Canadian Political Timeline

This document, which was last revised on 3 June 1997, has been adapted for the Postcolonial Literature and Culture Web with the kind permission of the Canadian Association for Commonwealth Literature and Language Studies (CACLALS). It derives from a project directed by Dr Leon Litvack as a requirement for the MA degree in Modern Literary Studies in the School of English, the Queen's University of Belfast.

1535	Jacques Cartier is the first European to sail up the St. Lawrence river into the interior of Canada.
1608	Samuel de Champlain founds Quebec.
1608-1763	Creation of "New France"; exploration; fur trading; building of series of forts; British/French struggle for control.
1763	British conquest of New France.
1775-6	Canada refuses to join with the 13 states in rebellion. Subsequent invasion by the US fails.
1783	American independence leaves two British colonies in the north - Quebec and Nova Scotia.
1791	Creation of Upper (Ontario) and Lower (Quebec) Canada.
1812-4	British/US war; agreement on 49th parallel as Canadian border; rapid immigration from the former colonies and Europe.
1850	Beginning of "Indian Treaties" granting limited land rights and financial compensation for the European acquisition of territory.
1867	British North America Act creates united Canada, following US civil war, and amid fears of an American invasion.
1871	Canada reaches the Pacific after British Columbia joins the federation.
1914-8	World War I creates a desire for greater autonomy.
1923-31	Gradual ending of Imperial diplomatic unity and granting of autonomy to the Dominions of the Empire.
1945	End of World War II and beginning of economic boom.
1960s	Rapid Asian and Third World immigration.
1971	Trudeau's government officially endorses the policy of multiculturalism.
1995	Referendum on French-speaking independence returns slight pro-federation majority; policy of First Nation's self-government officially endorsed.