Our journey takes us to Canada, the second-largest country in the world, known for its vast wilderness and friendly people. There are around 40 million people living here, and the capital is Ottawa, though you might be more familiar with cities like Toronto, Vancouver, or the French-speaking Montreal. The official languages are English and French.

Canada covers about 9.98 million square kilometers, or 3.85 million square miles. To imagine its size, the country is roughly the same size as the entire continent of Europe, or about the same size as China in Asia. It stretches across six different time zones and touches three different oceans!

The most popular sport is Ice Hockey, which is so important to Canadians that it is often called a religion there. Their national animal is the Beaver, a hardworking builder that played a huge role in the country’s early history and fur trade.

The flag features two red vertical bars on the sides and a white square in the middle containing a single red maple leaf, where the red symbolizes the sacrifices made during the World Wars and the white represents the snowy north.

The food is delicious and perfect for cold weather. You must try Poutine, which is a pile of crispy fries topped with fresh cheese curds and warm brown gravy. Canada is also famous for Maple Syrup; they produce about 75% of the world’s supply, and people love to pour it over pancakes or even roll it in fresh snow to make “maple taffy.”

Canada is home to more lakes than the rest of the world’s lakes combined, with over two million of them dotting the landscape! In the province of Newfoundland, you can watch giant icebergs float past the coast in an area called “Iceberg Alley.” The country also has a town called Churchill, known as the “Polar Bear Capital of the World,” where bears occasionally wander through the streets and residents leave their car doors unlocked so people have a place to hide if a bear appears. Canada is also where Basketball was invented by James Naismith, and it’s the birthplace of famous things like the Snowmobile and the IMAX movie system.

From the towering Rocky Mountains to the historic streets of Quebec City, Canada is a land of massive scale and natural beauty. Thank you!