a large country in the northern half of North America. The parts of the country away from the coasts have very cold winters, and much of the land is covered with forests and lakes. Canada was formerly owned by Britain and France, and is now an independent member of the Commonwealth . Its capital city is Ottawa, and its official languages are English and French. Today there are still some tensions between English and French speakers, especially in Quebec, where many of the French speakers wish to form a separate country.
See also Cabot , Hudson’s Bay Company , Wolfe .
► Canadian adj , n .