Author Archives: Fred Williams

From what you’ve seen, how is Canada’s multiculturalism received abroad? This is one of those funny anecdotes. I was at an event hosted by the Pakistan High Commission here in Ottawa. I met someone new, who shook my hand and ...

Did you know that we can tell how many eggs are produced and how many asphalt roofing tiles are manufactured each month in Canada, but we don’t know how many charities and nonprofits there are?  Unfortunately, knowledge about the composition ...

There are many ways to seek insights into a country’s identity. It could be through art, music or even fashion, but the tastiest way to understand a culture is through their food. As a nation of diversity, Canada’s flavours are ...

Carbon pricing is an effort by government to raise the cost – by taxes or by regulation – of carbon-based fossil fuels, in the hope of reducing their use, thereby limiting greenhouse gas emissions to combat climate change. In 2016, ...

The Canadian federation has evolved, and it continues to change in a number of important ways. This needs to be better understood and appreciated. By almost every meaningful measure, we are not the same country we were a few decades ...

Clothing The colonization of eastern Canada began with the French in the 17th century. For some years, these settlers depended for clothing on what they brought with them. New garb was expensive and the only clothing available was ready-made garments ...

Over the last few weeks I’ve been sharing a selection of my favourite stats and feats from my new book Canadian Geographic Biggest and Best of Canada: 1000 Facts & Figures (in stores now!). If you enjoy trivia, particularly Canadian ...

Canada is a country in the northern part of North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic to the Pacific and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering 9.98 million square kilometres (3.85 million square miles), making ...