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
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
The Canadian Carpet Ride
Look down as you walk through Canada House and you will see magnificent Canadian oak, marble and granite — and 29 bespoke carpets commissioned to showcase Canadian craftsmanship and artistry → read the story
New Brunswick
New Brunswick is a founding province of Canada. Along with its neighbours Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island, it is one of the three Maritime provinces → read the story
Prince Edward Island
Prince Edward Island is named after Queen Victoria’s father, the Duke of Kent and Strathearn. As the host of the Charlottetown Conference of 1864, a major milestone on the way to the creation of Canada, it is known as the ‘Birthplace of Confederation’. Despite its early involvement in the discussions, however, Prince Edward Island did not join Canada initially. It eventually became the seventh province in 1873 → read the story
Manitoba
In the language of the Cree First Nation, Manitoba means ‘where the spirit lives’. The province started to take its modern form when Thomas Douglas, the fifth Earl of Selkirk, used his money and political connections to purchase land and settle poor Scottish families in British North America. First, in 1803 he helped settlers from Scotland find homes in Prince Edward Island. In 1804, he focused on Upper Canada → read the story
The Meeting Rooms of Canada House
In the autumn of 1864, three British Crown colonies — New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and the Province of Canada — came together, first in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island and then in Quebec City, to forge a new country. They sought protection from US invasion and the creation of more stable commercial markets. They were driven by their historic and cultural relationship with the UK and their mutual interest and respect → read the story
Quebec
Once called Lower Canada, Quebec is one of the country’s four founding provinces. It is the heart of French culture in North America. As Canada’s largest province, it occupies an area about three times the size of France. Before European contact, Quebec
was inhabited by the Inuit, Algonquian and Iroquois First Nations. Its name comes from the Algonquian word kébec, meaning‘where the river narrows’ → read the story