Culture of Canada

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Perhaps the most prominent symbol of Canada, the maple leaf has been a de facto symbol since the 1700s.

The culture of Canada embodies the

media penetration and geographic proximity.[3][4]

Canada is often characterized as being "very

The Canadian government has influenced culture with programs, laws and institutions. It has created crown corporations to promote Canadian culture through media, such as the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) and the National Film Board of Canada (NFB), and promotes many events which it considers to promote Canadian traditions. It has also tried to protect Canadian culture by setting legal minimums on Canadian content in many media using bodies like the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC).[13]

Cultural components

History

Influences

Fur traders at work as depicted in 1777 by Claude J. Sauthier

For thousands of years, Canada has been inhabited by

Many places in Canada, both natural features and human habitations, use indigenous names. The name "Canada" itself derives from the St. Lawrence Huron-Iroquoian word "Kanata" meaning "village" or "settlement".[18] The name of Canada's capital city Ottawa comes from the Algonquin language term "adawe" meaning "to trade".[18]

A Canadian war bond poster that depicts an industrious beaver, a national symbol of Canada

In the 17th-century, French colonials settled

English people settled in Upper Canada and Lower Canada. Many Irish people fleeing the Great Famine also arrived between 1845 and 1852.[20]

The

Legislative restrictions on immigration (such as the

Haitian.[28] By the 21st century Canada had thirty four ethnic groups with at least one hundred thousand members each, of which eleven have over 1,000,000 people and numerous others are represented in smaller numbers.[29] As of 2006, 16.2% of the population self-identify as a visible minority.[29]

Development of popular culture

Cartoon drawing of hockey game and people falling through the ice
"Ye Gude Olde Days" from Hockey: Canada's Royal Winter Game, 1899

Themes and symbols of pioneers, trappers, and traders played an important part in the early development of Canadian culture.[30] Modern Canadian culture as it is understood today can be traced to its time period of westward expansion and nation building.[31] Contributing factors include Canada's unique geography, climate, and cultural makeup. Being a cold country with long winter nights for most of the year, certain unique leisure activities developed in Canada during this period including ice hockey and embracement of the summer indigenous game of lacrosse.[32][33][34]

By the 19th century,

snowshoeing and cross-country skiing, were asserted as characteristically Canadian.[36] During this period, the churches tried to influence leisure activities by preaching against drinking, and scheduling annual revivals and weekly club activities.[37] In a society in which most middle-class families now owned a harmonium or piano, and standard education included at least the rudiments of music, the result was often an original song.[38] Such stirrings frequently occurred in response to noteworthy events, and few local or national excitements were allowed to pass without some musical comment.[39][40]

By the 1930s, radio played a major role in uniting Canadians behind their local or regional teams. Rural areas were especially influenced by sports coverage and the propagation of national myths.[41] Outside the sports and music arena, Canadians expressed a national character of being hard working, peaceful, orderly and polite.[42]

Political culture

Cultural legislation

Monument to Multiculturalism by Francesco Pirelli, in Toronto

French Canada's early development was relatively cohesive during the 17th and 18th centuries, and this was preserved by the Quebec Act of 1774, which allowed Roman Catholics to hold offices and practice their faith.[43] In 1867, the Constitution Act was thought to meet the growing calls for Canadian autonomy while avoiding the overly strong decentralization that contributed to the Civil War in the United States.[44] The compromises reached during this time between the English- and French-speaking Fathers of Confederation set Canada on a path to bilingualism which in turn contributed to an acceptance of diversity.[45] The English and French languages have had limited constitutional protection since 1867 and full official status since 1969.[46] Section 133 of the Constitution Act of 1867 (BNA Act) guarantees that both languages may be used in the Parliament of Canada.[46] Canada adopted its first Official Languages Act in 1969, giving English and French equal status in the government of Canada.[47] Doing so makes them "official" languages, having preferred status in law over all other languages used in Canada.[47]

Prior to the advent of the

Section Fifteen of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, a part of the Constitution of Canada guaranteeing equal rights to all Canadians.[52] Following a series of decisions by provincial courts and the Supreme Court of Canada, on July 20, 2005, the Civil Marriage Act (Bill C-38) became law, legalizing same-sex marriage in Canada.[53] Furthermore, sexual orientation was included as a protected status in the human-rights laws of the federal government and of all provinces and territories.[54]

Contemporary politics

The Centre Block of the Canadian parliament buildings on Parliament Hill

suppression of far-right politics that has wide public and political support.[58][59] Peace, order, and good government are constitutional goals of the Canadian government.[60]

Canada has a

have also been able to exert their influence over the political process by representation at the federal level.

