The First Peoples
The First Peoples in Canada arrived thousands of years ago. They developed unique cultures based on where and how each group lived. In the central plains, they hunted buffalo. They would follow the animals and resettle often. The Indians of the Pacific Coast fished from the sea and were able to establish permanent villages. In the North, the Inuit lived by the sea in the winter and travelled inland in the summer.

The Beginnings of Multiculturalism
European explorers first came to North America in the 15th and 16th centuries. However, the area that is now Canada was not settled until the 17th century. The British and the French were the first two European groups to move here in large numbers. Each group brought its own language, system of government, laws and culture.

The first Canadian Immigration Act was passed in 1869. During the late 19^th and early 20^th centuries, advertising brought immigrants from Europe. Some settled in towns and cities, and others provided labour for factories, mines and lumber camps. Many were farmers who turned the western prairie into wheat fields.

The building of our national railways by immigrants joined the East and West coasts and opened the interior for settlement.

Immigration from Around the World
Not all immigrants came to Canada from Europe. Africans came from Africa as slaves in the 18^th and 19^th centuries. When slavery ended in Canada, Africans came here to escape from slavery in the United States.

Asians also emigrated to Canada. Many of the Chinese and Japanese immigrants settled in British Columbia and other parts of western Canada.

After both World Wars, people came as refugees from Europe. More immigrants also came to Canada from Africa, the Caribbean, Asia and the Pacific Rim. All of these newcomers helped to build Canada's peacetime economy.

In 1992, people from more than 200 different countries came to Canada. The majority were Asians, Africans, South and Central Americans. One out of every four people in Canada comes from an ethnic background other than English or French.