A land of vast distances and rich natural resources, Canada became a self-governing dominion in 1867, while retaining ties to the British crown. Canada gained legislative independence from Britain in 1931 and formalized its constitutional independence from the UK when it passed the Canada Act in 1982. Economically and technologically, the nation has developed in parallel with the US, its neighbor to the south across the world’s longest international border. Canada faces the political challenges of meeting public demands for quality improvements in health care, education, social services, and economic competitiveness, as well as responding to the particular concerns of predominantly francophone Quebec. Canada also aims to develop its diverse energy resources while maintaining its commitment to the environment.
land: 9,093,507 sq km
water: 891,163 sq km
border countries: US 8,891 km (includes 2,475 km with Alaska); Denmark (Greenland) 1.3 km
note: the Canadian Arctic Archipelago - consisting of 36,563 islands, several of them some of the world’s largest - contributes to Canada easily having the longest coastline in the world
contiguous zone: 24 nm
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
continental shelf: 200 nm or to the edge of the continental margin
lowest point: Atlantic/Pacific/Arctic Oceans 0 m
mean elevation: 487 m
arable land: 4.7% (2018 est.)
permanent crops: 0.5% (2018 est.)
permanent pasture: 1.6% (2018 est.)
forest: 34.1% (2018 est.)
other: 59.1% (2018 est.)
note 2: Canada has more fresh water than any other country and almost 9% of Canadian territory is water; Canada has at least 2 million and possibly over 3 million lakes - that is more than all other countries combined
38,516,736 (2023 est.)
noun: Canadian(s)
adjective: Canadian
Canadian 15.6%, English 14.7%, Scottish 12.1%, French 11%, Irish 12.1%, German 8.1%, Chinese 4.7%, Italian 4.3%, First Nations 1.7%, Indian 3.7%, Ukrainian 3.5%, Metis 1.5% (2021 est.)
note: percentages add up to more than 100% because respondents were able to identify more than one ethnic origin
English (official) 87.1%, French (official) 29.1%, Chinese languages 4.2%, Spanish 3.2%, Punjabi 2.6%, Arabic 2.4%, Tagalog 2.3%, Italian 1.5% (2022 est.)
major-language sample(s):
The World Factbook, the indispensable source for basic information. (English)
The World Factbook, une source indispensable d’informations de base. (French)
Christian 53.3%, Muslim 4.9%, Hindu 2.3%, Sikh 2.1%, Buddhist 1%, Jewish 0.9%, Traditional (North American Indigenous) 0.2%, other religions and traditional spirituality 0.6%, none 34.6% (2021 est.)
0-14 years: 15.65% (male 3,097,585/female 2,930,056)
15-64 years: 63.85% (male 12,367,172/female 12,224,077)
65 years and over: 20.5% (2023 est.) (male 3,630,580/female 4,267,266)
total dependency ratio: 52.1
youth dependency ratio: 23.9
elderly dependency ratio: 28.2
potential support ratio: 3.6 (2021 est.)
total: 42.4 years (2023 est.)
male: 41.2 years
female: 43.5 years
0.73% (2023 est.)
10.1 births/1,000 population (2023 est.)
8.2 deaths/1,000 population (2023 est.)
5.4 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2023 est.)
vast majority of Canadians are positioned in a discontinuous band within approximately 300 km of the southern border with the United States; the most populated province is Ontario, followed by Quebec and British Columbia
urban population: 81.9% of total population (2023)
rate of urbanization: 0.95% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)
6.372 million Toronto, 4.308 million Montreal, 2.657 million Vancouver, 1.640 million Calgary, 1.544 million Edmonton, 1.437 million OTTAWA (capital) (2023)
at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
0-14 years: 1.06 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 1.01 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.85 male(s)/female
total population: 0.98 male(s)/female (2023 est.)
29.4 years (2019 est.)
11 deaths/100,000 live births (2020 est.)
total: 4.3 deaths/1,000 live births (2023 est.)
male: 4.6 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 4 deaths/1,000 live births
total population: 84 years (2023 est.)
male: 81.7 years
female: 86.4 years
1.57 children born/woman (2023 est.)
0.77 (2023 est.)
NA
improved: urban: 99.3% of population
rural: 99.1% of population
total: 99.2% of population
unimproved: urban: 0.7% of population
rural: 0.9% of population
total: 0.8% of population (2020 est.)
