If you re-read this thread, you'll find the answers to some of those questions, especially in early posts. Here's some information I posted a while ago, with some additions to answer your new questions:
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My turn to help! I've lived all across the country - I'm in my 5th province now! I was born in Ontario, and have lived there, Alberta, Newfoundland, BC and now New Brunswick. I've also spent a significant amount of time in PEI and Nova Scotia. I consider myself a Newfoundlander (see the flag in my signature?), as I spent high school and my first university degree in Newfoundland. Give me the ocean and fiddle and accordian music any day!!
First off, I have to say that English Canadians don't consider themselves British, or say that they live in British provinces. We recognize our British heritage, but now, we're Canadians. We would just consider most of our provinces English provinces.
Interesting tidbits:
New Brunswick is the only officially bilingual province. Quebec did not ratify our 1982 constitution, so the province is not officially bilingual. (weird, huh? )New Brunswick has a large Acadian population. Despite this, all of the provincial governments, and the federal government, offer bilingual services, and many tourist destinations do as well.
Newfoundland did not become a part of Canada until 1949. Before that, it was not a part of Britain, as many people think. Newfoundland was a separate country, with its own Prime Minister and its own currency. Newfoundlanders did, however, fight with Britain in the two World Wars, which I think is where some of the confusion comes from. It's interesting, when you ask most people in Newfoundland where they are from, they respond that they consider themselves a Newfoundlander first, and a Canadian second. This is more so with the older generation, but the younger generation also has a lot of provincial pride, and you often see young people wearing the provincial Newfoundland flag, or the Republic of Newfoundland flag. Also, wherever "O Canada" is sung in Newfoundland, you can guarantee "The Ode To Newfoundland" (Newfoundland's anthem) will be sung as well!
How people select, prepare, cook & consume food
This is very dfferent all across the country, as people have mentioned. Our country is so huge and has so many ethnicities, it's hard to narrow it down.
Most people buy their food from grocery stores and farmer's markets. In rural areas, people may have their own garden in which they grow some vegetables and herbs. In the coastal regions, fishing is a big part of the lifestyle, although there are restrictions on how much you can fish, and when. Hunting is popular in some parts of Canada too. I know people go moose and bird hunting in Newfoundland and New Brunswick, but I don't know much about hunting in each province. If anyone reading this is a hunter, maybe they can enlighten you more on this.
An interesting (and easy!) breakfast/snack that your son could make for his project is a Newfoundland dish we call toutons (the "ou" is pronounced like when you say ouch or towel). Quite simply, it's fried bread dough. Go to the bakery and buy white bread dough. Cut it up into pieces about the size of a golf ball and fry them in a pan with butter. Don't cut them too big or they won't cook all the way through and they'll stay dough-y. They're perfect when they're golden brown on both sides. Don't let the butter burn or it will turn your toutons an icky black/brown colour. Serve them hot with maple syrup or berries. It's not the most healthy treat in the world, but it's a tasty alternative to waffles or pancakes.
Clothing
This varies a bit depending on where you live, but all Canadians experience winter. In the Vancouver, British Columbia area though, unless you're in the mountains, winter is very short, and not severe at all. When I lived just outside Vancouver, we only had a few snowfalls, only one amounting to anything you'd have to shovel. In most places in Canada, people are well-acquainted with their shovels and snow-blowers! Summers can be quite hot, especially in southern Ontario, where the pollution and humidity also plays a factor. In the Atlantic provinces (NB, NS, PEI & NL), the summers are generally moderate; around 25 degrees C. (although Fredericton, NB, where I live now, can be surprisingly hot, because it's not by the ocean).
Shelter
Houses, apartments, etc. Most frames are made with wood, and some houses have brick, some have siding... the country is so big that it's hard to say one thing is typical. Same with size. Some are small bungalows, some are large multi-storey houses... I'm sure this would be a hard question to answer about most developed countries. Homeless shelters are available for the homeless who choose to use them.
Special events......eg. births, marriages, deaths, birthdays, anniversaries, special ceremonies
Oh my... that's a loaded question. Again, it really varies depending on the area and ethnicity. I think marriages occur the most frequently in churches/temples/mosques/etc., but a lot of people are now turning to non-religious ceremonies. Canada is moving towards the legalization of same-sex marriages. Ontario and British Columbia courts have allowed same-sex marriages, and the Federal government is working on changing the definition to include same-sex marriages. This is a hot topic, as most polls seem to say that the country's opinions are about equally divided. Most funerals seem to be done in churches and halls, with people sitting in chairs/benches and people speaking one at a time behind a podium. I haven't been to that many funerals though. I'd imagine different ethnicities have different customs.
