Oh Canada – You're 150!

Today is Canada’s 150th birthday. I was born in this wonderful country and proud to call it my home. Our second official language is French but most of us don’t speak it. Most French speaking Canadians live in areas such as New Brunswick and Quebec though the majority of government jobs require you to be bilingual.

Canada is the most multicultural country on the planet. There are over 150 registered languages in this country; which means fabulous restaurants and culture to sample!

Some other Canada fun facts...

Canada’s name comes from a St. Lawrence Iroquoian word, kanata, which means village or settlement. A sofa is a couch. We have butter tarts, clamato juice, and ketchup chips. This country has the longest coastline in the world, about 243,000 kilometers or about 150,000 miles in length.

Canada has the fourth lowest population density index in the world with just over 36 million people in the second largest country in the world by land mass – 9.9 million square kilometers or 3.8 million square miles.

Silverware is cutlery. Canada is in the top five producing countries of gold, copper, zinc, nickel, aluminum, and natural gas. Soda is referred to as pop.

Basketball was invented by Canadian James Naismith. No we don't live in igloos and we do have running water and paved roads. When someone says thank-you, we do not reply; uh huh, cheers, or no worries; we simply say you're welcome.

Happy Canada Day to my fellow Canucks!
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We Stand On Guard for Thee

Today is Canada’s 146th birthday. Since this site has visitors from more than 180 countries, as a proud Canadian, I thought I’d share some fun facts about our country.

Canada’s name comes from a St. Lawrence Iroquoian word, kanata, which means village or settlement. We use the metric system, most of the time.

We are saying about, not a boot. Canadian Graeme Ferguson co-invented IMAX.
The longest highway in the world is the Trans-Canada Highway which is over 7,604 kilometers or 4,725 miles. Toronto is the 30th most populated city in the world.

We prefer using the word couch over sofa. The baseball glove was invented in Canada in 1883. Canada has the world’s smallest jail in Rodney, Ontario which is 24.3 square meters or 270 square feet.

Wayne Gretzky, Michael Buble, James Cameron, Jim Carrey, Alex Trebek, Celine Dion, Ryan Gosling, Rachel McAdams, Mike Myers, Justin Bieber, Leonard Cohen, Steve Nash, Ryan Reynolds and William Shatner are all Canadian.

Canada boasts a 99% literacy rate. The average life expectancy at birth is 81.16 years – the sixth highest in the world and more than 83% of Canadians have internet access compared to the US at 78%.

Silverware is called cutlery. Sorry is a perfectly acceptable response and often our default one. The country has the longest coastline in the world and Canada represents the world's 11th largest GDP.

We have butter tarts, poutine, and ketchup chips but maple syrup is not our national beverage – Google if you must. Canadian Thomas Ahearn invented the electric cooking range in 1882.

Canada has the fourth lowest population density index in the world with just over 34 million people in the second largest country in the world by land mass at approximately 9.9 million square kilometers or 3.8 million square miles.

There have been 22 Nobel Prize laureates from Canada and it's in the top five producing countries of gold, copper, zinc, nickel, aluminum, and natural gas.

Soda is referred to as pop. Canadians James Till and Ernest McCulloch are credited with the discovery of the stem cell.

Basketball was invented by Canadian James Naismith. Canada has the longest coastline of any country in the world. Canadians consume an average of 23.4 pounds of cheddar cheese each year.

Now you know.
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Kneale Mann | Leadership and Culture strategist, writer, speaker, executive coach engaging leaders, collaborative teams, and strong business results.

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