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Canada becomes a dominion
The British Parliament passed the British North America act, which created the Dominion of Canada. on July 1,1867, Canadians celebrated their new Dominion in style.Plans were already being made to bring the Northwest and British Columbia into Confederation, and it was hoped that Newfoundland and prince Edward Island would join too. Canada became an independent country. -
Wilfrid Laurier becomes prime minister
The election of 1896 is considered to be a turning point in Canadian history. The liberal Leader , Wilfrid Laurier, was Canada's first French-Canadian prime minister. Laurier wanted to promote national unity in Canada and to protect Canada's interests in the world. -
First automobiles are imported into Canada from the United States
Economic relations between United States and Canada became stronger. -
South African war breaks out
Canada's involvement in this war split the country along French-English lines once again. It was Canada's first foreign War and was fought between Afrikaner Republic and Britain. -
Alaska boundary dispute is settled
The Alaska boundary dispute was a territorial dispute between the United States and the United Kingdom, which then controlled Canada's foreign relations. -
Asians are attacked during the Vancouver riot
An anti-immigration rally exploded into violence and vandalism in both Chinatown and Japantown in Vancouver. At the time of the riot, many immigrants, especially from Japan and India, were arriving by boat to Vancouver. More than 3000 Japanese arrived in the first six months of 1907. -
First airplane flight in Canada
In central Cape Breton a young engineer, Douglas McCurdy, perched confidently among the steel tubing, wires and friction tape. The machine advanced rapidly over the ice, with several skaters in hot pursuit. Only five years after the Wright brothers had first taken flight, it was the first time anyone had seen such a sight in Canada. This was a big honour for Canada. -
The Titanic sinks off of the coast of the Newfoundland
The unsinkable ship encountered a smallish-sized iceberg and was lost forever together with over 1500 people. Because of the drama of the sinking, the number of lives lost, and the social position of many of the dead, the disaster revolutionized the rules governing sea travel. After 1912, all passenger ships were required to carry lifeboats with enough seats for everyone on board, lifeboat drills were to take place on every passage, radio receivers were operating twenty-four hours a day. -
Canada's population almost doubled
First great wave of European immigration includes large numbers of Japanese people, Chinese people, Germans, Hungarians, Norwegians, Swedes and Icelanders. More than one in five Canadian residents had been born outside of the country and the nation’s population had swelled 43% in the previous decade. Almost overnight, the seeds of a multicultural Canada are sown. Businesses keen to expand the pool of inexpensive labour are also in favour of open immigration. -
World War I begins
For a nation of eight million people Canada’s war effort was remarkable. More than 650,000 men and women from Canada and Newfoundland served and over 66,000 gave their lives and more than 172,000 were wounded. It was this immense sacrifice that lead to Canada’s separate signature on the Peace Treaty. No longer viewed as just a colony of England, Canada had truly achieved nation status.
