by Sally O'Quinn

Created on: June 24, 2008   Last Updated: August 26, 2011

The United States is not the only country celebrating a birthday in July. Canada celebrates the anniversary of its founding as a nation on July 1st, the date of the Canadian Confederation in 1867. Here are a few facts to help familiarize yourself with this holiday.

The Fathers of the Confederation were the representatives of the British North American colonies who attended the three major conferences on Canadian Confederation, the Charlottetown Conference in 1864, the Quebec Conference in 1864 and the London Conference in 1866. The treaties of this confederation began Canada's gradual move toward independence from British rule.

At the time of the Confederation, only four provinces-Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Ontario and Quebec-were included. There are now 10 provinces and 3 territories. The last province to join was Newfoundland on March 31, 1949 and the last territory to become a part of Canada was Nunavut on April 1, 1999.

Sir John A. MacDonald became the first Prime Minister of Canada on July 1st, 1867 after drafting two-thirds of the provisions of The British North America Act which created the Dominion of Canada. The BNA Act serves as a base document for the Canadian constitution, which is not a single document but rather a set of documents known as Constitution Acts and just as importantly a set of unwritten laws and conventions. In 1982 the British North American Act was renamed the Constitution Act, 1867.

The name "Canada" was first used by explorer Jacques Cartier in 1535, after being directed by the Iroquois to travel up the St. Lawrence River to the "kanata". This was the Huron-Iroquois word for "village". The British North America Act officially joined the existing provinces to form "one Dominion under the name of Canada". Other names suggested at the time included Victorialand, Borealia, Cabotia, Tuponia, Superior, Norland and Hochelaga.

Canada's flag shows a red maple leaf with 11 points on a white background, with red borders on each side. These colors of red and white were proclaimed the official colors of Canada by King George V in 1921, but the flag itself was not officially adopted until 1965.

On Canada Day, citizens will be singing the Canadian anthem in both English and French, the two official languages of the country. While the English version has gone through several changes over the years, the French version has remained unchanged since 1880. The words to these two versions are as follows:

(English)

O Canada!
Our home and native land!

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