page_title: Name of Canada
section_title: Use of Canada and Dominion of Canada
hierarchical_section_title: Name of Canada / Adoption of Dominion / Use of Canada and Dominion of Canada
caption_attribution_description: English: Celebrations for the 60-Year Jubilee of Canadian Confederation (1867-1927) on Dominion Day on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Canada.
context_page_description: The name of Canada has been in use since the founding of the French colony of Canada in the 16th century. The name originates from a Saint-Lawrence Iroquoian word kanata for "settlement", "village", or "land". It is pronounced in English and in standard Quebec French. In Inuktitut, one of the official languages of the territory of Nunavut, the Iroquoian word is used, with the Inuktitut syllabics ᑲᓇᑕ.
  The first French colony of Canada, which formed one of several colonies within New France, was set up along the Saint Lawrence River and the northern shores of the Great Lakes. Later the area became two British colonies, called Upper Canada and Lower Canada until their union as the British Province of Canada in 1841. Upon Confederation in 1867, the name Canada was officially adopted for the new Dominion of Canada.
context_section_description: There are numerous references in United Kingdom Acts of Parliament to "the Dominion of Canada" and the British North America Act, 1867 referred to the formation of "one Dominion under the name of Canada". Nonetheless, the term "Dominion of Canada" appears in the Constitution Act, 1871 — usage of which was "sanctioned" — and both appear in other texts of the period, as well as on numerous Canadian banknotes before 1935.
  Until the 1950s, the term Dominion of Canada was commonly used to identify the country. As Canada acquired political authority and autonomy from the United Kingdom, the federal government began using simply Canada on state documents. The government of Louis St. Laurent ended the practice of using 'Dominion' in the Statutes of Canada in 1951. Quebec nationalist leaders objected that dominion suggested that Ottawa would have control over Quebec. Under Prime Minister Louis St-Laurent, compromises were reached that quietly, and without legislation, "dominion" was retired in official names and statements, usually replaced by "federal". Dominion Day remained until in May 1980 when a private member's bill to replace the name with Canada Day was unexpectedly passed in the House. In the Senate, Eugene Forsey and the Monarchist League of Canada strongly defended the traditional usage. When a Gallup poll showed 70 percent of all Canadians favoured the change, the Senate approved the bill without a recorded vote.
  The 1953 coronation of Queen Elizabeth dropped "Dominion" in her official title, and the UK replaced "dominion" with "realm" to refer to the Commonwealth countries. The 1982 Canada Act referred only to Canada, and the national holiday was renamed from Dominion Day to Canada Day. Section 4 of the 1867 BNA Act also declares that: "Unless it is otherwise expressed or implied, the Name Canada shall be taken to mean Canada as constituted under this Act".
  and this has been interpreted to mean that the name of the country is simply Canada. No constitutional statute amends this name, and the subsequent Canada Act 1982 does not use the term dominion. Official sources of the United Nations system,
  international organizations (such as the Organization of American States), the European Union,
  the United States, and other polities with which Canada has official relations as a state consistently use Canada as the only official name, state that Canada has no long-form name, or that the formal name is simply Canada. No Canadian legal document states that the name of the country is anything other than Canada.
  The terms Dominion and Dominion of Canada are still considered to be appropriate, although arcane, titles for the country. The federal government continues to produce publications and educational materials that specify the currency of these titles, although these publications are not themselves legal or official documents.
  For instance, in 2008 the Canadian government registered the Maple Leaf Tartan, designed in 1964, with the Scottish Tartans Authority. The tartan's alternate name is "Dominion of Canada."
  The terms Dominion of Canada and Dominion have also been used to distinguish contemporary (post-1867) Canada from either the earlier Province of Canada or from the even earlier The Canadas. The terms have also been used to distinguish the federal government from the provinces, though in this usage "federal" has replaced "dominion". For example, The Canadian Almanac stopped using Dominion of Canada in 1964.
caption: Crowds on Parliament Hill celebrate Dominion Day 1927, the 60th jubilee of confederation
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