Canada - Acadia University

Acadia University is located in the town of Wolfville, Nova Scotia, approximately 100 kilometres northwest of Halifax, Nova Scotia the provincial capital. Founded in 1838 by the Baptist Community, Acadia's beginning was the result of the commitment and enthusiasm of a community determined to build a university. The University has been shaped by their spirit of hard work and dedication to the principles that everyone should have access to university regardless of gender, race or religious affiliations - a spirit which continues to guide the university today.

Canada - Alberta Cree Indian

The Cree are the largest group of First Nations in Canada, with over 200,000 members and 135 registered bands. This large population may be a result of the Crees' traditional openness to inter-tribal marriage. Together, their reserve lands are the largest of any First Nations group in the country. The largest Cree band and the second largest First Nations Band in Canada after the Six Nations Iroquois is the Lac La Ronge Band in northern Saskatchewan.

Canada - Stanley Park Zoo

Stanley Park is a 404.9 hectare (1,001 acre) urban park bordering downtown Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. It was opened in 1888 by David Oppenheimer in the name of Lord Stanley of Preston, the Governor-General of Canada.

Stanley Park contains numerous natural and man-made attractions that lure visitors to the park. Unlike other large urban parks, Stanley Park is not the product of a landscape architect, but has evolved into its present, mixed-use configuration.

Until 1996, a main attraction in the park was a zoo, which grew out of the collection of animals begun by the first park superintendent, Henry Avison, after he captured a black bear and chained it to a stump. Avison was subsequently named city pound keeper, and his collection of animals formed the basis for the original zoo, which eventually housed over 50 animals, including snakes, wolves, emus, buffalo, kangaroos, monkeys, and Humboldt penguins.

In 1994, when plans were developed to upgrade Stanley Park's zoo, Vancouver voters instead decided to phase it out when the question was posed in a referendum. The Stanley Park Zoo closed completely in December 1997 after the last remaining animal, a polar bear named Tuk, died at age 36. He had remained after the other animals had left because of his old age. The polar bear pit, often criticised by animal rights activists, was converted into a demonstration salmon spawning hatchery. Captive animals can still be viewed at the Children’s Farmyard. Numerous varieties of animals live in the park, including 200 bird species, such as peacocks descended from the old zoo, as well as other non-native species.

Canada - Ottawa

Ottawa is the capital of Canada, a municipality and the second largest city within the province of Ontario. Located in the Ottawa Valley, in the eastern portion of Southern Ontario, the city lies on the Ottawa River, a major waterway forming the local boundary between the provinces of Ontario and Quebec.

Canada - Niagara Escarpment

The Niagara Escarpment is a long escarpment, or cuesta, in the United States and Canada that runs westward from New York State, through Ontario, Michigan, Wisconsin and Illinois. It is composed of the Lockport geological formation of Silurian age, and is similar to the Onondaga geological formation, which runs parallel to it and just to the south, through the western portion of New York and southern Ontario. The escarpment is most famous as the cliff over which the Niagara River plunges to form Niagara Falls, for which it is named.
In February 1990, the Niagara Escarpment was designated a World Biosphere Reserve by UNESCO, making it one of 12 in Canada. Development and land use on and adjacent to the physical escarpment is regulated by the Niagara Escarpment Commission, an agency of the Ontario government.

Niagara Falls is composed of two major sections separated by Goat Island: Horseshoe Falls, the majority of which—two-thirds according to the US Geological Survey—lies on the Canadian side of the border, and American Falls on the American side. The smaller Bridal Veil Falls are also located on the American side, separated from the main falls by Luna Island.
The Niagara Falls are renowned both for their beauty and as a valuable source of hydroelectric power. Managing the balance between recreational, commercial, and industrial uses has been a challenge for the stewards of the falls since the 19th century.

Canada - Whistler

Whistler is a Canadian resort town in the southern Pacific Ranges of the Coast Mountains in the province of British Columbia, Canada, approximately 125 kilometres (78 mi) north of Vancouver.

Over two million people visit Whistler annually, primarily for alpine skiing and mountain biking at Whistler-Blackcomb. Its pedestrian village has won numerous design awards and Whistler has been voted among the top destinations in North America by major ski magazines since the mid-1990s. During the 2010 Winter Olympics, Whistler hosted most of the alpine, nordic, luge, skeleton, and bobsled events, though freestyle skiing and all snowboarding events were hosted at Cypress Mountain near Vancouver.

Whistler's urban landscape was specifically designed to accommodate the natural environment, as well as to re-mediate a large garbage dump which became today's Whistler Village which had been one of the main non-natural feeding grounds for black bear in the valley. Since the resort's development, black bear populations have gradually recovered, coupled with the loss of pines due to multi-year drought conditions, bears have begun seeking food in settled areas. Many of Whistler's bears have learned to do things like open car doors or hold spring-closed gates open so they can reach food.

Canada - Art Gallery of Alberta

The Art Gallery of Alberta was established in 1924 as the Edmonton Museum of Arts. The museum occupied various sites before moving in 1952 to the Richard Secord House, a turn-of-the-century mansion overlooking the North Saskatchewan River Valley, and in 1956 it officially changed its name to the Edmonton Art Gallery. In 2005 it was renamed the Art Gallery of Alberta.

Hopes of constructing a new building for the gallery's growing collection came to fruition in 1962 when Mrs. A.E. Condell bequeathed funds for a new gallery in the name of her son, Arthur Blow Condell. Architects Donald G. Bittorf and B. James Wensley were contracted to design the building, and in April 1969 the new home of the Edmonton Art Gallery, sited in the centre of the city on Sir Winston Churchill Square, was opened to the public. The building, which featured expansive exhibition, storage and educational facilities, was later enlarged when a new wing was added in 1977 to replace the exterior courtyard.

The Gallery moved into a major new phase of its history in 2005 when, after an international architectural competition, Los Angeles-based Randall Stout Architects, Inc was selected to design a new building for the AGA to replace the old structure on Sir Winston Churchill Square. The new building opened on 31 Jan 2010, with a total area of nearly 8000 sq m, of which nearly 3000 sq m is devoted to climate-controlled exhibition space. With a dramatic exterior design that has attracted national attention, the building accommodates a restaurant and espresso bar, a gallery shop, and a 150-seat theatre along with an expanded education facility, known as the Singhmar Centre for Art Education.

Canada - Toronto

Toronto is the most populous city in Canada and the provincial capital of Ontario. It is located on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. With over 2.5 million residents, it is the fifth most populous municipality in North America. Toronto is at the heart of the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) which contains 6.2 million people, and is part of a larger combined region in Southern Ontario known as the Golden Horseshoe, totaling over 8.1 million residents making up approximately 25% of Canada's population. The city began as a backwoods English trading post in 1793, but has grown to be the cultural and economic focus of English Canada. Owing largely to the country's liberal immigration policies of the 1960's, and the region's strong economy, Toronto has, in recent decades, been transformed into one of the most culturally and ethnically diverse cities in the world. More than 80 ethnic communities are represented, and over half of the city's residents were born outside Canada.