Nationalism and protectionism

St. John the Baptist Day
.

In general, Canadian nationalists are concerned about the protection of Canadian sovereignty and loyalty to the

French Canadian culture many of whom were supporters of the Quebec sovereignty movement during the late-20th century.[66]

Cultural protectionism in Canada has, since the mid-20th century, taken the form of conscious, interventionist attempts on the part of various Canadian governments to promote Canadian cultural production.

American culture. While Canada tries to maintain its cultural differences, it also must balance this with responsibility in trade arrangements such as the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) and the United States–Mexico–Canada Agreement (USMCA).[68]

Foreign relations

Canadian peacekeeper in 1976 wearing the distinctive flag of Canada and UN blue helmet

The notion of peacekeeping is deeply embedded in Canadian culture and a distinguishing feature that Canadians feel sets their foreign policy apart from its closest ally, the United States.[69][70][71] Canada's foreign policy of peacekeeping, peace enforcement, peacemaking, and peacebuilding has been intertwined with its tendency to pursue multilateral and international solutions since the end of World War II.[72][73][74][75]

Canada's central role in the development of peacekeeping in the mid 1950s gave it credibility and established it as a country fighting for the "common good" of all nations.[76] Canada has since been engaged with the United Nations, NATO and the European Union (EU) in promoting its middle power status into an active role in world affairs.[77]

Canada has long been reluctant to participate in military operations that are not sanctioned by the United Nations,[78][79] such as the Vietnam War or the 2003 Invasion of Iraq.[78][79] Canada has participated in US-led, UN-sanctioned operations such as the first Gulf War, in Afghanistan and Libya.[78][79] The country also participates with its NATO allies in UN-sanctioned missions, such as the Kosovo Conflict and in Haiti.[78][79]

Values

Radicals", and allied leftist political elements, "egalitarianism, social equality, and peace... are now often simply referred to...as 'Canadian values.'"[80] Canada ranks among the highest in international measurements of government transparency, civil liberties, quality of life, economic freedom, education, and gender equality.[81]

A 2013 Statistics Canada survey found that an "overwhelming majority" of Canadians shared the values of human rights (with 92% of respondents agreeing that they are a shared Canadian value), respect for the law (92%) and gender equality (91%).[82] Universal access to publicly funded health services "is often considered by Canadians as a fundamental value that ensures national health care insurance for everyone wherever they live in the country."[83]

Charter of Rights and Freedoms

The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, was intended to be a source for Canadian values and national unity.[84] The 15th Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau wrote in his Memoirs that:

Canada itself could now be defined as a "society where all people are equal and where they share some fundamental values based upon freedom", and that all Canadians could identify with the values of liberty and equality.[85]

Numerous scholars, beginning in the 1940s with American sociologist Seymour Martin Lipset; have tried to identify, measure and compare them with other countries, especially the United States.[86][87] However, there are critics who say that such a task is practically impossible.[88]

Denis Stairs a professor of political Science at Dalhousie University; links the concept of Canadian values with nationalism. [Canadians typically]...believe, in particular, that they subscribe to a distinctive set of values - Canadian values - and that those values are special in the sense of being unusually virtuous.[89]

Identity

The maple leaf is the symbol most associated with Canadian identity.

Canada's large geographic size, the presence of a significant number of indigenous peoples, the conquest of one European linguistic population by another and relatively open

diverse society. As a result, the issue of Canadian identity remains under scrutiny.[90]

Canada has constitutional protection for policies that promote multiculturalism rather than cultural assimilation or a single national myth.[91] In Quebec, cultural identity is strong, and many commentators speak of a French Canadian culture as distinguished from English Canadian culture.[92] However, as a whole, Canada is in theory, a cultural mosaic—a collection of several regional, and ethnic subcultures.[93][94]

As Professor Alan Cairns noted about the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms , "the initial federal government premise was on developing a pan-Canadian identity"'.[95] Pierre Trudeau himself later wrote in his Memoirs (1993) that "Canada itself" could now be defined as a "society where all people are equal and where they share some fundamental values based upon freedom", and that all Canadians could identify with the values of liberty and equality.[96]

