Canada Quick Facts
Keep checking in for more quick facts -- we publish more almost daily!Canada: Quick Fact #18
According to the 2006 census, 70 per cent of Canadians' first language is English, 24 per cent French. The five most widely-spoken non-official languages are Chinese (2.6 per cent), Punjabi (0.8 per cent), Spanish (0.7 per cent), Italian (0.6 per cent), and Arabic (0.5 per cent). Aboriginal languages are spoken by less than one percent of the population.
CBC News Interactive feature: Languages in Canada
Canada: Quick Fact #17
Canada's official national motto is "A Mari Usque Ad Mare" (From Sea to Sea).
Canada: Quick Fact #16
Canada has more fresh water than any other country -- more than half the world's lakes are within its borders. There are over two million lakes covering about 7.6 per cent of the landmass.
Canada: Quick Fact #15
A Canadian Prime Minister has no term limits and can be continuously re-elected. William Lyon Mackenzie King (right) was Prime Minister for over 21 years, while Sir Charles Tupper was in office for only two months and seven days.
Canada has oil reserves second only to Saudi Arabia.
Canada: Quick Fact #12
Toronto is the third-largest live theatre centre in the English-speaking world after New York City and London, England.
Canada: Quick Fact #11
Canada has more doughnut shops per capita than any other country on earth. Hamilton, Ontario, home of the first Tim Hortons, has approximately one doughnut shop per 300 residents.
Canada: Quick Fact #10
Since becoming the championship trophy of the NHL in 1926, the Stanley Cup has been won by a Canadian team a total of 41 out of 80 seasons: 23 by Montreal, 11 by Toronto, 5 by Edmonton and one each for Calgary and Ottawa.
Canada: Quick Fact #8
Linda Evangelista, hailing from St. Catharines, Ontario, is one of the original five "supermodels" (alongside Germany's Claudia Schiffer, Britain's Naomi Campbell and Americans Cindy Crawford and Christy Turlington).
Canada: Quick Fact #7
Canadians are credited with coming up with some of the world's finest inventions: Light bulb (1874), telephone (1876), standard time (1878), game of basketball (1892), electric oven (1892), radio voice transmission (1900), zipper (1913), insulin (1921), Java programming language (1994), ski-doo (1922), snowblower (1925), Plexiglas (1931), electron microscope (1938), paint roller (1940), walkie-talkie (1942), electronic music synthesizer (1945), pacemaker (1950), electric wheelchair (1952), instant replay (1955), alkaline long-lasting battery (1959), hockey goalie mask (1959), Wonderbra (1964), bloody caesar (1969), BlackBerry (1999).
Canada: Quick Fact #5
The Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympic Games will be Canada's third turn as host, after holding the summer games in Montreal (1976) and winter games in Calgary (1988). Number of Canadian gold medals won during those games? Zero.
Canada: Quick Fact #4
Canada has more automobiles per person than any other country with at least one car for every two Canadians. Our favourite car? The Honda Civic, crowned the best-selling car in Canada for the 10th consecutive year in 2007.
Canada: Quick Fact #3
More than 80 per cent of the world's supply of maple syrup comes from Canada (the vast majority from Quebec). Canada also leads the world in the production of zinc, uranium, nickel, pulp and paper, ice wine and of course, hockey players.
Canada: Quick Fact #1
Canadians consume more Kraft Dinner per capita than any other nationality in the world.
