Canada

Defining Moments in Canadian History

  • WW II starts

    WW II starts
    British declared war on behalf of the British Empire.
  • Canadian troops arrived in England

    The Canadian Active Service Force was mobilised on 1st September 1939 in anticipation of the declaration of war. The 1st Canadian Infantry Brigade was raised in Ontario. They embarked for the UK on the 17th December 1939 and arrived at Greenock, Scotland on the 25th December 1939.
  • Battle of Vimy Ridge

    Both French and British troops had tried and failed. Canadian troops had fought as part of British units.
  • military service act

    Military Service Act (Canada) Passed on 29 August 1917, it introduced military conscription overseas as voluntary recruitment proved insufficient to supply the Canadian forces in World War I with enough troops. The actual effect of the Act was limited, as less than 25,000 conscripts actually arrived in Europe.
  • treaty of versailles

    The Treaty of Versailles was the peace settlement signed after World War One had ended in 1918 and in the shadow of the Russian Revolution and other events in Russia. The treaty was signed at the vast Versailles Palace near Paris - hence its title - between Germany and the Allies.
  • winnipeg general strike

    winnipeg general strike
    Winnipeg exploded. Workers were off the job for 5 weeks long. It was striked for higher wages and union recognition.
  • first woman appointed to the senate

    In 1930 Cairine Wilson became the first woman appointed to the Canadian Senate, just months after the Persons Case gave women the right to sit in the Senate. It was 23 years before another woman was appointed to the Senate in Canada. Cairine Wilson was also Canada's first woman delegate to the United Nations.
  • Black Tuesday

    Black Tuesday
    October 29, 1929, when the DJIA fell 12% - one of the largest one-day drops in stock market history. More than 16 million shares were traded in a panic selloff.
  • Great Depresion started

    Throughout the years of 1929 to 1939, there was a world wide Depression and Canada was one of the worst affected countries. Financially and economically the country began to collapse regardless of what was done by political power.
  • federal government creates Canadian Wheat Board

    The Canadian government created the wheat board in 1935 in response to plummeting grain prices during the Depression that threatened to destroy the industry.
  • Period: to

    World War II

    After Germany invaded Poland on September 10th Canada and most of the other allies declare war on Germany.
  • Invasion of Normandy

    On 6 June 1944 the Western Allies landed in northern France, opening the long-awaited "Second Front" against Adolf Hitler's Germany. Though they had been fighting in mainland Italy for some nine months, the Normandy invasion was in a strategically more important region, setting the stage to drive the Germans from France and ultimately destroy the National Socialist regime.
  • Germany surrenders

    On April 30, 1945, as Russian troops fought to within yards of his subterranean bunker, Adolph Hitler put a pistol to his head, pulled the trigger and closed the curtain on the Third Reich. Before his death, Hitler anointed Admiral Karl Donitz as his successor with orders to continue the fighting. Hitler was unaware that the German surrender had already begun.
  • Atomic Bomb was dropped on Hiroshima.

    An american plane dropped an atomic bomb on the city of Hiroshima. This ended the war
  • Cold War

    The Cold War is the name given to the relationship that developed primarily between the USA and the USSR after World War Two. The Cold War was to dominate international affairs for decades and many major crises occurred - the Cuban Missile Crisis, Vietnam, Hungary and the Berlin Wall being just some. For many the growth in weapons of mass destruction was the most worrying issue.
  • Newfoundland joins Canada

    On April 1, 1949, Prime Minister Louis St. Laurent cut the first ceremonial chisel strokes onto the blank stone. At 11:59 the previous night, Newfoundland had become a Canadian province.
  • NATO was created

    The countries of Western Europe and North America formed the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, or NATO, in 1949.
  • All Canadians are covered by universal healthcare

    Universal health care is a broad concept that can be structured and funded in various ways. The common factor for all universal health care programs is that they require some form of government involvement, whether it is through legislation, mandates, or regulation. The laws determine what type of care must be provided, to whom the care must be provided, and the basis for determining coverage.
  • 04/12/1980 Terry Fox Begins Maraton Of Hope

    Terry Fox was an amazing athlete until cancer took his right knee. So Terry Fox decided to run a marathon across canada to help fund money for cancer research.
  • montreal massacre

    A gunman confronts 60 engineering students during their class at l'École Polytechnique in Montreal on Dec. 6, 1989. He separates the men from the women and tells the men to leave the classroom, threatening them with his .22-calibre rifle.
  • Goods and services tax/harmonized sales tax (GST/HST) were put in effect

    As of July 1, 2010, Ontario harmonized its retail sales tax with the GST to implement the HST at the rate of 13% and British Columbia harmonized its provincial sales tax with the GST to implement the HST at the rate of 12%. Also, as of July 1, 2010, Nova Scotia increased its HST rate from 13% to 15%.
  • 01/01/1994 NAFTA Goes Into Effect

    NAFTA or North Atlantic Free Trade Agreement is an agreement that removes tariffs from the us canadian borders.
  • Tonnie Is Introduced

    Tonnie Is Introduced
    The two dollar coin called the Tonnie was first introduce in December 6 1995
  • The 1995 Quebec Referendum

    "À la prochaine fois!" (Until next time!) promised René Lévesque after the 1980 Quebec referendum. Fifteen years later, on Oct. 30, 1995, Quebec and the rest of Canada faced that "next time" as Quebecers decided whether to separate from Canada. Though they voted to stay by the narrowest of margins, the referendum provoked questions about Canadian identity and Quebec's place in Confederation.