Atlas of Canada

Canada
Canada with administrative divisions shown.
Location of Canada

Canada is a country located in the continent of North America, and the second largest country in the world by size, reaching from the Pacific Ocean in the west to the Atlantic in the East, and from the Arctic Ocean in the north to its border with the United States in the south. Canada’s Bahá’í community has played a prominent role in the unfoldment of the Bahá’í Faith: it is one of the "co-inheritors" of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá's Divine Plan; its National Spiritual Assembly acted as one of the twelve protagonists of the Ten Year Crusade; and it has been noted for its "distinctive contribution" to the spread of the Faith through pioneering.

The beginnings of the Bahá’í community of Canada date from 1898 when Edith Magee, a youth from London, Ontario, became the first Canadian believer. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá visited the Canadian city of Montreal during His journey to North America in 1912, where the country's first Bahá’í group was formed in 1902, and its first Local Spiritual Assembly would later be founded. He stayed in the home of May and William Sutherland Maxwell during his visit, which is now preserved as the only Bahá’í Shrine outside of the Middle East. Their daughter, Mary, would later marry the Guardian of the Bahá’í Faith, Shoghi Effendi.

The Canadian Bahá’í community lists its current membership at 30,000. Main population centres in Canada include Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, Ottawa, Calgary and Edmonton.

National Assembly: Canada
Official Website: http://www.ca.bahai.org/
Statistics
Population: 36,289,822
Bahá’í pop.: 30,000
Clusters: 136
Local Assemblies: 255
History
First local Bahá’í: Edith Magee
First Local Assembly: Dec. 10, 1922, Montreal
First National Assembly: 1925, with United States
1948, independently
First National Convention: April, 1948

Regions of Canada

Canada is divided into ten provinces and three territories. The ten provinces are spread across the country's south and are generally divided into Western and Eastern regions, the latter being subdivided into the Central and Atlantic regions:

• 
  Western Canada
  (British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba)
• 
  Eastern Canada
  (Central and Atlantic provinces)
• 
  Central Canada
  (Ontario, Québec)
• 
  Atlantic Canada
  (New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, Newfoundland and Labrador)

The Prairie and Maritime provinces are further subdivisions of the above:

• 
  Canadian Prairies
  (Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba)
• 
  Maritime provinces
  (New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island)

Canada's three territories are all located in the country's Northern region:

• 
  Northern Canada
  (Yukon, Northwest Territories, Nunavut)

Demography

Population

• 
  Census Metropolitan Areas
• 
  Population density (2005)
• 
  Population density (2016)

Language, ethnicity, and religion

• 
  Prevalence of the two official languages of Canada, English (red) and French (blue)
• 
  Rate of English–French bilingualism in Canada
• 
  Self-identified ethnicity by census division
• 
  Majority religious group: Catholic (red) and Protestant (blue)

History

Background

First Nations

A 1914 map of the traditional lands of Canada's First Nations, or indigenous peoples.

The northern part of North America, much of which would later become known as Canada, was populated by indigenous peoples known as First Nations. These included the Iroquois, Algonquin (Anishinaabe), Sioux, Athabascan, Kootenay, Salish, Kwakiutl-Nootka, Haida, Tsimshian, Tlingit, Beothuk, and Inuit peoples among others. They had established long-standing civilizations with rich cultures and complex social structures, many millenia before contact with European civilizations who would eventually send settlers to the continent.

European settlement

Territorial evolution in North America from 1750–2008.

Despite initial coexistence, the arrival of European settlers beginning in the 16th century brought sweeping change throughout the North American continent. Driven to expand their reach by the desire to exploit natural resources—whether for profit or to fuel the conflicts between European empires—settlers eventually gained control of ever-increasing amounts of land, by negotiation or force.

Apart from an early Norse (Viking) presence in Newfoundland around the turn of the 1st millennium CE, the first substantial European settlement in northern North America came from the Kingdom of France, which established the colony of Nouvelle-France (New France) based in Québec in the 17th century, spreading east to the Maritime provinces, west to the North American prairies, and south to Louisiana.

During the 18th century, the British Empire gained possession of most of the French colonies, forming what became known as British America. After a British defeat in the American Revolutionary War, the Thirteen Colonies on the Atlantic coast gained its independence as the United States of America. Much of what remained of British territory—by then known as British North America—would eventually become part of the Dominion of Canada.

