About Canada

Sample some maritime lobster, go bird watching in the Rockies, check out international film festivals in our urban centers, upbeat jazz, or embark on an Arctic adventure on the tundra. Particularly popular in summer, festivals can take you to the home of Anne of Green Gables in Prince Edward Island or to the heart of the Caribbean - right in downtown Toronto! How about an ice carving and chili cook-off on a west coast beach or some buckin' bronco rodeo action in the prairies? Float on the ocean or in a hot air balloon - you'll be high on exhilaration,whatever you choose to do. In celebration of winter Canada offers many outdoor festivals. All across the country, the cities are dressed for the season with displays of twinkling lights. For a breathtaking view, visit Niagara Falls during the Winter Festival of Lights. Join countless others in celebrating Canada's history, culture and climate at the various winter carnivals of Manitoba, Ontario and Quebec. Cheer on participants at the Canadian Open Sled Dog Championships in Fort Nelson, British Columbia. Or, if you prefer to stay warm, enjoy a laugh at the Edmonton Comedy Arts Festival. Whatever you choose, you will be greeted with the warmest welcome.
Whatever you're looking to do, any time of year you'll find the right festival or event in Canada.

The National Gallery of Canada, a visual arts museum of international stature, holds its collections of art in trust for all Canadians. The mandate of the National gallery, as set out in the 1990 Museums Act is: to develop, maintain and make known, throughout Canada and internationally, a national collection of works of art, historic and contemporary, with special but not exclusive reference to Canada; and to further knowledge, understanding and enjoyment of art in general among all Canadians.

National parks are among Canada's - and the world's - natural jewels. They represent the power of Canada's natural environment -- a compelling force -- which has shaped not only the geography of this country, but also the course of its history and the experiences of the people who live and travel here. National parks are established to protect and present outstanding representative examples of natural landscapes and natural phenomena that occur in Canada's 39 natural regions, as identified in the National Parks System Plan. These wild places, located in every province and territory, range from mountains and plains, to boreal forests and tundra, to lakes and glaciers, and much more. National parks protect the habitats, wildlife and ecosystem diversity representative of - and sometime unique to - the natural regions.
National parks are located on the Atlantic, Pacific and Arctic coasts, across the interior mountains and plains and Great Lakes, reaching as far north and south as Canada goes. They range in size from just under 9 km2 (St Lawrence Islands National Park of Canada) to almost 45,000 km2 (Wood Buffalo National Park of Canada). And they include world-renowned names such as Banff and Jasper, as well as more recently established Ivvavik and Vuntut.