Political philosopher Charles Blattberg suggests that Canada is a "multinational country"; as all Canadians are members of Canada as a civic or political community, a community of citizens, and this is a community that contains many other kinds within it. These include not only communities of ethnic, regional, religious, and civic (the provincial and municipal governments) sorts, but also national communities, which often include or overlap with many of the other kinds.[97]

Journalist and author Richard Gwyn has suggested that "tolerance" has replaced "loyalty" as the touchstone of Canadian identity.[98] Journalist and professor Andrew Cohen wrote in 2007:

The Canadian Identity, as it has come to be known, is as elusive as the Sasquatch and Ogopogo. It has animated—and frustrated—generations of statesmen, historians, writers, artists, philosophers, and the National Film Board ... Canada resists easy definition.[99]

Canada's 15th prime minister Pierre Trudeau in regards to uniformity stated:

Uniformity is neither desirable nor possible in a country the size of Canada. We should not even be able to agree upon the kind of Canadian to choose as a model, let alone persuade most people to emulate it. There are few policies potentially more disastrous for Canada than to tell all Canadians that they must be alike. There is no such thing as a model or ideal Canadian. What could be more absurd than the concept of an "all-Canadian" boy or girl? A society which emphasizes uniformity is one which creates intolerance and hate.[100]

In 2015, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau defined the country as the world's first postnational state: "There is no core identity, no mainstream in Canada".[101]

The question of Canadian identity was traditionally dominated by three fundamental themes: first, the often conflicted relations between English Canadians and French Canadians stemming from the French Canadian imperative for cultural and linguistic survival; secondly, the generally close ties between English Canadians and the British Empire, resulting in a gradual political process towards complete independence from the imperial power; and finally, the close proximity of English-speaking Canadians to the United States.[102] Much of the debate over contemporary Canadian identity is argued in political terms, and defines Canada as a country defined by its government policies, which are thought to reflect deeper cultural values.[103]

In 2013, more than 90% of Canadians believed that the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and the national flag were the top symbols of Canadian identity. Next highest were the national anthem, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and hockey.[104]

Inter-provincial interactions

2008 Canadian parliamentary dispute

Western alienation is the notion that the western provinces have historically been alienated, and in extreme cases excluded, from mainstream Canadian political affairs in favour of Eastern Canada or more specifically the central provinces.[105] Western alienation claims that these latter two are politically represented, and economically favoured, more significantly than the former, which has given rise to the sentiment of alienation among many western Canadians.[106] Likewise; the Quebec sovereignty movement that lead to the Québécois nation and the province of Quebec being recognized as a "distinct society" within Canada, highlights the sharp divisions between the Anglo and Francophone population.[107]

Though more than half of Canadians live in just two provinces (Ontario and Quebec), each province is largely self-contained due to provincial economic self-sufficiency. Only 15 percent of Canadians live in a different province from where they were born, and only 10 percent go to another province for university. Canada has always been like this, and stands in sharp contrast to the United States' internal mobility which is much higher. For example 30 percent live in a different state from where they were born, and 30 percent go away for university. Scott Gilmore in Maclean's argues that "Canada is a nation of strangers", in the sense that for most individuals, the rest of Canada outside their province is little-known. Another factor is the cost of internal travel. Intra-Canadian airfares are high—it is cheaper and more common to visit the United States than to visit another province. Gilmore argues that the mutual isolation makes it difficult to muster national responses to major national issues.[108]

Humour

Canadian humour is an integral part of the Canadian Identity. There are several traditions in Canadian humour in both English and French.[109][110] While these traditions are distinct and at times very different, there are common themes that relate to Canadians' shared history and geopolitical situation in the Western Hemisphere and the world. Various trends can be noted in Canadian comedy. One trend is the portrayal of a "typical" Canadian family in an ongoing radio or television series.[111] Other trends include outright absurdity,[112] and political and cultural satire.[113] Irony, parody, satire, and self-deprecation are arguably the primary characteristics of Canadian humour.[114][115][116]

Just for Laughs Festival in Montreal, Québec, at the Saint-Denis Theatre

The beginnings of Canadian national radio comedy date to the late 1930s with the debut of

Corner gas and more recently Schitt's Creek are regarded as television shows which were very influential on the development of Canadian humour.[119] Canadian comedians have had great success in the film industry and are amongst the most recognized in the world.[119]

The Canadian Comedy Awards were founded in 1999 by the Canadian Comedy Foundation for Excellence, a not-for-profit organization.[123]

Symbols

One of the national symbols of Canada, the beaver is depicted on the Canadian five-cent piece and was on the first Canadian postage stamp, c. 1859.

