Discover Canada Guide
Modern Canada
This topic covers the 20th century after the Second World War, when Canada built the modern social and constitutional framework it has today.
Key facts for the test
- •Canada was a founding NATO member (1949)
- •Canada Pension Plan established in 1965
- •Quebec's Quiet Revolution took place in the 1960s
- •The Constitution was patriated from the UK in 1982
- •Canada resettled Hungarian refugees (1956) and Vietnamese refugees (after 1975)
International role after 1945
Canada was a founding member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in 1949 and of the United Nations in 1945, and became known for peacekeeping contributions around the world. Lester B. Pearson, later Prime Minister, won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1957 for his role in resolving the Suez Crisis through the creation of a UN peacekeeping force.
Building the social safety net
The postwar decades saw Canada build major social programs still in place today, including unemployment insurance, universal healthcare (Medicare), and the Canada Pension Plan (1965), which provides retirement, disability, and survivor benefits funded through worker and employer contributions.
Quebec's Quiet Revolution
In the 1960s, Quebec underwent the Quiet Revolution, a rapid period of social, political, and economic modernization that reduced the influence of the Catholic Church on daily life, expanded the provincial government's role in education and healthcare, and fuelled a stronger Quebec nationalist and sovereigntist movement that continues to shape federal-provincial relations today.
Patriation of the Constitution, 1982
Until 1982, changing Canada's Constitution legally required an act of the British Parliament. Under Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, Canada patriated its Constitution, giving Canada full legal authority over its own constitutional amendments for the first time, and simultaneously added the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
A history of welcoming refugees
Two refugee movements stand out in Canada's postwar story: roughly 37,000 Hungarians arrived after the Soviet crackdown of 1956, and more than 50,000 Vietnamese found refuge in Canada following the Communist takeover of 1975. Canadian communities and private citizens sponsored and resettled many refugees.
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