12.9% of GDP (2020)
2.44 physicians/1,000 population (2019)
2.5 beds/1,000 population (2019)
improved: urban: 99.1% of population
rural: 98.9% of population
total: 99% of population
unimproved: urban: 0.9% of population
rural: 1.1% of population
total: 1% of population (2020 est.)
29.4% (2016)
total: 8 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
beer: 3.5 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
wine: 2 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
spirits: 2.1 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
other alcohols: 0.4 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
total: 13% (2020 est.)
male: 15.3% (2020 est.)
female: 10.7% (2020 est.)
NA
52.2% (2023 est.)
5.2% of GDP (2020 est.)
total population: NA
male: NA
female: NA
total: 17 years
male: 16 years
female: 17 years (2020)
metal smelting, coal-burning utilities, and vehicle emissions impacting agricultural and forest productivity; air pollution and resulting acid rain severely affecting lakes and damaging forests; ocean waters becoming contaminated due to agricultural, industrial, mining, and forestry activities
party to: Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Heavy Metals, Air Pollution-Multi-effect Protocol, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Persistent Organic Pollutants, Air Pollution-Sulphur 85, Air Pollution-Sulphur 94, Antarctic-Environmental Protection, Antarctic-Marine Living Resources, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Paris Agreement, Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping-London Convention, Marine Dumping-London Protocol, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: Air Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds, Marine Life Conservation
varies from temperate in south to subarctic and arctic in north
agricultural land: 6.8% (2018 est.)
arable land: 4.7% (2018 est.)
permanent crops: 0.5% (2018 est.)
permanent pasture: 1.6% (2018 est.)
forest: 34.1% (2018 est.)
other: 59.1% (2018 est.)
urban population: 81.9% of total population (2023)
rate of urbanization: 0.95% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)
0.08% of GDP (2018 est.)
0.08% of GDP (2018 est.)
particulate matter emissions: 6.39 micrograms per cubic meter (2019 est.)
carbon dioxide emissions: 544.89 megatons (2016 est.)
methane emissions: 101.82 megatons (2020 est.)
municipal solid waste generated annually: 25,103,034 tons (2014 est.)
municipal solid waste recycled annually: 5,168,715 tons (2008 est.)
percent of municipal solid waste recycled: 20.6% (2008 est.)
fresh water lake(s): Huron* - 35,972 sq km; Great Bear Lake - 31,328 sq km; Superior* - 28,754 sq km; Great Slave Lake - 28,568 sq km; Lake Winnipeg - 24,387 sq km; Erie* - 12,776 sq km; Ontario* - 9,790 sq km; Lake Athabasca - 7,935 sq km; Reindeer Lake - 6,650 sq km; Nettilling Lake - 5,542 sq km
note - Great Lakes* area shown as Canadian waters
Mackenzie - 4, 241 km; Yukon river source (shared with the US [m]) - 3,185 km; Saint Lawrence river mouth (shared with US) - 3,058 km; Nelson - 2,570 km; Columbia river source (shared with the US [m]) - 1,953 km; Churchill - 1,600 km; Fraser - 1,368 km; Ottawa - 1,271 km; Athabasca - 1,231 km; North Saskatchewan - 1,220 km; Liard - 1,115 km
note – [s] after country name indicates river source; [m] after country name indicates river mouth
Atlantic Ocean drainage: Mississippi* (Gulf of Mexico) (3,202,185 sq km, Canada only 32,000 sq km), Nelson (Hudson Bay) (1,093,141 sq km), Saint Lawrence* (1,049,636 sq km, Canada only 839,200 sq km)
Arctic Ocean drainage: Mackenzie (1,706,388 sq km)
Pacific Ocean drainage: Yukon* (847,620 sq km, Canada only 823,800 sq km), Columbia* (657,501 sq km, Canada only 103,000 sq km)
note - watersheds shared with the US shown with *
Northern Great Plains Aquifer
municipal: 4.87 billion cubic meters (2020 est.)
industrial: 27.51 billion cubic meters (2020 est.)
agricultural: 3.86 billion cubic meters (2020 est.)
2.9 trillion cubic meters (2020 est.)
one of the world’s largest economies; leading global financier and macroeconomic partner; largest US trading partner; key timber and oil and gas industries; Canada sends over half its development aid to the World Bank; key “blue economy” developer
$1.832 trillion (2021 est.)
$1.752 trillion (2020 est.)
$1.849 trillion (2019 est.)
note: data are in 2017 dollars
4.54% (2021 est.)
-5.23% (2020 est.)
1.88% (2019 est.)