Predominant symbols of Canada include the

Royal Canadian Armed Forces, Royal Canadian Mounted Police and the Royal Winnipeg Ballet.[131][132]

Arts

Visual arts

Tom Thomson, The Jack Pine, Winter 1916–17. National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa.

Indigenous artists were producing art in the territory that is now called Canada for thousands of years prior to the arrival of European settler colonists and the eventual establishment of Canada as a nation state.

indigenous art traditions spanned territories that extended across the current national boundaries between Canada and the United States.[134] The majority of indigenous artworks preserved in museum collections date from the period after European contact and show evidence of the creative adoption and adaptation of European trade goods such as metal and glass beads.[135] Canadian sculpture has been enriched by the walrus ivory, muskox horn and caribou antler and soapstone carvings by the Inuit artists.[136] These carvings show objects and activities from the daily life, myths and legends of the Inuit.[137] Inuit art since the 1950s has been the traditional gift given to foreign dignitaries by the Canadian government.[138]

The works of most early Canadian painters followed European trends.[139] During the mid-19th century, Cornelius Krieghoff, a Dutch-born artist in Quebec, painted scenes of the life of the habitants (French-Canadian farmers). At about the same time, the Canadian artist Paul Kane painted pictures of indigenous life in western Canada. A group of landscape painters called the Group of Seven developed the first distinctly Canadian style of painting, inspired by the works of the legendary landscape painter Tom Thomson.[140] All these artists painted large, brilliantly coloured scenes of the Canadian wilderness.

Since the 1930s, Canadian painters have developed a wide range of highly individual styles.

painters Jean-Paul Riopelle, Harold Town and Charles Carson and multi-media artist Michael Snow. The abstract art group Painters Eleven, particularly the artists William Ronald and Jack Bush, also had an important impact on modern art in Canada.[142] Government support has played a vital role in their development enabling visual exposure through publications and periodicals featuring Canadian art, as has the establishment of numerous art schools and colleges across the country.[143]

Literature

Margaret Atwood is a Canadian poet, novelist, literary critic, essayist, inventor, teacher, and environmental activist.

Catherine Parr Traill. These themes, and Canada's literary history, inform the writing of successive generations of Canadian authors, from Leonard Cohen to Margaret Atwood
.

By the mid-20th century, Canadian writers were exploring national themes for Canadian readers. Authors were trying to find a distinctly Canadian voice, rather than merely emulating British or American writers. Canadian identity is closely tied to its literature. The question of national identity recurs as a theme in much of Canada's literature, from

Irish Canadians
); and by literary period, such as "Canadian postmoderns" or "Canadian Poets Between the Wars".

Canadian authors have accumulated numerous international awards.[145] In 1992, Michael Ondaatje became the first Canadian to win the Booker Prize for The English Patient.[146] Margaret Atwood won the Booker in 2000 for The Blind Assassin[147] and Yann Martel won it in 2002 for the Life of Pi.[148] Carol Shields's The Stone Diaries won the Governor General's Awards in Canada in 1993, the 1995 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, and the 1994 National Book Critics Circle Award.[149] In 2013, Alice Munro was the first Canadian to be awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature for her work as "master of the modern short story".[150] Munro is also a recipient of the Man Booker International Prize for her lifetime body of work, and three-time winner of Canada's Governor General's Award for fiction.[151]

Theatre

Canada has had a thriving stage theatre scene since the late 1800s.

Stratford Shakespeare Festival in Stratford, Ontario, and the Shaw Festival in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario. The Famous People Players are only one of many touring companies that have also developed an international reputation.[153] Canada also hosts one of the largest fringe festivals, the Edmonton International Fringe Festival.[154]

A 1904 postcard showing the Grand Opera House and Majestic Theatre, Adelaide Street, in the current Toronto Theatre District

Sony Centre for the Performing Arts.[156] Toronto's Theatre District also includes the Theatre Museum Canada
.