Founded in 1867, Canada was a confederation initially composed of the four colonies of Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia. Over time, more provinces and territories joined Canada; the last province to be admitted was Newfoundland in 1949 (now Newfoundland and Labrador), and the last territory to be proclaimed was Nunavut, created in 1999 from the former Districts of Keewatin and Franklin.

Ministry of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá

An early map of the Dominion of Canada. From Complete World Geography, Macmillan (1912).

In 1912, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá visited the Canadian city of Montreal during his tour of North America. “The future of Canada, whether from a material or a spiritual standpoint, is very great,” He later wrote in His Tablets of the Divine Plan, calling the Canadian believers to arise and contribute to fulfilling the goals of the Divine Plan through pioneering:

“ ...in the provinces of Canada, such as Newfoundland, Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Quebec, Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, British Columbia, Ungava, Keewatin, Mackenzie, Yukon, and the Franklin Islands in the Arctic Circle—the believers of God must become self-sacrificing and like unto the candles of guidance become ignited... ” — ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Tablets of the Divine Plan

‘Abdu’l-Bahá urged the Bahá’ís to "[a]ttach great importance to the indigenous population of America", explaining:

“ ...these Indians, should they be educated and guided, there can be no doubt that they will become so illumined as to enlighten the whole world. ” — ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Tablets of the Divine Plan

He further called on the Bahá’ís to teach the indigenous peoples of the Arctic (then commonly referred to as "Eskimos"), noting:

“ ...Should you display an effort, so that the fragrances of God may be diffused among the Eskimos, its effect will be very great and far-reaching... The continent and the islands of Eskimos are also parts of this earth. They must similarly receive a portion of the bestowals of the Most Great Guidance. ” — ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Tablets of the Divine Plan

Ministry of Shoghi Effendi

Raising Spiritual Assemblies

Vancouver (1927)

Moncton (1938)

St. Lambert (1938)

Montreal (1922)

Toronto (1938)

Hamilton (1940)

Halifax (1942)

Winnipeg (1942)

Edmonton (1943)

Charlottetown (1944)

Regina (1944)

Establishment of Local Spiritual Assemblies in Canada, 1922–1944.

After the passing of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in 1921, His grandson, Shoghi Effendi—whom He had named as His successor, the Guardian of the Cause—began a systematic process of building an administrative structure for the worldwide Bahá’í community. In time, the raising of this structure would lead to the election of the Universal House of Justice, an institution ordained by Bahá’u’lláh.

One of the earliest Canadian communities to respond to the Guardian's call was Montreal, which formed its first Local Spiritual Assembly in 1922. Pioneers to British Columbia helped to form the first Assembly in Western Canada in Vancouver, in 1927. Several more Assemblies followed in the following years, and by 1944 at least one Local Spiritual Assembly had been formed in each Canadian province.

First Seven-Year Plan (1937-1944)

Unsettled provinces as of January 1, 1942. Although New Brunswick is marked as unsettled, a Bahá’í group was nevertheless noted in Moncton.

In its early years, the Canadian Bahá’í community shared a National Spiritual Assembly with the United States while it gained strength, both numerically and in administrative capacity. In the early 1940s, most of Canada's prairie and maritime provinces still remained as virgin territories for Bahá’í pioneers; these became goals during the earliest parts of the Divine Plan.

In 1948, Canada formed its first independent Assembly, which went on to become one of the twelve major protagonists of the Ten Year Crusade. At the time, Newfoundland and Labrador were still independent British colonies; they would join the Dominion of Canada the following year, in 1949.

Second Seven-Year Plan (1946-1953)

The Bahá’í community of Canada in 1954.

Ten Year Crusade

...

Plans under the Universal House of Justice

Nine-Year Plan (1963-1973)

...

Five-Year Plan (1974-1979)

Regions of Canada assigned to various teaching committees as of 1974.

Seven-Year Plan (1979-1986)

Bahá’í communities in Canada receiving Iranian refugees following the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

Notes and references

General remarks The Bahai.media Atlas of the World is an organized and commented collection of geographical and historical maps. The main page is therefore the portal to maps and cartography. That page contains links to entries by country, continent and by topic as well as general notes and references. Every entry has an introduction section in English. The text of the introduction(s) is based on the content of the Bahaipedia encyclopedia. For sources of the introduction see therefore the Bahaipedia entries linked to. The same goes for the texts in the history sections. Historical maps are included in the continent, country and dependency entries. The status of various entities is disputed. See the content for the entities concerned. Notes References