$47,900 (2021 est.)
$46,100 (2020 est.)
$49,200 (2019 est.)
note: data are in 2017 dollars
$1,741,865,000,000 (2019 est.)
3.4% (2021 est.)
0.72% (2020 est.)
1.95% (2019 est.)
Fitch rating: AA+ (2020)
Moody’s rating: Aaa (2002)
Standard & Poors rating: AAA (2002)
note: The year refers to the year in which the current credit rating was first obtained.
agriculture: 1.6% (2017 est.)
industry: 28.2% (2017 est.)
services: 70.2% (2017 est.)comparison rankings:
household consumption: 57.8% (2017 est.)
government consumption: 20.8% (2017 est.)
investment in fixed capital: 23% (2017 est.)
investment in inventories: 0.7% (2017 est.)
exports of goods and services: 30.9% (2017 est.)
imports of goods and services: -33.2% (2017 est.)
wheat, rapeseed, maize, barley, milk, soybeans, potatoes, oats, peas, pork
transportation equipment, chemicals, processed and unprocessed minerals, food products, wood and paper products, fish products, petroleum, natural gas
4.74% (2021 est.)
21.017 million (2021 est.)
7.51% (2021 est.)
9.46% (2020 est.)
5.66% (2019 est.)
total: 14% (2021 est.)
male: 15%
female: 13.1%
9.4% (2008 est.)
note: this figure is the Low Income Cut-Off, a calculation that results in higher figures than found in many comparable economies; Canada does not have an official poverty line
33.3 (2017 est.)
on food: 9.1% of household expenditures (2018 est.)
on alcohol and tobacco: 3.3% of household expenditures (2018 est.)
lowest 10%: 2.6%
highest 10%: 24.8% (2000)
revenues: $686.718 billion (2020 est.)
expenditures: $861.955 billion (2020 est.)
-1% (of GDP) (2017 est.)
72.09% of GDP (2020 est.)
48.01% of GDP (2019 est.)
48.18% of GDP (2018 est.)
note: figures are for gross general government debt, as opposed to net federal debt; gross general government debt includes both intragovernmental debt and the debt of public entities at the sub-national level
13.3% (of GDP) (2020 est.)
1 April - 31 March
$826.662 million (2021 est.)
-$29.216 billion (2020 est.)
-$35.434 billion (2019 est.)
$611.146 billion (2021 est.)
$484.226 billion (2020 est.)
$561.63 billion (2019 est.)
note: Data are in current year dollars and do not include illicit exports or re-exports.
US 73% (2019)
crude petroleum, cars and vehicle parts, natural gas, gold, lumber (2021)
$609.256 billion (2021 est.) note: data are in current year dollars
$517.964 billion (2020 est.) note: data are in current year dollars
$589.037 billion (2019 est.) note: data are in current year dollars
US 57%, China 11%, Mexico 5% (2019)
cars and vehicle parts, delivery trucks, crude petroleum, refined petroleum (2019)
$106.615 billion (31 December 2021 est.)
$90.428 billion (31 December 2020 est.)
$85.297 billion (31 December 2019 est.)
$2,124,887,000,000 (2019 est.)
$1,949,796,000,000 (2018 est.)
Canadian dollars (CAD) per US dollar -
Exchange rates:
1.254 (2021 est.)
1.341 (2020 est.)
1.327 (2019 est.)
1.296 (2018 est.)
1.298 (2017 est.)
electrification - total population: 100% (2021)
installed generating capacity: 153.251 million kW (2020 est.)
consumption: 539.695 billion kWh (2020 est.)
exports: 67.2 billion kWh (2020 est.)
imports: 9.8 billion kWh (2020 est.)
transmission/distribution losses: 32.937 billion kWh (2020 est.)comparison rankings:
fossil fuels: 16.5% of total installed capacity (2020 est.)
nuclear: 14.7% of total installed capacity (2020 est.)
solar: 0.7% of total installed capacity (2020 est.)
wind: 5.7% of total installed capacity (2020 est.)
hydroelectricity: 60.8% of total installed capacity (2020 est.)
tide and wave: 0% of total installed capacity (2020 est.)
geothermal: 0% of total installed capacity (2020 est.)
biomass and waste: 1.6% of total installed capacity (2020 est.)