Quartier des Spectacles") is the scene of performances that are mainly French-language, although the city also boasts a lively anglophone theatre scene, such as the Centaur Theatre.[157] Large French theatres in the city include Théâtre Saint-Denis and Théâtre du Nouveau Monde.[158]

Vancouver is host to, among others, the Vancouver Fringe Festival, the Arts Club Theatre Company, Carousel Theatre, Bard on the Beach, Theatre Under the Stars and Studio 58.[159]

Calgary is home to Theatre Calgary, a mainstream regional theatre; Alberta Theatre Projects, a major centre for new play development in Canada; the Calgary Animated Objects Society; and One Yellow Rabbit, a touring company.[160]

There are three major theatre venues in Ottawa; the Ottawa Little Theatre, originally called the Ottawa Drama League at its inception in 1913, is the longest-running community theatre company in Ottawa.[161] Since 1969, Ottawa has been the home of the National Arts Centre, a major performing-arts venue that houses four stages and is home to the National Arts Centre Orchestra, the Ottawa Symphony Orchestra and Opera Lyra Ottawa.[162] Established in 1975, the Great Canadian Theatre Company specializes in the production of Canadian plays at a local level.[163]

Television

CBC's English-language master control point, the Canadian Broadcasting Centre, in Toronto

Canadian television, especially supported by the

Molson beer, most notably the commercial featuring Joe Canadian, infused domestically brewed beer and nationalism.[166][167]

Canada's television industry is in full expansion as a site for Hollywood productions.

Queer as Folk was filmed in Toronto. Canadian producers have been very successful in the field of science fiction since the mid-1990s, with such shows as The X-Files, Stargate SG-1, Highlander: The Series, the new Battlestar Galactica, My Babysitter's a Vampire, Smallville, and The Outer Limits all filmed in Vancouver.[170]

The CRTC's Canadian content regulations dictate that a certain percentage of a domestic broadcaster's transmission time must include content that is produced by Canadians, or covers Canadian subjects.

Discovery Channel, which have local versions of their channels available on Canadian cable networks. Similarly, BBC Canada, while showing primarily BBC
shows from the United Kingdom, also carries Canadian output.

Film

A number of Canadian pioneers in early Hollywood significantly contributed to the creation of the motion picture industry in the early days of the 20th century.[172] Over the years, many Canadians have made enormous contributions to the American entertainment industry, although they are frequently not recognized as Canadians.[173]

Standard Theatre, 482 Queen Street West, Toronto, 1906

Canada has developed a vigorous film industry that has produced a variety of well-known films and

Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.[175]

The National Film Board of Canada is a public agency that produces and distributes films and other audiovisual works which reflect Canada to Canadians and the rest of the world'.[176] Canada has produced many popular documentaries such as The Corporation, Nanook of the North, Final Offer, and Canada: A People's History. The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) is considered by many to be one of the most prevalent film festivals for Western cinema. It is the première film festival in North America from which the Oscars race begins.[177]

Music

Ottawa Jazz Festival inside Rideau Centre, 2008

The

Canadian rock has had a considerable impact on the development of modern popular music and the development of the most popular subgenres.[185]

Patriotic music in Canada dates back over 200 years as a distinct category from British patriotism, preceding the first legal steps to independence by over 50 years. The earliest known song, "The Bold Canadian", was written in 1812.[186] The national anthem of Canada, "O Canada" adopted in 1980,[187] was originally commissioned by the Lieutenant Governor of Quebec, the Honourable Théodore Robitaille, for the 1880 Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day ceremony.[188] Calixa Lavallée wrote the music, which was a setting of a patriotic poem composed by the poet and judge Sir Adolphe-Basile Routhier. The text was originally only in French, before English lyrics were written in 1906.[189]

Music broadcasting in the country is regulated by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC). The

Juno Awards, which were first awarded in a ceremony during the summer of 1970.[190]

Media

A Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) satellite truck, used for live television broadcasts

Canada's media is

Broadcasting Act declares "the system should serve to safeguard, enrich, and strengthen the cultural, political, social, and economic fabric of Canada".[193] Canada has a well-developed media sector, but its cultural output—particularly in English films, television shows, and magazines—is often overshadowed by imports from the United States.[194] As a result, the preservation of a distinctly Canadian culture is supported by federal government programs, laws, and institutions such as the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), the National Film Board of Canada (NFB), and the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC).[195]

Non-news media content in Canada, including film and television, is influenced both by local creators as well as by imports from the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, and France.[199] In an effort to reduce the amount of foreign-made media, government interventions in television broadcasting can include both regulation of content and public financing.[200] Canadian tax laws limit foreign competition in magazine advertising.[201]

