The second largest country, highest number of inland lakes in the world with more than half the land is forest, perfect to lose yourself and be taken by the power of nature.

With such a large land mass its difficult to cover such a large space in a short amount of time, over the years I have visited the places from the Pacific coast, through the Canadian Rockies and even the Atlantic Coast. Canada boasts the largest unprotected boarder with the United States, and its climate drastically changes from east to west and north to south, from polar conditions to hot sticky summers in the south.

Canada's favourite past-time is living in the outdoors, camping and hiking, walks, sailing, skiing, cross country, picnics, swimming, BBQ's and so much more. Its one of the most active nations in the world, where people play and life is about experiencing and reconnecting with mother nature. One of the most multicultural nations in the world, most of its citizens, including myself, come from else-where, considered a mosaic rather than a melting pot.

The land occupied by Canada was inhabited various groups of Aboriginal people have resided on their lands since the beginning of time. Beginning in the late 15th century, British and French expeditions explored, and later settled along, the Atlantic coast. France ceded nearly all of its colonies in North America in 1763 after the Seven Year War. In 1867, with the union of three British North American colonies through Confederation, Canada was formed as a federal dominion of four provinces, this began a process of increasing autonomy from the United Kingdom, highlighted by the Statute of Westminster of 1931 and culminated in the Canada Act of 1982, which severed the legal dependence on the British parliament.

A federation consisting of ten provinces and three territories, Canada is governed as a parliamentary democracy and a constitutional monarchy with Queen Elizabeth II as its head of state. It is a bilingual nation with both English and French as official languages at the federal level. One of the world's highly developed countries, Canada has a diversified economy that is reliant upon its abundant natural resources and upon trade, particularly with the United States, with which Canada has had a long and complex relationship.

The name Canada comes from a St. Lawrence Iroquoian word, kanata, meaning "village" or "settlement". In 1535, indigenous inhabitants of the present-day Quebec City region used the word to direct French explorer Jacques Cartier towards the village of Stadacona. Cartier later used the word Canada to refer not only to that particular village, but also the entire area, by 1545, European books and maps had begun referring to this region as Canada.

Upon Confederation in 1867, the name Canada was adopted as the legal name for the new country.

Europeans first arrived when the Vikings settled briefly at L'Anse aux Meadows around AD 1000, after the failure of that colony, there was no known further attempt at Canadian exploration until 1497, when John Cabot explored Canada's Atlantic coast for England. In 1534 Jacques Cartier explored Canada for France. French explorer Samuel de Champlain arrived in 1603 and established the first permanent European settlements at Port Royal in 1605 and Quebec City in 1608. Among French colonists of New France, Canadiens extensively settled the Saint Lawrence River valley and Acadians settled the present-day Maritimes, while French fur traders and Catholic missionaries explored the Great Lakes, Hudson Bay, and the Mississippi watershed to Louisiana, French and Iroquois Wars broke out over control of the fur trade. Canada (Upper and Lower) was the main front in the War of 1812 between the United States and the British Empire. Following the war, large-scale immigration to Canada from Britain and Ireland. The timber industry surpassed the fur trade in economic importance in the early nineteenth century.

The Constitution Act, 1867, brought about Confederation, creating "one Dominion under the name of Canada" on July 1, 1867, with four provinces: Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick. Prime Minister John A. Macdonald's Conservative government established a national policy of tariffs to protect Canadian manufacturing industries. To open the West, the government sponsored construction of three trans-continental railways, most notably the Canadian Pacific Railway, opened the prairies to settlement, and established the North-West Mounted Police to assert its authority over this territory. In 1898, after the Klondike Gold Rush in the Northwest Territories, the Canadian government created the Yukon territory. Under Liberal Prime Minister Wilfrid Laurier, continental European immigrants settled the prairies, and Alberta and Saskatchewan became provinces in 1905.

The Great Depression brought economic hardship to all of Canada. Canada declared war on Germany independently during World War II three days after Britain. The first Canadian Army units arrived in Britain in December 1939. Canadian troops played important roles in the Battle of the Atlantic, the failed 1942 Dieppe Raid in France, the Allied invasion of Italy, the D-Day landings, the Battle of Normandy, and the Battle of the Scheldt in 1944. Canada provided asylum and protection for the monarchy of the Netherlands while that country was occupied, and is credited by the Netherlands for leadership and major contribution to the liberation of the Netherlands from Nazi Germany. The Canadian economy boomed as industry manufactured military materiel for Canada, Britain, China, and the Soviet Union.

