Montreal is the world’s second-largest French-speaking city after Paris. Despite being in Canada, Montreal is a French province. Although many people in Montreal speak English, you will find that English is rarely used in any other part of the province.
Around 70 percent of Montreal residents speak French as their primary language at home, and Quebec is the only province where French is the sole official language.
'Almost' the Longest Street in the World
Canada was once considered to be home of the longest street – well, kind of. Yonge Street intersects with five other major streets in the downtown area. It was known as the world's longest street until 1999; even the Guinness Book of World Records repeated the misconception. This was due to a conflation of Yonge Street with the rest of Ontario's Highway 11.
In fact, Yonge Street did form a part of Highway 11, which led to those claims about Yonge Street being the longest street in the world. But Yonge Street could only claim that title if it were fully connected with Highway 11, which has never been the case.
Moving to Canada
On election night in 2016, searches for "move to Canada" on Google spiked so aggressively that the Canadian Citizenship and Immigration website crashed. Being a new world country, immigration has been, and remains, the most important factor in Canada's population growth.
Canada has one of the highest immigration rates per capita among developed nations. Altogether, 22.3% of the Canadian population identifies as a visible minority and 21.9% as foreign-born. 341,000 new permanent residents were welcomed to Canada in 2019, and that number does not include temporary workers or foreign students.
IMAX was Invented in Canada
IMAX was first invented by a trio of Canadian filmmakers — Roman Kroitor, Graeme Ferguson, and Robert Kerr back in 1967. After being independently asked to produce large-screen films for Expo 67, the filmmakers understood they needed different equipment.
When Japan asked them to produce a film for its Expo '70, the men created Multiscreen Corporation with some financial support from Fuji. The three directors recruited engineer William Shaw to assist them in inventing the cameras needed to film in image maximum — IMAX for short. Tiger Child, screened at Expo '70, was the first-ever IMAX movie.
Unusual Tax Returns
Canadians can deduct several things from their tax returns, but I bet you didn’t know that dog food is tax-deductible in Canada.
It began when the Tax Court decided a farmer could claim cat and dog food because they were outdoor pets meant to keep wildlife away from their blueberries. Dog food is also deductible if it is for a service dog.