Important Dates

• 1215

  Signing of Magna Carta in England

• 1497

  European exploration begins with the expedition of John Cabot, who was the first to draw a map of Canada’s East Coast

• 1534 to 1542

  Jacques Cartier makes three voyages across the Atlantic, claiming the land for King Francis I of France

• 1550s

  The name of Canada begins appearing on maps

• 1604

  The first European settlement north of Florida is established by French explorers Pierre de Monts and Samuel de Champlain

• 1608

  Samuel de Champlain builds a fortress at what is now Quebec City

• 1610

  English settlement begins

• 1670

  King Charles II of England grants the Hudson’s Bay Company exclusive trading rights over the watershed draining into Hudson Bay

• 1700s

  The maple leaf is adopted as a symbol in Canada

• 1701

  The French and the Iroquois make peace

• 1755 to 1763

  “Great Upheaval” during the war between Britain and France, more than two-thirds of the Acadians are deported from their homeland.

• 1758

  The first representative assembly is elected in Halifax, Nova Scotia

• 1759

  The British defeat the French in the Battle of the Plains of Abraham at Quebec City marking the end of France’s empire in America

• 1763

  The Aboriginal territorial rights are first guaranteed

• 1774

  The British Parliament passes the Quebec Act

• 1776

  -The thirteen British colonies to the south of Quebec declare independence and form the United States.
  – Joseph Brant leads thousands of loyalist Mohawk Indians into Canada

• 1791

  -The Constitutional Act is passed and divides the Province of Quebec into Upper Canada (later Ontario)
  – The name ‘Canada’ becomes official

• 1793

  Upper Canada becomes the first province in the Empire to move toward abolition

• 1800s

  Ice hockey is developed in Canada

• 1805

  The defeat of Napoleon Bonaparte’s fleet in the Battle of Trafalgar

• 1812

  The United States launch an invasion in June to conquer Canada

• 1814

  The American attempt to conquer Canada fails

• 1815

  The Duke of Wellington defeats Napoleon

• 1832

  The Montreal Stock Exchange is open

• 1833

  British Parliament abolishes slavery throughout the Empire

• 1840

  Upper and Lower Canada are united as the Province of Canada

• 1847-48

  Nova Scotia becomes the first British North American colony to attain full responsible government

• 1849

  Sir Louis-Hippolyte La Fontaine, a champion of French language rights, becomes the first head of a responsible government

• 1854

  The Victoria Cross, the highest honour available to Canadians, started to be awarded that year

• 1857

  Ottawa, located on the Ottawa River, was chosen as the capital by Queen Victoria

• 1860s

  The Parliament buildings were completed

• 1864

  Sir Leonard Tilley suggested the term “Dominion of Canada”

• 1867

  - On July 1st, the Fathers of Confederation established the Dominion of Canada, the birth of the country that we know today
  – The British Parliament passed the British North America Act, now known as the Constitution Act
  – Sir John Alexander Macdonald, a Father of Confederation, became Canada’s first Prime Minister
  – Canada became a constitutional monarchy
  – The responsibilities of the federal and provincial governments were defined

• 1869

  Canada took over the vast Northwest region from the Hudson’s Bay Company

• 1873

  The RCMP (Royal Canadian Mounted Police) was created

• 1890s

  Yukon Gold Rush

• 1891

  Basketball was invented by Canadian James Naismith

• 1916

  Manitoba becomes the first province to grant voting rights to women

• 1917

  The Canadian Corps capture Vimy Ridge, securing the Canadians’ reputation for valour as the ‘shock troops of the British Empire’

• 1918

  Most Canadian female citizens aged 21 and over are granted the right to vote in federal elections

• 1920

  Foundation of the Group of Seven who developed a style of painting to capture the rugged wilderness landscapes

• 1921

  King George V assigns Canada’s national colours (white and red)

• 1927

  - The Peace Tower is completed, in memory of the First World War
  – Old Age Security is devised

• 1929

  Stock market crashes which leads to the Great Depression or the ‘Dirty Thirties’

• 1934

  The Bank of Canada is created

• 1940

  Unemployment insurance (now called "employment insurance") is introduced by the federal government

• 1944

  In the Second World War, the Canadians capture Juno Beach on June 6, as part of the Allied invasion of Normandy on D-Day

• 1947

  The discovery of oil in Alberta begins Canada’s modern energy industry

• 1948

  Japanese-Canadians gain the right to vote

• 1951

  For the first time, a majority of Canadians are able to afford adequate food, shelter and clothing

• 1952

  Queen Elizabeth II becomes Queen of Canada

• 1960s

  Quebec experiences an era of rapid change known as the Quiet Revolution

• 1965

  - The new Canadian flag, as we know it today, is raised for the first time
  – The Canada and Quebec Pension Plans are devised

• 1967

  Canada starts its own honours system with the Order of Canada

• 1969

  Parliament passes the Official Languages Act which guarantees French and English services in the federal government across Canada

• 1970s

  The term First Nations is used

• 1980

  -Terry Fox begins a cross-country run, the "Marathon of Hope" to raise money for cancer research. He becomes a hero to Canadians.
  -O Canada is proclaimed as the National Anthem

• 1982

  - The Constitution of Canada is amended to entrench the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
  – Queen Elizabeth II proclaims the amended Constitution in Ottawa.

• 1988

  Canada enacts free trade with the United States

• 2006

  The House of Commons recognizes that the Quebecois form a nation within a united Canada

• 2008

  Ottawa formally apologized to former Aboriginal students for forcing them to assimilate into the mainstream Canadian culture by placing them in residential school from the 1800s until the 1980s.