Number of operational nuclear reactors: 19 (2023)
Number of nuclear reactors under construction: 0
Net capacity of operational nuclear reactors: 13.62GW (2023)
Percent of total electricity production: 15% (2021)
Percent of total energy produced: 4% (2021)
Number of nuclear reactors permanently shut down: 2
production: 48.328 million metric tons (2020 est.)
consumption: 25.642 million metric tons (2020 est.)
exports: 32.026 million metric tons (2020 est.)
imports: 7.577 million metric tons (2020 est.)
proven reserves: 6.582 billion metric tons (2019 est.)
total petroleum production: 5,468,100 bbl/day (2021 est.)
refined petroleum consumption: 2,629,300 bbl/day (2019 est.)
crude oil and lease condensate exports: 3.177 million bbl/day (2018 est.)
crude oil and lease condensate imports: 793,800 bbl/day (2018 est.)
crude oil estimated reserves: 170.3 billion barrels (2021 est.)
2.009 million bbl/day (2017 est.)
1.115 million bbl/day (2017 est.)
405,700 bbl/day (2017 est.)
production: 178,723,494,000 cubic meters (2019 est.)
consumption: 124,502,315,000 cubic meters (2019 est.)
exports: 76,094,066,000 cubic meters (2019 est.)
imports: 28,026,440,000 cubic meters (2019 est.)
proven reserves: 2,067,126,000,000 cubic meters (2021 est.)
612.084 million metric tonnes of CO2 (2019 est.)
from coal and metallurgical coke: 56.087 million metric tonnes of CO2 (2019 est.)
from petroleum and other liquids: 311.336 million metric tonnes of CO2 (2019 est.)
from consumed natural gas: 244.66 million metric tonnes of CO2 (2019 est.)
403.7 million Btu/person (2019 est.)
number of registered air carriers: 51 (2020)
inventory of registered aircraft operated by air carriers: 879
annual passenger traffic on registered air carriers: 89.38 million (2018)
annual freight traffic on registered air carriers: 3,434,070,000 (2018) mt-km
C
1,467 (2021)
523
civil airports: 123
military airports: 8
joint use (civil-military) airports: 3
other airports: 389
note: paved runways have a concrete or asphalt surface but not all have facilities for refueling, maintenance, or air traffic control; the length of a runway required for aircraft to safely operate depends on a number of factors including the type of aircraft, the takeoff weight (including passengers, cargo, and fuel), engine types, flap settings, landing speed, elevation of the airport, and average maximum daily air temperature; paved runways can reach a length of 5,000 m (16,000 ft.), but the “typical” length of a commercial airline runway is between 2,500-4,000 m (8,000-13,000 ft.)
944
note: unpaved runways have a surface composition such as grass or packed earth and are most suited to the operation of light aircraft; unpaved runways are usually short, often less than 1,000 m (3,280 ft.) in length; airports with unpaved runways often lack facilities for refueling, maintenance, or air traffic control
26 (2021)
840,000 km oil and gas (2020)
total: 49,422 km (2021) note: 129 km electrified (2021)
standard gauge: 49,422 km (2021) 1.435-m gauge
total: 1,042,300 km (2011)
paved: 415,600 km (2011) (includes 17,000 km of expressways)
unpaved: 626,700 km (2011)
636 km (2011) (Saint Lawrence Seaway of 3,769 km, including the Saint Lawrence River of 3,058 km, shared with United States)
total: 689 (2022)
by type: bulk carrier 21, container ship 1, general cargo 65, oil tanker 15, other 587
major seaport(s): Halifax, Saint John (New Brunswick), Vancouver
oil terminal(s): Lower Lakes terminal
container port(s) (TEUs): Montreal (1,585,465), Vancouver (3,678,952) (2021)
LNG terminal(s) (import): Saint John
river and lake port(s): Montreal, Quebec City, Sept-Isles (St. Lawrence)
dry bulk cargo port(s): Port-Cartier (iron ore and grain),
Fraser River Port (Fraser) Hamilton (Lake Ontario)
Canada operates a fleet of 12 icebreakers including two PC 3 or 4 class medium icebreakers and ten PC 5 or 6 class light icebreakers
note - PC indicates a Polar Class vessel: PC 3 - year-round operation in second-year ice which may include multi-year ice inclusions (ice thickness up to 2.5 m); PC 4 - year-round operation in thick first-year ice which may include old ice inclusions (ice thickness up to 120 cm); PC 5 - year-round operation in medium first-year ice which may include old ice inclusions (ice thickness up to 70-120 cm); PC 6 - summer/autumn operation in medium first-year ice which may include old ice inclusions (ice thickness up to 30-70 cm)
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