Canada During COVID-19 To commemorate the era of
COVID-19 in Canada for future generations, Historica Canada launched Canada During COVID-19, a "living archive" of the Canadian experience during the coronavirus pandemic beginning in 2020. Historica Canada invites people to add to this grassroots project in any form—be it through photograph, video, GIF, music, art, or writing—using the project's hashtag and tagging the project's page on Instagram (and Historica Canada itself on other social media). The program invites
First Nations,
Métis, and
Inuit artists aged 11 to 29 to interpret an aspect of their culture and heritage through literary and visual arts. The winning submissions are reviewed and selected by a jury (one for arts and another for stories) of accomplished Indigenous authors, artists, and community leaders. The contest was born out of a joint project of the Dominion Institute and
Doubleday Canada:
Our Story, a short story compilation that brings together 9 leading Indigenous authors, including
Thomas King,
Tomson Highway, and
Tantoo Cardinal. In its 15-year run, more than 5,500 youth have participated in the Indigenous Arts & Stories program.
Citizenship Challenge The Citizenship Challenge allows participants to test their Canadian knowledge by studying for and writing a mock citizenship exam in English or French. Presented by Historica Canada and funded by
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, the Citizenship Challenge has tested of over 1.05 million people . As a studying resource for both the challenge and for actual citizenship tests themselves, Historica Canada offers a "Citizenship Collection" through the
Canadian Encyclopedia.
The Canadian Encyclopedia The Canadian Encyclopedia is a free bilingual online resource that offers the largest collection of authored and continuously updated articles focused on Canada and
Canadiana. It is the only established national
encyclopedia of its kind in the world, Established in 1985, the Encyclopedia began in print form before transitioning to
CD-ROM, then moving to a digital format in 2001. In 2003, the Encyclopedia incorporated the content of the
Encyclopedia of Music in Canada, which included around 3,000 articles and 500 illustrations. In October 2013, the Encyclopedia released its present "enhanced digital interactive" version online, with multimedia augmented through acquisition and partnerships with
Maclean’s magazine and
The Canadian Press.
Learning resources Historica Canada produces numerous learning tools for educators and students through the
Canadian Encyclopedia. Some examples include: Women in Canadian History; Residential Schools in Canada; Indigenous Perspectives Education Guide; Official Languages Act; and Black History in Canada Education Guide. Historica Canada also provides some of its content through
iTunes University, where users can browse materials organized in course collections along such themes as Women in Canadian History and Asian-Canadian History.
Encounters With Canada (Closed August 2020 due to COVID-19 Pandemic) Encounters with Canada was a bilingual program for teenage students (14 to 17 years old) in which participants spend a themed week in Ottawa to meet other young people from across Canada, and explore future career pathways. With over 113,000 youth having participated in the program, EWC was Canada's largest youth forum. EWC was established in 1982, originally as a program of the
Canadian Unity Council. Its first year was held at the Terry Fox Canadian Youth Centre, offering 11 weeks, from September to early December, with six themes: Arts & Culture, Science & Technology, Canadian Studies, Natural Resources & Environment, Law, and the Economy. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the program closed in August 2020.
Heritage Minutes The
Heritage Minutes is a collection of 60-second short films, each recreating or depicting a significant person, event, or story—those of great importance, accomplishment, tragedy, and bravery—in
Canadian history. Shown on television, in cinemas, and online, some topics covered by the
Heritage Minutes include
Terry Fox; the
Asahi Baseball team;
Lucy Maud Montgomery; the
Acadian Deportation; the invention of
Basketball;
residential schools;
Viola Desmond;
Jennie Trout; and
Winnie the Pooh. The
Minutes were first released in 1991 by The CRB Foundation and re-launched by Historica Canada in 2012. With the
tagline "A part of our heritage", the
Minutes themselves have since become a piece of
Canadian culture and have featured appearances over the years by some of Canada's best-known actors, including
Jared Keeso,
Michael Shanks,
Calum Worthy,
Colm Feore,
Dan Aykroyd, , and
Kate Nelligan. Voice-over end narration for the Heritage Minutes has been provided by such recognizable voices as
Peter Mansbridge,
k.d. lang,
Adrienne Clarkson, and
Lloyd Robertson. The Memory Project Digital Archive is an extensive online collection of the oral histories and digitized artefacts & memorabilia of veterans and Armed Forces members, providing over 3,000 firsthand accounts, 10,000 photos, and 1,500 other original artifacts (letters, memorabilia) that chronicle Canada's military heritage. Reaching over 3 million Canadians since 2001, the Project is an initiative of Historica Canada made possible with the federal government's Departments of
Veterans Affairs and of
Canadian Heritage. ==Past and commemorative programs==