Happy Canada Day! July 1 marks the anniversary of Canadian Confederation, which dates all the way back to 1867. Canada has an imperfect history, but there's plenty to celebrate, too.

Truth and reconciliation

It's important that all Canadians are aware of residental schools, their history, and their lasting legacy. To quote the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation (NCTR), "For over 150 years, the Canadian government and churches operated residential schools, forcibly removing over 150,000 Indigenous children from their families. These underfunded and overcrowded institutions aimed to assimilate Indigenous children, resulting in widespread physical, sexual, and emotional abuse. The trauma inflicted by these schools continues to impact Indigenous communities today."

"The NCTR works closely with educators from a variety of sectors including the K-12 school system, post-secondary institutions, public service and professional sectors to provide access to materials and resources that can aid Canadians of any age to learn about and participate in reconciliation."

If you're interested in learning more about Indigenous histories and cultures, consider checking out Reconciliation: A Starting Point, a mobile app built to help users understand reconciliation, and why it matters.

Going even further, you can explore Indigenous Canada via a University of Alberta program established on coursera, or read up on Indigenous history across Canada.

Canada Day celebrations

No matter what you're doing this Canada Day, consider taking a moment of silence at 7 pm on July 1. Offer a few quiet seconds to contemplate what you're grateful for, and how we can pull together to improve upon the failures of the past.

You can take part in Canada Day celebrations across the country. Your community may have something special going on too! Check out ToDoCanada.ca for local celebrations near you.

Take the Canada Day quiz

Canada Day is about more than reconciliation, though. Canadian culture is diverse and multifaceted. In that spirit, we've built a Canada Day quiz with 20 questions guaranteed to get you thinking! Do you know what a 'toque' is? Or what flavour of potato chips you can only get in Canada?

Take the quiz and find out how well you know Canada! Can you get 100% correct? Good luck!