In Newfoundland, we have a special tradition for Christmastime, called Mummering. There are different incarnations of this around the world. You can find information on mummering on the bottom of this page about Newfoundland customs.
http://www.geocities.com/sky_lar/nfldcustoms.html
Something else that is popular in Newfoundland for birthdays, and apparently in the rest of Atlantic Canada as well (I never encountered it when I went to school in Alberta & Ontario!), is getting 'creamed' on your birthday. Essentially, watch out on your birthday at lunchtime in school, because someone is liable to smush a piece of cake in your face! (I HATED this custom! *L*)
I can't really think of any special clothing. Again, it depends on your culture. Canadian Scots may still wear kilts, Asian Canadians may wear their traditional outfits on special occasions, East Indians may wear their traditional clothing... I know I'm saying this a lot, but it all depends. Canada is so large and made up of so many different cultures that it's hard to define certain clothing as Canadian. Maybe a touque? (winter hat)
Availability of food & other resources
The fish and seafood stocks have been regulated in recent years due to worries about depletion. There never seems to be much trouble finding what you need in grocery stores though! I think our logging resources are doing okay, although they're being harvested faster than the trees can grow back. There have been fairly recent oil and mineral deposits found and developed in Newfoundland & Labrador. If your son wants to know more about them, he can search Hibernia and Voisey's Bay. People from other parts of Canada will have to comment on the resources there.
Financial restraints (economy)
The Canadian dollar fluctuates with the American dollar.
Canada generally has what are considered, rightly or wrongly, as "have" and "have-not" provinces. Ontario, Alberta and BC are considered "have" provinces, and the rest (I'm not sure about Quebec though) are considered "have-not" provinces. This stems from the amount of resources in each province, but also largely from the population. ON, SB, BC and QUE have most of Canada's population (I'm sure your son can find figures on this somewhere). The Federal government gets money from each province, and then redistributes the money to help out provinces that are in financial difficulty. This can get rather technical, and some people find this a source of heated debate, but those are the basics.
Technological infulences
Canada is influenced by the technology in the United States and from Asia, but Canada actually has the highest rate of internet usage per capita in the world, and is the government that is generally considered the most progressive in moving towards online government. A fairly easy to read explanation (depending on how old your son is, I don't remember if you said) of e-governemnt in Canada can be found here:
http://www.accenture.com/xd/xd.asp?...apa_focused.xml Just skip to the part about Canada and look at the glossary for definitions. Many government services are now online, including filing for taxes, and Employment Insurance services. The high Internet usage is linked to Canada's high literacy rates.
Religion
I believe the majority of Canadians are Christian, but there are a lot of different religions and ethnicities, particularly in larger cities. There must be statistics on this somewhere, but I'm not sure where. Maybe the government of Canada's Heritage department website?
Other cultures
Maybe someone else can give you some information on Aboriginal culture in Canada, because that is a huge influence in Canada today, and certainly in the past. Also, some information about the Innu and Inuit in Labrador and the Territories (Yukon, Northwest Territories and Nunuvut) would be valuable to your son's project.
Special foods
I think this varies with family, culture and province. The only particular food I can think of that a lot of people eat on the same occasion is turkey for Thanksgiving. Maybe someone else can help with this.
Celebrations
We celebrate Canada Day on July 1st every day. This is "Canada's Birthday". It's a national holiday, and many cities and towns have fairs, markets, entertainment and fireworks to celebrate the day. We also celebrate Victoria Day - the Queen's birthday. There are often fireworks for this. Most cities & towns also have a Santa Claus parade in late Novenber or early December, to get people in the Christmas spirit.
We also celebrate Remembrance Day on Novenber 11th, to honour those who have fought in the wars. There is often a military parade on this day, and cities, towns and schools across the country have services and wear poppies in honour of the soldiers. The poem, "In Flanders Fields" by John McRae is usually read. (It's beautiful - read it if you have never read it)
These websites should help:
Canada International:
http://canadainternational.gc.ca/(Particularly, look at the "About Canada" section on this website:
http://canada.gc.ca/acanada/acPubHome.jsp?font=0&lang=eng)
Culture Canada:
http://www.culturecanada.gc.ca/
Culture.ca:
http://www.culture.ca/canada/
Images Canada:
http://www.imagescanada.ca/index-e.html (This is neat, but maybe not all that helpful. Check it out & see.)
