Sport in Canada consists of a wide variety of games.

There are many contests that

Canadians value, the most common sports are ice hockey, lacrosse, Canadian football,
soccer, basketball, curling and baseball, with ice hockey and lacrosse being the official
winter and summer sports.
Ice hockey, referred to as simply "hockey", is Canada's most prevalent winter sport, its
most popular spectator sport, and its most successful sport in international competition.
It is Canada's official national winter sport. Lacrosse, a sport with Native American
origins, is Canada's oldest and official summer sport. Canadian football is Canada's
second most popular spectator sport, being the most popular in the prairie provinces.
The Canadian Football League's annual championship, the Grey Cup, is one of the
country's largest annual sports events.[ While other sports have a larger spectator base,
Association football, known in Canada as soccer in both English and French, has the
most registered players of any team sport in Canada. Professional teams exist in many
cities in Canada. Statistics Canada reports that the top ten sports that Canadians
participate in are golf, ice hockey, swimming, soccer, basketball, baseball, volleyball,
skiing (downhill and alpine), cycling and tennis.

History
The history of Canadian sport falls into five stages of development: early recreational
activities before 1840; the start of organized competition, 1840-1880; the emergence of
national organizations, 1882-1914; the rapid growth of both amateur and professional
sports, 1914 to 1960; and developments of the last century Some sports, especially
hockey, lacrosse and curling enjoy an international reputation as particularly Canadian.

Official sports
Since its founding, Canada's official sport was lacrosse. In 1994, First Nations groups
objected to a government bill that proposed establishing ice hockey as Canada's national
sport, arguing that it neglected recognition of the game of lacrosse, a uniquely Native
contribution. In response, the House of Commons amended a bill "to recognize hockey
as Canada's Winter Sport and lacrosse as Canada's Summer Sport," although lacrosse is
played all year, in all seasons, indoor and outdoors. On May 12, 1994, the National
Sports of Canada Act came into force with these designations.

Ice hockey
The modern form of ice hockey began in Canada in the late 19th century, and is widely
considered Canada's national pastime, with high levels of participation by children, men

and women at various levels of competition. The Stanley Cup, considered the premiere
trophy in professional ice hockey, originated in Canada in 1893.

Lacrosse
The First Nations began playing the sport more than 500 years ago. Today lacrosse not
only remains an integral part of native culture, but is played by tens of thousands of
people across Canada and the north eastern United States. From its origin as 'The
Creator's Game' to the overwhelming popularity of the Toronto Rock and the modern
game, lacrosse has survived the test of time after treading down a long, controversial
path that led it to become recognized as Canada's official national sport.

Professional sports
Soccer
Canada's annual professional competition is known as the Amway Canadian
Championship. The five competing teams are Toronto FC, Vancouver Whitecaps FC,
Impact de Montral, FC Edmonton, and Ottawa Fury FC. The national champion
qualifies for the CONCACAF Champions League from which a confederation
champion then qualifies for the annual FIFA Club World Cup.
In league competition, Toronto FC, Vancouver Whitecaps FC and Impact de Montral
all play in the USA-based Major League Soccer. Meanwhile, FC Edmonton and Ottawa
Fury FC play in the USA-based North American Soccer League.
Canada's national teams compete in CONCACAF, the Confederation of North, Central
American and Caribbean Association Football. Canada's national "A" team has won two
CONCACAF championships: in 1985 to qualify for the FIFA World Cup and in 2000 to
qualify for the FIFA Confederations Cup.

Baseball
The Toronto Blue Jays are Canada's only Major League Baseball team, founded in
1977. The Montreal Expos club played in Montreal from 1969 until 2004 when they
moved to Washington, D.C. and became the Washington Nationals. The Blue Jays were
the first non-American team to host a World Series Game (in 1992) and the only nonAmerican team to win the World Series (back to back in 1992 and 1993). The Blue Jays
had the highest attendance in Major League Baseball during the late 1980s and early
1990s.
A number of Canadians have played in the major leagues, and several have won the
highest honours in baseball. Ferguson Jenkins won the National League Cy Young
Award in 1971 as the best pitcher in the league, and in 1991 became the first Canadian
inducted in the (U.S.) Baseball Hall of Fame. Larry Walker was National League MVP
for the 1997 season and was the league's batting champion 3 times. Since 2000, ric
Gagn won the National League Cy Young Award in 2003, Jason Bay was the first

Canadian to be named rookie of the year in 2004, and Justin Morneau (American
League, 2006) and Joey Votto (National League, 2010) have won MVP honours.
Canada participated in the 2006 World Baseball Classic, in which it upset Team USA in
first-round play,[11] which some people in Canada call the "Miracle on Dirt" (a play on
the phrase "Miracle on Ice" for the 1980 U.S. Olympic Hockey team). There are a
number of minor league, semi-professional and collegiate baseball teams in Canada (see
List of baseball teams in Canada). Great achievements in Canadian baseball are
recognized by the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame.