The Dominion of Newfoundland, now Newfoundland and Labrador, joined Canada in 1949. Canada's growth, combined with the policies of successive Liberal governments, led to the emergence of a new Canadian identity, marked by the adoption of the current Maple Leaf Flag in 1965, the implementation of official bilingualism, English and French, in 1969, and official multiculturalism in 1971. Constitutional conferences resulted in the patriation of Canada's constitution from the United Kingdom, concurrent with the creation of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. At the same time, Quebec was undergoing social and economic changes through the Quiet Revolution, giving birth to a nationalist movement in the province and the more radical Front de libération du Québec (FLQ), whose actions ignited the October Crisis in 1970. A decade later, an unsuccessful referendum on sovereignty-association was held in 1980, after which attempts at constitutional amendment failed in 1990. A second referendum followed in 1995, in which sovereignty was rejected by a slimmer margin of just 50.6% to 49.4%. In 1997, the Supreme Court ruled that unilateral secession by a province would be unconstitutional, and the Clarity Act was passed by parliament, outlining the terms of a negotiated departure from Confederation.

The Constitution of Canada is the supreme law of the country, and consists of written text and unwritten conventions. The Constitution Act, 1982 added the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which guarantees basic rights and freedoms that usually cannot be overridden by any level of government (though a notwithstanding clause allows the federal parliament and provincial legislatures to override certain sections of the Charter for a period of five years) and added a constitutional amending formula.

Canada and the United States share the world's longest undefended border, and are each other's largest trading partner. Canada has an independent foreign policy, most notably maintaining full relations with Cuba and declining to participate in the Iraq War. Canada also maintains historic ties to the United Kingdom and France and to other former British and French colonies. Canada is noted for having a strong and positive relationship with the Netherlands, which Canada helped liberate during World War II, and the Dutch government traditionally gives tulips, a symbol of the Netherlands, to Canada each year in remembrance of Canada's contribution to its liberation.

Canadian culture has historically been influenced by British, French, and Aboriginal cultures and traditions, and heavily influenced by American culture because of its proximity. The creation and preservation of distinctly Canadian culture are supported by federal government programs, laws, and institutions such as the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the National Film Board of Canada, and the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission. Canadian culture has also been greatly influenced by immigration from all over the world, Canadians value multiculturalism and see Canadian culture as being inherently multicultural.

Canada's National symbols are influenced by natural, historical, and First Nations sources. The use of the maple leaf as a Canadian symbol dates to the early 18th century. Other symbols include the beaver, Canada Goose, Common Loon, the Crown, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, and the totem pole. The official national sports are hockey in the winter and lacrosse in the summer. Hockey is a national pastime and the most popular spectator sport in the country, also the sport most played, there are more Canadian players in the NHL than from all other countries combined.

Toronto

Canada's largest and most diverse city, the economic centre. Recognised as one of the most culturally diverse cities of the world.

Ottawa

The capital of Canada is a beautiful place at a much slower pace of life, its also the political capital and rated the 4th most cleanest city in the world.

Montreal

This french city in the province of Quebec is where rules are broken, the drinking age is 18, bring your own bottle of wine restaurants and party in the wild bars and clubs of city center.

Halifax

The capital city of Nova Scotia, its origins and rich maritime history derive from a strategic location and one of the world's great natural harbors.

Peggys Cove

Named after the cove of the same name, a name also shared with Peggys Point, one of the busiest tourist attractions in Nova Scotia and a prime attraction on the Lighthouse Trail.

Niagara Falls

The Horseshoe Falls in Niagara Falls Ontario is one of the world's most voluminous waterfalls. It is renowned for both its beauty and as a valuable source of hydroelectric power.

Niagara-on-the-Lake

A Canadian town located in Southern Ontario where the Niagara River meets Lake Ontario, and where many first got their first taste of freedom. It is a wine growing region where the production of Ice Wine is famous.

Algonquin Park

The first provincial park in Canada, with over 2400 lakes and 1200 kilometers of streams and rivers located within the park, formed by the retreat of the glaciers during the last ice age.

Vancouver

The sea and the beautiful mountain views, sunsets and a temperate climate and access to wilderness within reach of the city center.

Tofino

Gateway to ancient forests on the west coast of Vancouver Island in British Columbia, part of Clayoquot Sound, the closest town to the Pacific Rim National Park Reserve.

Kelowna

On Okanagan Lake in the Okanagan Valley of British Columbia, its name derives from a native term for "grizzly bear". Legend has it that the Ogopogo monster resides in the lake.

Calgary

Famous for its annual Stampede Festival, Calgary is a small city situated on the flatlands approximately 80 kilometers east of the Canadian Rockies..

Lake Louise

Sleeping above a clear sky of millions of stars, trek into deep forests, find sparkling blue lakes, peaks and glaciers, sip tea from a mountain peak and run into some wild habitat.

Jasper

A small town so remote you forget all about city life, perfect for rest and relaxation and exploring the wilderness.

Banff

Increasingly growing town with hot springs, trails, Hoo Doos and wild elk. Already becoming a commercial gateway into the Canadian Rockies.