Discovering Canada, a very beautiful place

Why Canada?

During our geography lessons we discovered Canada, a very particular and interesting country situated in the North of the American continent.

What we liked most was the fact that a very large Italian Community lives there, distributed on the territory. There are five hundred and sixty thousand Italians in Ontario, hundred and seventy in Quebec, seventy-three thousand in British Columbia. Predominantly Italian Canadians live in the large urban areas of cities like Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal.

The data held by the Department of Immigration and the Canadian censuses show that the Italian community in Canada is the fourth, after the English, French and German ones.

The most significant increase in the number of residents belonging to the Italian community in Canada occurred between 1951 and 1961, when it passed from fifty thousand to four hundred thousand units. This increase was due to the italians’ immigration. In 1971 Canada was the first place to adopt multiculturalism.

Canada is the second largest country in the world after Russia. It is a Federal Constitutional Monarchy. 89% is uninhabited; more than half of its territory is forest and about half of the population lives near the border with the USA. There are 10 provinces: Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, New Brunswick, New Scotland, Ontario, Newfoundland and Labrador, Prince Edward Island, Québec and Saskatchewan and 3 territories: NorthwestTerritories, Nunavut and Yukon. The most important cities are: Ottawa (the capital), Montreal, Toronto, Vancouver and Quebec. Its symbols are the maple leaf, the beaver and the “Mounties”, policeman on horses. In Canada you can do different sports, but the favourite is Hockey.

Canada has the longest coastline on the Earth, its border with the US is the world longest land border, the density of population is 3.3 inhabitants/Km², the lowest in the world. The most densely populated part of the country is Quebec City.

Winters are harsh. There is a continental climate where temperatures are usually about     -15°C but they can drop below -40°C. In noncostal regions, snow persists from 6 months to the whole year in the most northern regions.The climate is temperate in Coastal British Columbia with mild and rainy winters. On the east and west coasts temperatures are about 20°C – 30°C in some inner places they can reach 40°C.

Elizabeth II is Canada’s formal head of state. The general governor carries out the duties of head of state. Now The Prime Minister and head of the governement is Justin Trudeau.

Over 40 million tourists visit Canada each year because there is so much to see and to do. There are The Niagara Falls on the border with the USA, the CN tower in Toronto, some National parks where visitors can enjoy hiking, canoeing, kayaking and white water rafting; the old town of Montreal, the West Edmonton Mall and Stanley Park in Vancouver.

In Ontario, you can go to the Niagara Falls, situated on Niagara river at the border of the Canadian province of Ontario and the U.S. State of New York. They are the most powerfull waterfalls in North America. The Horseshoefalls dispense 90% of water from the Niagara River and are a source of hydroelectricpower. In winter they are frozen and even more beautiful.

In Toronto, on lake Ontario, you can see the Cn Tower, that is a communication and observation tower. It was built in 1976. For 34 years it held the record for the world’s tallest tower.It is still, the tallest free-standing structure in the Western Hemisphere. It attracts a lot of tourists for its breathtaking view.

And now the voice of a person who lived there for long, Samantha Mathias, our KET teacher who has been working as mothertongue teacher in our school for some years:

“I lived in Toronto for 15 years. Toronto is the largest city in Canada, it is very modern, very clean and the service is very good. There is an underground system which is very good; Toronto is now a big city with about three or three and a half million people and it is very multiethnic. There is Chinatown, Little Italy, the Portuguese area and lots of different types of restaurants. Outside Toronto there are many areas and lakes where people have cottages and where they go on weekends; there is a lot of nature, the lakes are beautiful and very big. Toronto is on lake Ontario; one of the tallest free-standing buildings is called CN Tower”.

In Montreal, you can have a stroll along the Underground city. It was built in 1962 and keeps the Montrealers warm during the cold winter months. It is connected to subways, train stations, bus terminals. There are some offices, department stores, banks, movie theatres, restaurants, shops, hotels, the University of Montreal, Place des Arts, Olympic Park, a cathedral, the Bell Centre and 3 exhibition halls: the Place Bonaventure, the Convention Centre and the Olympic Centre. Its beauty is that keeps locals and visitors out of the elements. If you live and work along the underground city tunnel route, there’s no need to emerge.

In Montreal, you also can see the Notre-Dame Basilica. It is the first Gothic Revival church in Canada. Its history has Catholic roots.

Aura is a luminous experience in the heart of the Basilica. The experience begins with a path of lights, revealing the Basilica’s wealth of exquisite works. An immersion into a sonically and visually captivating universe guides visitors to the heart of Notre-Dame.This experience takes place in 2 parts: the former is a series of multimedia installations, the latter is a sensory experience.

Celine Dion and René Angélil got married here on 17 December 1994. Dion is a Canadian singer, born into a large family from Charlemagne, Quebec, she emerged as a teen star in her homeland with a series of French-language albums during the 1980s.

St. Joseph’s oratory

Saint Joseph’s oratory of Mount Royal is a Roman Catholic minor basilica. It is situated on Mount Royal’s Westmount Summit in Montreal, Quebec. It is Canada’s largest Church and claims to have one of the largest domes in the world. The basilica enshrines a statue of Saint Joseph, which was authorised a Canonical coronation by Pope Pius X on March 1910.

In Ottawa you can visit:

Canada’s parliament Hill, a cultural and community hub. You can take in the Sound and Light show, which projects a beautiful story into the Parliament Buildings themselves.

The Rideau Canal is a year-round destination for outdoor entertainment. In the winter you can enjoy skating and when the ice melts you can also take a canoe down those same waters or enjoy them on a relaxing boat cruise. You can also explore the canal by walking, running or cycling along its banks.

Haunted Walks: this 90 minute walks put you into some of the most haunted buildings in the city. These include a jail-turned-hostel that was the site of the last public hanging in Canada. There are ghost stories, anecdotes from the city’s darker past and a little bit of history.

In Vancouver you can visit the Stanley Park, a public park that borders the downtown of Vancouver in British Columbia, and it  is almost entirely surrounded by the waters of Vancouver Harbour and the English Bay.

And you, which country or place would you like to visit?

Anna Bosio, Aurora Bottà, Giada Donda e Alfredo Franceschinelli