Canada House: A History
Early in 1922, a Canadian tea merchant named Peter Larkin arrived in London. He was a natural marketer who had created Canada’s iconic Salada Tea brand and he set out to put a new face on Canada in the UK. From the time he was appointed High Commissioner to the United Kingdom on 10 February, by Prime Minister Mackenzie King, he was charged with consolidating all of Canada’s activities in Britain → view the story
Story Archive
Ontario
Known as Upper Canada after the Constitution Act of 1791, Ontario is one of Canada’s four founding colonies. Canada’s most populous province, it is the ancestral home of the Ojibwa, Algonquin and Iroquois First Nations, among others. Its name is believed to mean ‘beautiful waters’ in the original Iroquoian → read the story
Welcome to Canada House
Canada House has been the centre of Canada’s presence in the UK from the time it was first envisioned by High Commissioner Peter Larkin almost 100 years ago → read the story
Artist Profile: Emily Carr
For 2015, Canada House presents Carr’s oil-on-canvas painting Wood Interior (1932-35). Graciously on loan from the Vancouver Art Gallery through the Emily Carr Trust, hopefully this is the first of many more opportunities to showcase Carr’s work in the years to come → read the story
Timeline: 1939–2015
In 1923 the Union Club is acquired to create for the first time, Canada House on Trafalgar Square → read the story
Building Canada into Canada House
Over the decades Canada House has seen many adaptations to its architecture and interiors. In the newly renovated Canada House, every effort has been made to ensure that the building showcases Canada’s natural materials and craftsmanship, and tells a proud story of its provenance → read the story
Saskatchewan
Saskatchewan became a province in 1905. Its name is an adaptation of what the Cree called the great river that flows through the province, kisiskāciwani-sīpiy, which means ‘swift flowing river’. With its vast prairieland and seemingly limitless skies, the landscape creates a sense of boundless opportunity which has lured people from around the world to its borders. It has more hours of sunlight than any other province. Saskatchewan is Canada’s breadbasket → read the story
Nova Scotia
Surrounded by the Bay of Fundy, the Gulf of St Lawrence, the Gulf of Maine and the Atlantic, Nova Scotia is defined by the sea. You are never far from water, whether exploring the rugged coastal cliffs and wide sandy beaches, or inland, where vast stretches of pine forest are punctuated by lakes and spectacular waterfalls. The French were first to arrive from Europe. They settled alongside the indigenous Mi’kmaq and named the island peninsula Acadia → read the story
Yukon
Yukon comes from the Gwich’in word Yu-kun-ah, meaning ‘great river’ — the Yukon River that flows through the territory. It’s the westernmost of Canada’s territories, bordering Alaska and the icy Beaufort Sea, and a region of extremes — extreme temperatures and extreme beauty. The lowest temperature ever officially recorded in Canada and in North America is -63°C (-81.4°F) on 3 February 1947 at Snag, Yukon → read the story