Basketball
Basketball was invented by a Canadian named James Naismith while teaching in
Massachusetts. Most of the players in that very first basketball game were students from
Quebec. Basketball has been part of Canada's sporting landscape ever since.
The NBA expanded into Canada in 1995 with the addition of the Toronto Raptors and
Vancouver Grizzlies. The Grizzlies moved to Memphis, Tennessee in 2001, but the
Raptors continue to draw healthy crowds at the Air Canada Centre. The 2005 and 2006
NBA MVP, Los Angeles Lakers point guard Steve Nash, is from Victoria, British
Columbia and has played in international competitions for Canada's national team.
A record 13 Canadian players10 born in the country, two naturalized, and one U.S.born dual citizenwere on NBA rosters at the start of the 201415 season. The
Canadian-born players are:
The naturalized Canadians are the South Africa-born Nash and the New York Knicks'
Samuel Dalembert, born in Haiti and raised in Montreal. The remaining Canadian,
Robert Sacre of the Lakers, was born in Baton Rouge to an American father and
Canadian mother and raised in North Vancouver.
The 2013 NBA draft saw two Canadians, both Toronto natives who moved from the city
as children, selected in the first round. Bennett, who developed as a player in Brampton,
became the first Canadian ever to be picked first overall when he was chosen by the
Cavaliers. Later in the round, Olynyk, who moved to Kamloops after his father became
athletic director at Thompson Rivers University, was chosen by the Dallas Mavericks at
#13 and immediately traded to the Celtics. This marked the first time two Canadians
had been lottery picks in the same draft.

Amateur sports
Canadian athletes are world-ranked in many amateur sports. These include the 'winter'
sports of alpine skiing, cross-country skiing, figure skating, freestyle skiing,
snowboarding, speed skating and biathlon. In ice hockey, Canada supports national
teams in under-20 and under-18 categories. In 'summer' sports, Canadians participate in
rugby, soccer, disc ultimate, track and field among most sports presented in the Summer
Olympics. There are sports federations for most sports in Canada. Funding for amateur

athletics is provided by governments, private companies and individual citizens through

donation.

Team sports
Basketball
Basketball has very strong roots in Canada. The inventor, James Naismith, was
Canadian; born in Almonte, Ontario, he was working as a physical education instructor
in Massachusetts when he created the game in 1891. As many as 10 of the players in
that first game were Canadian students from Quebec.
Basketball is a popular sport in parts of Canada, especially in Nova Scotia, Southern
Alberta, and more recently Southern Ontario.

Soccer
Soccer is the highest participation sport in Canada, with 847,616 registered players
(according to the Canada Soccer 2012 Yearbook). Male/female participation is split
roughly 59/41 percent. There are 1,456 clubs in 139 districts across 12 regions
(provincial and territory member associations).
Canada's annual amateur competition is known as the National Championships. Senior
men's teams play for The Challenge Trophy while senior women's teams play for The
Jubilee Trophy. The men's national competition was first played in 1913, with the
trophy (Connaught Cup) donated by Canadian Governor-General, the Duke of
Connaught. The women's national competition was first played in 1982.
The Canadian Soccer Association's annual National Championships also feature
competitions at the U-18, U-16 and U-14 levels. At all levels, clubs qualify for the
National Championships through their respective provincial championships.
From 1967 to 1988, Canada's best men's amateur footballers also participated in
Olympic Qualifying tournaments (although in the 1980s a number of those players were
indeed professional). Canada qualified as host of the Montral 1976 Olympics and then
again for the Los Angeles 1984 Olympics (where it finished fifth overall). Since the
early 1990s, the Men's Olympic Qualifying tournaments have featured U-23 footballers
(with a mix of professional and amateur/university players).
At the St. Louis 1904 Olympics, Canada won the gold medal in Association Football.
The Canadian team was represented by Galt FC of Ontario.

Individual sports
Motorsport
The Canadian Grand Prix Formula One auto race had been conducted every year since
1967, and since 1978 had been held at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal, apart
from 2009 when the race was not on the FIA calendar for one year. The track was
named for Canada's first Grand Prix driver, the late Gilles Villeneuve, whose son,
Jacques, won the Formula One World championship in 1997.
Several Canadians have starred in American Championship Car Racing, most notably
Jacques Villeneuve, who won the 1995 CART championship and Indianapolis 500
before moving to Formula One, and Paul Tracy, who captured the 2003 CART title and
collected 31 race wins. Races were held in Mont-Tremblant and Mosport road courses
and in street circuits in Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver and Edmonton. In 2008, Champ
Car merged with its long-time rival, the Indy Racing League, under the banner of the
latter body's top series, the IndyCar Series. The Edmonton was transferred over to the
new series immediately, and the Toronto event was added for 2009.
CASCAR (the Canadian Association for Stock Car Auto Racing) was the country's
governing body for amateur and professional stock car racing, and the CASCAR Super
Series was the highest-level stock car racing series in the country. In 2006, NASCAR
purchased CASCAR and rebranded the Super Series as the NASCAR Canadian Tire
Series; nevertheless, the series remains Canada's top-level stock car racing circuit. In
2007 the Castrol Canadian Touring Car Championship was formed.
Because Canada is NASCAR's largest market outside the United States, NASCAR
brought the NAPA Auto Parts 200 Busch Series (now Xfinity Series) race to Circuit
Gilles Villeneuve in 2007. The race remained on the schedule until being discontinued
after the 2012 season. Beginning the next year, NASCAR brought the Camping World
Truck Series to Mosport with the Chevrolet Silverado 250.
Canadians have combined to win 53 races in American Championship Car Racing
(Including 1 Indianapolis 500), 17 races in Formula 1 and 7 races in NASCAR's top 3
divisions (1 in the Sprint Cup Series).

