Canadian Trivia & Fun Facts

Canada is a huge country.

It is:
approximately 9,984,670 sq. km / 3,855,103 sq mi.
comprised of six time zones.
over 8,850 km / 5,500 miles wide, from Atlantic to Pacific coasts.
almost 30% larger than Australia.
more than 3 times the size of India.
more than 18 times the size of France.
almost 20 times the size of Spain.
almost 28 times the size of Germany.
more than 33 times the size of Italy.
almost 37 times the size of New Zealand.
almost 41 times the size of the UK .
more than 142 times the size of Ireland

Did You Know?

The Longest Street in the World

The distinction of the longest street in the world belongs to Yonge Street in the Province of Ontario. Yonge Street starts at Lake Ontario, and runs north through central and northern Ontario to the Ontario – Minnesota border, a distance of over 1178 miles / 1896 kilometres. The Guinness Book of World Records recognized this claim as late as 1998.

Most of Yonge Street today exists as Highway 11, north of the Greater Toronto Area (GTA). Due due the development of the GTA, the old highway lives on as side roads, dead-end roads, or overgrown wooded trails.

The Longest Highway in the World
The Trans-Canada Highway between Victoria, BC and St. John's, NF is the world's longest national highway with a length of 7,821 km / 4,860 miles.

The Longest Coastline

Canada has the world's longest coastline: 202,080 km / 125,566 miles.

North America's Smallest Railway

The Thousand Island Railway, which ran in Gananoque Ontario, is North America ’s shortest railway in history, just 5.43 km / 3.32 miles.

Longest Tunnel on the Continent

CP Rail’s 9 mile / 14.5 km long Mount Macdonald Tunnel, in the Rogers Pass area of British Columbia, is the longest tunnel on the continent.

The World’s Longest Freshwater Beach

Wasaga Beach on Georgian Bay is the world’s longest beach, 8.6 miles / 14 km. Wasaga Beach is located about 2 hours northwest of Toronto, Ontario.

Oldest National Park

Banff National Park, located in the Province of Alberta, is the oldest national park in Canada, established in 1885.

Largest Sony Big Screen

Inside Toronto’s Rogers Centre (formerly known as the SkyDome) you will find the largest Sony big screen, measuring 33 ft. x 110 ft. (10.0 m x 33.6 m).

The World's Largest Coin

The Big Nickel located in Sudbury Ontario is the world's largest coin. It is a giant reproduction of a 1951 Canadian nickel, measuring 9 meters (30 feet) in diameter.

Only Walled City

The only walled city north of Mexico is Québec City; it was also the first city in North America to be placed on UNESCO's World Heritage Sites list.

Canada's Warring Past

The USA has invaded Canada twice—in 1775 and 1812—both times to no avail.

Newfoundland was the only place in North America directly attacked by German forces during WWII.

The World's Tallest Tower
Canada has the tallest tower in the world. Completed in 1975, the CN Tower in Toronto stands 553m (1815' 5")tall.
CN Tower’s glass paneled elevator floors are the highest in the world.

The Canadarm & The Canadarm 2

The world famous robotic manipulator affectionately known as the “Canadarm”, used aboard the space shuttle and its bigger brother the “Canadarm 2”, an integral part of the International Space Station, were designed and manufactured at Spar Aerospace, based in Brampton Ontario, just northwest of Toronto.

Blackberry Smartphone

The world famous Blackberry Smartphone was developed at Research In Motion's Waterloo Ontario facilities.

Actor - Lois Maxwell (Miss Moneypenny / James Bond 007)

Lois Maxwell (1927 – 2007) was born in Kitchener Ontario, and was a regular columnist of the Toronto Sun newspaper.

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
The 1964 animated TV movie “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” was filmed in Japan, but the entire soundtrack was recorded in a studio in Toronto, Ontario.
Most of the singing and speaking cast were Canadian.
Billie Mae Richards ("Rudolph") and Paul Soles ("Hermey") are neighbours in an Ontario retirement community.

(as referenced from “The Internet Movie Database”)

Actor - Leslie Nielsen (Police Squad, Spy Hard, Naked Gun, Mr. Magoo)

Actor Leslie Nielsen’s brother Erik, (1926 - 2010) was the Deputy Prime Minister of Canada, from 1984 to 1986.
Actor - William Shatner
Actor William Shatner, known as "Captain Jame T. Kirk" of Star Trek fame, is from Montreal, Quebec, Canada

Musician - Guy Lombardo

Guy (Gaetano) Lombardo (1902- 1977) leader of the big-band era “The Royal Canadians" and known for his yearly rendition of “Auld Lang Syne” which is still played on new years at Times Square in New York City, was born in London, Ontario, Canada

Gold Medals – Winter Olympics

Canada holds the record for the most gold medals ever won at the Winter Olympics. (2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics - 14 gold medals)

Lots of interesting stuff about our great country.... Oceanna!

I knew about the longest street, the CN Tower, the largest coin, the warring past, and the Canadarm. Thanks for the refresher.

Thanks oceanna. Really interesting to me as a non Canadian.