Health Care and Social Security                                                                 Back ......

All Canadians have free access to health care. Most people over 65 and social aid recipients receive the majority of their prescription drugs free. Canada also has an extensive social security network including old age pension, family allowance, unemployment insurance and welfare.

Education

The educational system varies from province to province and includes six to eight years of elementary school, four or five years of secondary school and three or four years at the university undergraduate level.

Living Standards

Few countries boast of a higher standard of living than does Canada. These are the United States, Switzerland, Luxembourg, Germany and Japan. Canada ranks higher than the United States in terms of life expectancy, and higher than Japan in terms of education. Consequently, the United Nations has ranked Canada as the highest on its "Human Development Index." More than 65% of Canadians own their own homes. An even higher percentage of Canadians own durable goods such as automobiles, refrigerators, washing machines, televisions, telephones and radios. Telephone service is virtually universal in Canada. Sixteen million access lines bring service to 99 percent of Canadian homes. With one of the best telecommunications systems in the world, Canadians are increasingly hooking into the information highway. In 1995, close to 30 percent of households had home computers, and over 40 percent of those computers were equipped with modems for accessing the internet.

Culture

The only truly indigenous cultures of Canada are of the Innuit, since all other Canadians were originally immigrants. They began moving to Canada in the 17th century, bringing with them their manner of dress, food preferences and customs. Canada opened its doors to immigration from all over the world in the early 20th century; in 1988, the multicultural character of the country was officially recognised when the Government passed the Multiculturalism Act.

Religion

The majority of Canadians are Christian. According to the 1991 census, 12.3 million Canadians identified themselves as Catholics and 9.8 million as Protestants. Other religions include Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, Sikhism and Buddhism. About 12% of Canadians (3.3 million) stated that they had no religious affiliation whatsoever. This represents a 90% increase since 1981.

Languages

Census data from 1991 indicates English as the mother tongue of 16.1 million Canadians, and French, the language of 6.5 million. These are Canada's two official languages. However, many Canadians have a mother tongue other than English or French, including Italian, Chinese, German, Portuguese, Polish, Ukrainian, Dutch, Punjabi or other languages.

Sports

The most popular sports of Canada are swimming, ice hockey, cross-country and alpine skiing, baseball, tennis, basketball and golf.

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