Canada

Understand

Canada is a land of vast distances and rich natural beauty. Canada's economic, cultural, linguistic and social characteristics closely resemble its neighbour to the south, the United States, but there are significant differences as well, as Canadians will be quick to tell you. For one thing, over 20% of Canadians (mostly, but by no means all, in Quebec) speak French as a first language. Also, while Canada is about the same size as the U.S. (larger if you count the many lakes), it has only about a tenth the population, most of them living within 200 km (120 mi) of the U.S.-Canada border. Large areas further north are quite sparsely populated, and some are nearly uninhabited wilderness. Indigenous cultural symbolism is also generally more visible in Canada than in the U.S., and there are plenty of opportunities for tourists to engage with Indigenous cultures. Indigenous issues occupy a prominent role in mainstream Canadian political discourse. Canada is consistently ranked as one of the wealthiest, least corrupt and most livable nations on Earth.

History The main wave of prehistoric settlers that came into the Americas from Northeast Asia via Alaska are thought to have arrived around 15,000 years ago, although the first migrants may have arrived around 30,000 years ago and the last about 5,000. The main current theory as to the expansion of the prehistoric settlers is a southward migration along the coast with branching populations moving east and, later on, north. By this theory, the longest established cultures are the Pacific Coast tribes and the most recently established are the Arctic cultures. Indigenous nations across what would later become Canada led different lifestyles depending on the local environment and the resources they could use for food and material

Getting there

Canada requires anybody who want to enter the country to be of "good moral character", with a strict interpretation regarding past offences. Any offence may make you inadmissible, including things not regarded as criminal offences in your home country and the country where they were committed, such as some traffic law violations. Also an active civil judgement or financial trouble, such as significant unpaid debt may make you inadmissibile. See Traveling with a criminal history#Canada.

Citizens of the following countries do not need a visa to visit Canada for a stay of (generally) up to six months, provided no work or study is undertaken and the traveller holds a passport valid for six months beyond their intended date of departure: Andorra, Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Australia, Austria, Bahamas, Barbados, Belgium, Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, Brunei, Bulgaria, Cayman Islands, Chile, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Falkland Islands, Finland, France, Germany, Gibraltar, Greece, Hong Kong (BNO Passport or SAR Passport), Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Israel (National Passport holders only), Italy, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Malta, Monaco, Montserrat, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Papua New Guinea, Pitcairn Islands, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Romania (biometric passports only), Samoa, San Marino, Singapore, Slovakia, Solomon Islands, South Korea, Spain, St. Helena, Sweden, Slovenia, Switzerland, Taiwan (must be ordinary passport including ID card number), Turks and Caicos Islands, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom (including British (Overseas) Citizens that are re-admissible to the United Kingdom), United States and Vatican City. For more information, see this page. A visa exemption also applies to individuals holding

Getting around

Canada is huge – the second largest country in the world by area after Russia; this means that you will need several days to appreciate even a part of the country. The distances involved will boggle many travellers, though perhaps not those from other large countries. For comparison, the distance from St. John's, Newfoundland to Vancouver (over 5,000 km or 3,000 miles as the crow flies) is considerably more than that from London to Moscow, or from Delhi to Shanghai or Istanbul. The span of Canada's population is actually very small, however: 90% of Canada's population resides within 160 km of the southern border with the United States, and 57% of Canadians reside south of the parallel on which Seattle resides. As such, getting around in Canada is almost completely restricted to the southern "Canadian corridor", and travelling to or getting around northern Canada often requires flying.

By plane

The best way to get around the country is by air. Flag carrier Air Canada has by far the largest network and most frequent sched