Boxing
The sport of boxing has a long history in Canada. Canada has produced several world
champions, including heavyweights Tommy Burns and Lennox Lewis. Boxing is
generally learned in independent gyms, located in most large Canadian cities. Canadian
boxers compete in the Olympic Games and often then turn professional.

Mixed martial arts

MMA is a young and growing sport in Canada, which has produced several notable
fighters in the UFC and other promotions. Canada is the home of former UFC
Welterweight Champion Georges St-Pierre.

Shooting sports
The shooting sports are a part of Canada's cultural heritage. Canadians enjoy
participating in the various disciplines that make up this broad sport.
At the recreational level individuals and families can be found across the nation
improving their marksmanship skills at various private and public shooting ranges.
Hunting is also a popular activity due to Canada's vast wilderness and pioneer past. At
the competitive level, many Canadians train in Olympic events. There are also a variety
of other competitive shooting sports that operate provincially, nationally and
internationally through their respective organizations.

Olympic Games
Canada has competed at every Olympic Games, except for the first games in 1896 and
the boycotted games in 1980. Canada has previously hosted the games three times, at
the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary, and the
2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver.
At the summer games, the majority of Canada's medals come from the sports of
athletics, aquatics (swimming, synchronized swimming and diving), rowing and
canoeing/kayaking. In the post-boycott era (since 1988), Canada's medal total ranks
19th in the world, with the highest rank of 11th in 1992 and the lowest of 24th in 2000.
At the winter games, Canada is usually one of the top nations in terms of medals won.
Canada is traditionally strong in the sports of ice hockey, speed skating (especially the
short track variation), figure skating and every Canadian men's and women's curling
teams have won medals since the sport was added to the Olympic program.
After Canada failed to win any gold medals at the 1976 Summer and 1988 Winter
games, several organizations including Sport Canada and the Canadian Olympic
Committee collaborated to launch "Own the Podium 2010", a development program
to help Canada earn the most medals at the 2010 Games. Canada did not win the most
total medals at the Vancouver Olympics (they finished third, behind the United States,
whose 37 total medals was the most of any country at a single Winter Olympics, and
Germany, with 26), but did win the most gold medals, with 14, the most of any country
at a single Winter Olympics.
The National Sport School in Calgary, founded 1994, is the first Canadian high school
designed exclusively for Olympic-calibre athletes.

Geography of Canada.

The geography of Canada is vast and diverse. Occupying most of the northern portion of North
America (41% of the continent), Canada is the world's second largest country in total area
after Russia. Canada spans an immense territory between the Pacific Ocean to the west and
the Atlantic Ocean to the east and the Arctic Ocean to the north (hence the country's
motto "From sea to sea"), with the United States to the south (contiguous United States) and
northwest (Alaska), and the Arctic Ocean to the north; Greenland is to the northeast. Off the
southern
coast
of Newfoundland lies Saint-Pierre
and
Miquelon,
an overseas
collectivity of France. Since 1925, Canada has claimed the portion of the Arctic between 60W
and 141W longitude to the North Pole; however, this claim is contested. Canada's abundance
of natural resourcesis reflected in their continued importance in the economy of Canada. Major
resource-based industries are fisheries, forestry, agriculture, petroleum products and mining.
The population of Canada, some 34,980,000 as of November 2012, is concentrated in the south
in proximity to its border with the contiguous U.S.; with a population density of 3.5 people per
square kilometres (9.1/sq mi), it is one of the most sparsely populated countries in the world.

Political Geography
Canada is divided into ten provinces and three territories. According to Statistics Canada, 72.0
percent of the population is concentrated within 150 kilometres (93 mi) of the nation's southern
border with the United States, 70.0% live south of the 49th parallel, and over 60 percent of the
population lives along the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River between Windsor,
Ontario and Quebec City. This leaves the vast majority of Canada's territory as sparsely
populated wilderness; Canada's population density is 3.5 people/km 2 (9.1/mi2), among the
lowest in the world. Despite this, 79.7 percent of Canada's population resides in urban areas,
where population densities are increasing.