What is it you're researching here Uncle? Do you have some specific purpose in mind that we could help you with by pointing to some Canadian historical/cultural/sociological web sites, or are you just randomly curious? I'm tempted to suggest you should just come on up on vacation, look around, and talk to people like me. I've spent a fair bit of vacation time with my family driving around the states nearest to where I live--Montana, Wyoming, and North and South Dakota--and aside from a few jarring notes, like bars at every crossroads and trucks with rifle racks in the rear window that actually contain rifles, it's often hard to tell I'm in another country. So come and visit Regina, Saskatchewan in the summer, PM before you come and I'll tell you how to find me, and we can sit on the patio with some cold drinks on a warm summer evening and I'll tell you everything I know. :wink:
I also feel compelled to embellish some of JomZ's answers.
How are school grades named and divided in Canada?
Every jurisdiction I've ever lived in (that's Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Ontario) divides them into primary school (grades 1-8 ) and high school (grades 9-12, 9-13 in Ontario).There are also two systems in most jurisdictions, called the public and the separate (which means Roman Catholic) schools. That's a result of a complex bit of historical and judicial stuff called the Manitoba Schools Question, which I'm sure you can find out way more about than you really want to know just by typing those three words into Google's search line.
Are women paid the same wages as men in Canada?
They're supposed to be, but reality is somewhat at variance with the law. As a group women on average earn less than men, but that statistic is distorted by the fact that there are more women in lower paying jobs. "Equal pay for work of equal value" is a principle enshrined in law and precedent, but we're not really there yet. I've seen studies that purport to show that even when men and women have identical jobs the women are paid less. That's an extremely complicated question though, and an honest and accurate assessment of the situation would no doubt extend to several large volumes. But the short answer is no.
Why doesn't Canada have Protestants...
That question really took me aback. Most Canadians, at least nominally, are Protestants; Catholics (active and lapsed) are a minority. It completely escapes me how anyone could get the idea we're mostly active or lapsed Catholics. The level of church attendance in Canada is far lower than it is in the USA, and I suspect most Canadians don't actually care much about religion, but most of us haven't gone to the point of deciding we're atheists.
And to answer another question you didn't ask, but one I think you'll get to eventually, because you're all around it here: our constitution, as yours does, specifies a division of responsibilities between federal and provincial/state governments, and limits the taxing powers of the provinces while giving the feds the right to raise money by (to quote the constitution) "any mode or system of taxation." The way things were divided was perfectly reasonable in 1867, but it isn't anymore. The provinces are saddled with the most expensive functions of modern governments in Canada--health, education, and social welfare services--and limited taxing powers, while the feds have less expensive functions (except national defence) and unlimited taxing powers. Much of the dynamics of contemporary Canadian politics can be understood as a consequence of the fact that the provinces have the problems and the feds have the money. As a result there is a complex and damn near incomprehensible system of transfer payments in place from the feds to the provinces to maintain national standards in areas like health care and education, and of course because the feds are providing the money they want to put conditions on its use, and that pisses off the provinces... Welcome to the fairyland of Canadian constitutional financial arrangements.