Sports

Sports in Canada consists of a variety of games. Although there are many contests that Canadians value, the most common are ice hockey, box lacrosse, Canadian football, basketball, soccer, curling, baseball and ringette. All but curling and soccer are considered domestic sports as they were either invented by Canadians or trace their roots to Canada.[202]

Ice hockey being played at McGill University, in Montreal, 1884

Ice hockey, referred to as simply "hockey", is Canada's most prevalent winter sport, its most popular spectator sport, and its most successful sport in international competition. It is Canada's official national winter sport.[203] Lacrosse, a sport with indigenous origins, is Canada's oldest and official summer sport.[203] Canadian football is Canada's second most popular spectator sport,[204] and the Canadian Football League's annual championship, the Grey Cup, is the country's largest annual sports event.[205]

While other sports have a larger spectator base, association football, known in Canada as soccer in both English and French, has the most registered players of any team sport in Canada, and is the most played sport with all demographics, including ethnic origin, ages and genders.

water sports, and several forms of wrestling
.

As a country with a generally cool climate, Canada has enjoyed greater success at the

Lou Marsh Trophy is awarded annually to Canada's top athlete by a panel of journalists.[209] There are numerous other Sports Halls of Fame in Canada.[208]

Cuisine

A small sampling of Canadian foods. Clockwise from top left: Montreal-style smoked meat; maple syrup; poutine; Nanaimo bar; butter tart; and peameal bacon.

nanaimo bars, back bacon, the caesar cocktail and many many more.[216] The Canadian province of Quebec is the birthplace and world's largest producer of maple syrup,[217] The Montreal-style bagel and Montreal-style smoked meat are both food items originally developed by Jewish communities living in Quebec [218]

The three earliest cuisines of Canada have First Nations, English, and French roots. The indigenous population of Canada often have their own traditional cuisine. The cuisines of English Canada are closely related to

American cuisine. Finally, the traditional cuisines of French Canada have evolved from 16th-century French cuisine because of the tough conditions of colonial life and the winter provisions of Coureur des bois.[219] With subsequent waves of immigration in the 18th and 19th century from Central, Southern, and Eastern Europe, and then from Asia, Africa and Caribbean, the regional cuisines were subsequently affected.[219]

Public opinion data on culture

A 2022 web survey by the Association for Canadian Studies found that an absolute majority of respondents in all provinces except Alberta disagreed with the statement that "there is only one Canadian culture". Most respondents didn't choose what music to listen to based on whether or not the artist was Canadian. While half of Quebeckers and more than one third of respondents in the rest of Canada agreed that "I worry about preserving my culture" at the same time 60% of respondents agreed that "If a Canadian artist is good enough, they will become discovered without the need for specific Canadian content rules". Forty-six percent of respondents had no favourite Canadian musical artist. Rock, pop, and country music were the most popular genres of music, with above twenty percent fan bases in all age categories, but with hip-hop also appealing to more than twenty percent in the youngest cohort (18–35 years old). Film genre preferences were largely as the same across age categories, with comedies and action films the most popular, except that only one percent of older people (>55 years old) were fans of animated movies compared to eleven percent in young adults, while older adults showed a strong preference for dramas compared to younger people. Three out of four respondents could not name a single Canadian visual artist, living or dead.[220]

Outside views

In a 2002 interview with the Globe and Mail, Aga Khan, the 49th Imam of the Ismaili Muslims, described Canada as "the most successful pluralist society on the face of our globe",[221] citing it as "a model for the world".[222] A 2007 poll ranked Canada as the country with the most positive influence in the world. 28,000 people in 27 countries were asked to rate 12 countries as either having a positive or negative worldwide influence. Canada's overall influence rating topped the list with 54 per cent of respondents rating it mostly positive and only 14 per cent mostly negative.[223] A global opinion poll for the BBC saw Canada ranked the second most positively viewed nation in the world (behind Germany) in 2013 and 2014.[224][225]

The United States is home to a number of perceptions about Canadian culture, due to the countries' partially shared heritage and the relatively large number of cultural features common to both the US and Canada.[226] For example, the average Canadian may be perceived as more reserved than his or her American counterpart.[227] Canada and the United States are often inevitably compared as sibling countries, and the perceptions that arise from this oft-held contrast have gone to shape the advertised worldwide identities of both nations: the United States is seen as the rebellious child of the British Crown, forged in the fires of violent revolution; Canada is the calmer offspring of the United Kingdom, known for a more relaxed national demeanour.[228][229]

See also

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Further reading

External links