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Happy Canada Day

© Mary M. Alward

July 1, 2005 is Canada Day. Canada celebrates her birthday each year on July 1st. There are celebrations all over the country. This year, Canada will be 138 years old. Canada was founded in 1867. She is considerably younger than the United States.

Before Confederation (when Canada was founded), the country was made up of Upper and Lower Canada. Upper Canada was located where Ontario is today. Lower Canada was where Quebec is located. We had both English- and French-speaking people, just as we do today.

The rest of Canada was mostly wilderness, though there were people who lived in remote areas. Many of them were Native Americans. They had a wide variety of customs and traditions, as there were hundreds of different tribes.

Explorers came to Canada and found their way across the country to both the east and west coasts. Today, Canada is a large country with a land mass larger than the United States. There are still many remote areas that have not been explored in the Northwest Territories, Labrador and Nunavut, as well as the northern parts of some of the provinces.

Canada is an interesting country. We have people from many walks of life living here. Large cities like Toronto and Vancouver have people from all over the world living there. Some of these people establish small communities within the cities.

Today, all Canadians will have a holiday to celebrate Canada's birthday. My family and I will attend local celebrations and join in the fun, enjoying the barbeque at the local park where there will be a parade and music. If you are a Canadian, I hope you will also celebrate Canada. If you live in the United States, your holiday is the 4th of July. Enjoy all of the celebrations.

Author's Note:

Next month, the next article in the Haida series will be published.

The copyright of the article Happy Canada Day in Canada for Kids is owned by Mary M. Alward. Permission to republish Happy Canada Day in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.