• Spanning the north of the American continent, Canada has 10 provinces and three territories extending from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northwards into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world’s second largest country by total area. Canada’s capital is Ottawa, and its three largest metropolitan areas are Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver.
• Canada has a total population of over 37 million consisting of Arctic indigenous people and Francophone Quebeckers to the British expats and burgeoning Asian community. English and French are the official languages in Canada.
• The Canadian dollar (CAD) is the official currency of Canada.
• Canada is divided into six time zones. Most of Canada operates on standard time from the first Sunday in November to the second Sunday in March and daylight saving time the rest of the year.
• From July to November, coastal areas are sometimes affected by hurricanes. During the winter, highways are often closed in Alberta, British Columbia and other provinces due to snow storms and avalanches. May to September are the main tornado months with the peak season in June and early July in Southern Ontario, Alberta, south eastern Quebec, and a band stretching from southern Saskatchawen, Manitoba through Thunder Bay, British Columbia and western New Brunswick. See Weather below for more details.
• Canada has cruising grounds on both the western Pacific coast and the eastern Atlantic coast. The majority of Canadians, however, sail inland on the Great Lakes, which can be reached either by sailing up the St Lawrence river from the Atlantic or through the Erie Canal. Some like to make the round trip by sailing to Nova Scotia, up St Lawrence to the Lakes and then back to New York and the US east coast through the Canal.
• For the decreasing number of yachts who take the northern route across the Atlantic, the island of Newfoundland, the closest point to Europe, is their landfall or springboard. Cruising this northern island is strictly for summer months and even then it can be cold, wet and windy at times. The rewards are a vast choice of anchorages in small bays, harbours and islands and the few cruising boats sailing this far north can find complete isolation in beautiful surroundings.
• More often visited by foreign yachts is Nova Scotia, the first stop down-east from Maine. Halifax, the main harbour, is a large yachting centre and, like St Johns in Newfoundland, a transatlantic springboard and landfall.
• On the Pacific coast, British Columbia boasts one of the most beautiful and dramatic cruising grounds in the world with its snowcapped mountains, waterfalls cascading down rugged cliffs, a myriad of islands and quiet, still fjords. The 282 mile (454 km) long Vancouver Island protects most of the mainland from the Pacific Ocean and so creates an inland sea. The most popular cruising area is the Gulf Islands in the south. Another good cruising area is at the north of the Strait of Georgia, where a cluster of islands borders the magnificent Desolation Sound. North of this begins the inside passage to Alaska.
• A large tidal range and strong currents make for attentive navigation along this coast, as do the hazards of floating logs and kelp. All of the areas is well charted and tide rips are marked. Fog can be a hazard and radar a great boon, especially as there is a lot of other traffic – logging tugs, fishing boats, fast ferries to and from the islands and, especially near Vancouver, commercial shipping. The rewards of nature, both in scenery and wildlife, including superb fishing, more than make up for the attentive navigation needed.
• Until 2009, the Arctic pack ice made the Northwest Passage unnavigable throughout most of the year. However, climate change has reduced the pack ice, and this Arctic shrinkage has made the waterways more navigable.
• There are good facilities in all major yachting centers. On the west coast there is Vancouver for both repairs and marinas, Nanaimo on Vancouver Island for provisioning and Prince Rupert for general services. On the Atlantic coast, Halifax, in Nova Scotia, has a wide range of repair facilities and mooring options, although Lunenburg offers the best options. For more details of services for cruising boats see Yachting Essentials.

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