great Lakes, St. Lawrence River, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island) à agriculture à permanent settlements à the Iroquois. The plains peoples (the prairies, from lake Winnipeg to Rocky Mountains) à hunting, fishing à the Cree, the Blackfoot. The plateau peoples (British Columbia) à hunting, gathering. The northwest peoples (from Vancouver to Alaska) à hunting, fishing à the Haida. |
| 6000 years ago | The Eskimos | The Inuit (Eskimos) à hunting. |
| 1000 AD | The Vikings from Iceland and Green-land | Occupied the eastern edge of Canada, founded Norman settlement which existed only 1 year. |
| 1497 AD | English seaman John Cabot | Reached Newfoundland. |
| 1534 AD 1535 AD | French explorer Jacques Cartier – founder of Canada | Discovered the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Settled Kanata (a Huron-Iroquois word “village”) which gave the name to the whole country Canada. |
| 1608 AD 1642 AD | French explorer Champlain | Established the first permanent settlements at Quebec (“where the river becomes narrow”). Montreal. |
| 1663 AD | | Canada became a province of France (60.000 French settlers). |
| 1670 AD | British Trade Company | Hudson’s Bay Company (fur) occupied northern territories of the country à Ontario. |
| 1713 AD 1717 AD | The British |  Newfoundland were under Nova Scotia British control. |
| 1754 AD | | French-Indian War. |
| 1756 AD – 1763 AD | | Rivalry between the English and the French à The Seven Years’ War in which Great Britain gained military victory. |
| 1759 AD 1763 AD | | The British captured Quebec. The British obtained control of the rest of New France. France handed Canada over to Britain. |
| 1774 AD | | The Quebec Act (France retained the rights to their own language, religion and civil laws). |
| 1775 AD – 1783 AD | | The American Revolution. |
| 1791 AD | | Canada was divided into Upper (English speaking Ontario) and Lower Canada (French speaking Quebec). |
| 1793 AD | Sir Alexander Mackenzie | Reached the Pacific Ocean. |
| 1812 AD | Lord Selkirk | Formed a settlement of Scot Immigrants, Manitoba. |
| 1812 AD – 1814 AD | | British-American War which ended in a draw. |
| 1837 AD – 1839 AD | British Lord Durham | Political agitation. |
| 1840 AD | | Act of Union (Quebec and Ontario were united). They didn’t like to be under British or American control. |
| 1848 AD | | Canada got internal self-government. |
| 1867 AD, July 1st | The Canadian | Dominion of Canada (a national holiday, Day of Canada). 4 provinces were united Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick. |
| By 1912 AD | | All provinces had become part of the central government. |
| 1931 AD | Canada | A voluntary member of Commonwealth. |
| 1945 AD | Canada | A member of United Nation Organization. |
| 1949 AD | | Newfoundland became part of the central government. |
| 1949 AD | Canada | A member of NATO. |
| 1950s | | A time of unprecedented wealth (the middle class mushroomed). |
| 1960 AD | | Canada’s first Bill of Rights was signed. |
| 1995 AD | | Canada won in the so-called fish wars with Spain. |
| 2000 AD | | Canada maintains its position in NATO and is one of the so-called G-7 countries. (The G-7 group of Germany, France, the USA, the UK, Japan, Italy and Canada meet regularly to develop major economic policies.) |
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