History
Canada is a constitutional monarchy. Since 1534,
when the King of France claimed possession of
what is now Canada, the history of our country
has been marked by the reigns of an
uninterrupted succession of monarchs, both
French and British, who have had a significant
influence on our country's development. Under
the Crown, Canada developed first as a colony of
two empires, originally the French and
subsequently the British, then as an independent
dominion, and now as an entirely sovereign
nation.