Canada Timeline: A Chronology of Key Canadian Events
Circa
1000 Vikings are the first Europeans to reach North America.
1497 Italian-born navigator John Cabot reaches the coasts of Newfoundland and Cape Breton and claims the land for Britain.
1534 Jacques Cartier explores the St Lawrence river, claims the shores of the Gulf of St Lawrence for France.
1535 Two Aboriginal youths used the Huron-Iroquois word “kanata,” which means “village” or “settlement,” to tell Jacques Cartier the way to Stadacona, site of present-day Québec City.
1583 Newfoundland becomes Britain's first overseas colony.
1600s Fur trade rivalry between the French, English and Dutch; the Europeans exploit existing rivalries between Indian nations to form alliances.
1608 Samuel de Champlain established a fortified trading post at Québec.
1627 Company of New France established to govern and exploit "New France" - France's North American colonies.
1670 Hudson's Bay Company established by London traders. The company holds trading rights for regions whose rivers drain into Hudson Bay.
1701 Thirty Indian nations sign a peace treaty near Montreal with the French.
1755 Acadian delegates who refused the oath of allegiance were transported out of Nova Scotia. About half of the Acadians perished.
British Gains
1756 Seven Years' War begins, between New France and the larger and economically-stronger British colonies. After early French successes, the settlement of Quebec falls in 1759 and the British advance on Montreal.
1763 Under the Treaty of Paris, Britain acquires all French colonies east of the Mississippi including New France, which becomes the colony of Quebec.
1774 The Quebec Act recognizes the French language and the Roman Catholic religion in the colony.
1779 Fur traders in Montreal set up the North West Company. The company builds up a network of trading posts across the west and north; its expeditions reach the Pacific coast.
1783/4 Loyalist refugees from the American War of Independence settle in Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and Quebec.
1791 The first use of “Canada” as an official name when the Constitutional Act (or Canada Act) divided Quebec, then considerably larger, into the provinces of Upper Canada (present-day Ontario) and Lower Canada (present-day Quebec.)
1800s Immigration picks up. Thousands of newcomers from England, Scotland and Ireland arrive each year.
1812-14 War of 1812 between the US and Britain, largely over the effects on the US of British blockades of French ports. Action includes naval battles in the Great Lakes and a US attack on York (present-day Toronto). But the US fails to realize its plans to invade Canada.
1817 The Bank of Montréal, the first permanent bank in British North America, was founded.
1821 Hudson's Bay Company and North West Company merge, after years of bitter rivalry descend into bloodshed.
1836 Canada's first railway, the Champlain and St Lawrence Railroad, opens.
1837/8 Armed rebellions in Upper and Lower Canada, caused by disaffection with the ruling elites, poverty and social divisions.
1841 Formation of the United Province of Canada reunites Canada East (Lower) and Canada West (Upper) Canada.
1846 The Oregon Boundary Treaty established the boundary between British North America and the United States at the 49 north latitude.
Union of Canada
1867 British North America Act unites Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick in the Dominion of Canada.
1869 Louis Riel founded the Comité National des Métis to protect his people's rights, and helped stage the Red River Uprising. His subsequent trial and execution aroused debate.
1870 Manitoba becomes Canada's fifth province, followed by British Columbia in 1871 and Prince Edward Island in 1873.
1885 Canadian Pacific railroad is completed.
1894 The first Stanley Cup is awarded.
1896/9 Klondike Gold Rush.
1898 Yukon becomes a Territory.
1905 Alberta and Saskatchewan become Canada's 8th and 9th provinces.
1906 The Alpine Club of Canada is formed.
1909 Captain J.E Bernier proclaimed Canadian sovereignty over the entire Arctic Archipelago for Canada, from the mainland to the North Pole.
1910 Royal Canadian Navy formed.
1912 First Calgary Stampede.
1914 Outbreak of World War I. Canada fights on the side of Britain and France. Some French-speaking Canadians are wary of the move.
1916 Manitoba women become first women in Canada to vote.
1918 Canadian women over 21 gain right to vote federally.
1921 Agnes Campbell Macphail became the first women elected to the House of Commons.
1921 Canadian Schooner "Bluenose" wins the International Fisherman's Trophy.
1921/2 Frederick Banting and Charles Best invent insulin to treat diabetes.
1923 Banting & Macleod become first Canadian Nobel prize winners.
1924 Red Ensign becomes Canada's official flag.
Autonomy from Britain
1931 Statute of Westminster grants British dominions complete autonomy.
1939 Outbreak of World War II. Canadian forces fight in Italy, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, in the Atlantic and in Hong Kong.
1940 Women get vote in Quebec.
1947 Canada is declared to be of equal status with Great Britain within the Commonwealth.
1949 Canada becomes founder member of NATO. Newfoundland, until then a British dominion, becomes a province of Canada.
1960 Canadian Bill of Rights.
1961 The Saskatchewan Medical Care Insurance Bill became the first plan in North America providing universal coverage.
1965 The present Canadian flag is adopted, replacing one which had incorporated the British flag.
Trudeau era
1968 Pierre Trudeau of the Liberal party wins federal elections. On the provincial scene, the Parti Quebecois (PQ) is formed to push for complete independence for Quebec.
1969 Canada goes bilingual with passing of Official Languages Act
1970 Members of a radical Quebec separatist group, the Front de Liberation du Quebec, kidnap a British trade official and murder Quebec Government Minister, Pierre Laporte.
1975 Great Lakes vessel Edmund Fitzgerald sinks on Lake Superior.
1975 The beaver becomes the official symbol of Canada.
1976 The Parti Quebecois wins Quebec provincial elections.
1980 A referendum on the separation of Quebec is defeated.
1980 Terry Fox begins his Marathon of Hope in Saint John's, Newfoundland, to raise money for cancer research. The Marathon raised over $23 million.
1982 The UK transfers final legal powers over Canada. Canada adopts a new constitution, which includes a Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
1984 - Present
1984 Trudeau retires. Elections are won by the Progressive Conservatives under Brian Mulroney.
1984 Marc Garneau becomes first Canadian in space aboard shuttle Challenger.
1988 Canada and the US agree to establish free trade.
1991 Canada's first woman Premier, Rita Johnston
1992 Canada, US and Mexico finalize the terms of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).
1993 Mulroney resigns and is succeeded by Kim Campbell, Canada's first female Prime Minister. The Canadian parliament ratifies NAFTA. Campbell calls an election but suffers a massive defeat to the Liberals. Jean Chrétien becomes Prime Minister.
1995 A referendum in Quebec rejects independence by a margin of only 1%.
1999 Territory of Nunavut is formed in the north-west. It is the first territory in Canada to have a majority indigenous population.
2000 Chrétien elected as Prime Minister of Canada for a third term.
2001 Leaders of countries from across the Americas meet in Canada at the Summit of the Americas. They reaffirm their commitment to setting up the world's largest free trade zone by 2005.
2003 Jean Chrétien retires after 10 years in office. Paul Martin is sworn in as Prime Minister.
2004 The Liberals under Prime Minister Paul Martin are elected for a fourth term. The election results saw the Liberal government win a minority government, the first in 25 years.
2006 The Conservatives under Steven Harper defeat the Liberals to become Canada’s 22nd Prime Minister.
2006 The Alpine Club of Canada celebrates their 100th Anniversary.
Source: Government of Canada
http://www.dfait-maeci.gc.ca/kualalumpur/canada-timeline-en.asp
|
