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The official theme song of Canada’s centennial celebrations, “Ca-na-da” (also known by its formal title, “Canada: A Centennial Song”) was composed by songwriter and trumpeter Bobby Gimby as a children’s marching song with English and French lyrics.

Communications influence all societies, but Canada in particular takes its shape and meaning from communications systems.

The colonization of eastern Canada began with the French in the 17th century. For some years, these settlers depended for clothing on what they brought with them.

The Festival Singers was the first professional choir in Canada. Founded in 1954 by Elmer Iseler and known until 1968 as the Festival Singers of Toronto, the chorus reached professional status that year when it became the core of the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir.

French colonists brought their customs, way of life and music with them to the shores of the St Lawrence.

The history of visual artists' groups in Canada is filled with short-lived societies which have had a major influence on both professional and amateur artists.

Alexisonfire. Post-hardcore band, formed in 2001 in St. Catharines, Ontario and originally consisting of vocalist George Pettit, guitarist and vocalist Dallas Green, guitarist Wade MacNeil, bassist Christopher Steele and drummer Jesse Ingelevics. In 2005, Ingelevics was replaced by Jordan Hastings.

Arts & Crafts. Independent record company formed in Toronto in 2002 by Jeffrey Remedios and Kevin Drew.

The Arts Club Theatre, Vancouver, opened in February 1964 with a production called Light Up the Sky. The theatre was established by Otto Lowy, Yvonne Firkin and others on the second floor of a gospel hall at 1181 Seymour Street in Vancouver.

Band music composition. The presence of British military bands in garrison towns such as Quebec City and Newark (Niagara-on-the-Lake) provided the spark for the composition of the first Canadian band music.

An architectural competition occurs when designs are prepared by two or more architects for the same project, on the same site, at the same time. Some competitions are open, meaning that any architect within a designated area is eligible to enter.

Bachman-Turner Overdrive, also known as (Brave Belt 1970-2, Bachman-Turner Overdrive 1972-7, BTO from 1978).

The pre-1914 Austrian-Hungarian Empire created a socio-political mix which has made it difficult to estimate the number (probably close to 50,000 in 1960) of true Austrians in Canada.

Amity Singers. Mixed 25-voice choir begun in 1960 as the Varsity Singers of the University of Victoria under conductor Rodney R.A. Webster. Graduating members decided to continue the group ca 1963 under the name Amity Singers.

Though a few Italians were associated with early European exploration in Canada (eg, John Cabot, b Giovanni Caboto), immigration did not begin in earnest until ca 1880, increasing dramatically in the early 20th century.

Margaret Atwood’s sixth novel, The Handmaid's Tale (1985) is a chilling dystopian vision of the future. It is set in the Republic of Gilead, a totalitarian America in which fundamentalist Christians have killed the president and Congress and imposed a puritanical theocracy. The Handmaid's Tale portrays a loveless police state that oppresses women and regulates all aspects of human life with constant surveillance. The novel won the Governor General's Literary Award and the Arthur C. Clarke Award for Science Fiction Literature. It has sold more than eight million copies in English. The Washington Post’s Ron Charles called it “the most popular and influential feminist novel ever written.” It has been adapted into a feature film, an acclaimed opera, a ballet, an Emmy Award-winning television series and a graphic novel. The Testaments, a highly anticipated sequel written by Atwood, was published in September 2019. It was awarded the Booker Prize in a rare tie with Bernardine Evaristo’s Girl, Woman, Other.

From Cronenberg's original story, Network of Blood, and a screenplay that he continually revised up to the final day of shooting, the film Videodrome meditates on sadomasochism, violence and pleasure in our age.

'Both Sides Now.' Song, sometimes known as 'Clouds,' by Joni Mitchell. Written ca 1968, it was recorded in 1968 by the US folksinger Judy Collins and by the US pop group Harpers Bizarre.

Twentieth-century video art is rooted in 19th-century science. It was the discovery of the cathode ray tube and the electron in 1897 which provided the basis for the electronic reproduction and transmission of images.