ABOUT PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND
Prince Edward Island is a province of Canada consisting of the island of the same name, as well as several much smaller islands.
It is one of the three Maritime Provinces and is the smallest province in both land area and population. It is the only province of Canada to have no land boundary. The island has several informal names: "Garden of the Gulf," referring to the pastoral scenery and lush agricultural lands throughout the province; and "Birthplace of Confederation" or "Cradle of Confederation", referring to the Charlottetown Conference in 1864, although PEI did not join Confederation until 1873, when it became the seventh Canadian province. The backbone of the economy is farming; it produces 25% of Canada's potatoes. Historically, PEI is one of
Canada's older settlements and demographically still reflects older immigration to the country, with Celtic, Anglo-Saxon and French surnames being overwhelmingly dominant to this day.
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According to the 2011 census, the province of Prince Edward Island has 140,204 residents. It is located about 200 km north of Halifax, Nova Scotia and 600 km east of Quebec City. It consists of the main island and 231 minor islands. Altogether, the entire province has a land area of 5,685.73 km2 (2,195.27 sq mi). Its capital is Charlottetown.
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The main island is 5,620 km2 (2,170 sq mi) in size, slightly larger than the U.S. state of Delaware. It is the 104th-largest island in the world and Canada's 23rd-largest island.
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In 2008, a new ascomycete species, Jahnula apiospora (Jahnulales, Dothideomycetes), was collected from submerged wood in a freshwater creek on Prince Edward Island, Canada. North Atlantic right whales, one of the rarest whale species, were once thought to be rare visitors into St. Lawrence regions until 1994, have been showing dramatic increases (annual concentrations were discovered off Percé in 1995 and gradual increases across the regions since in 1998), and since in 2014, notable numbers of whales have been recorded around Cape Breton to Prince Edward Island as 35 to 40 whales were seen in these areas in 2015.
Prince Edward Island is home to one university, the University of Prince Edward Island (UPEI), located in the city of Charlottetown. The university was created by the Island legislature to replace Prince of Wales College and St. Dunstan's University. UPEI is also home to the Atlantic Veterinary College, which offers the region's only veterinary medicine program.
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Holland College is the provincial community college, with campuses across the province, including specialised facilities such as the Atlantic Police Academy, Marine Training Centre, and the Culinary Institute of Canada.
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Prince Edward Island is also home to Maritime Christian College. It is also home to Immanuel Christian School, a private Christian School in Charlottetown.
Prince Edward Island's public school system has an English school district named the English Language School Board, as well as a Francophone district, the Commission scolaire de langue française. The English language districts have a total of 10 secondary schools and 54 intermediate and elementary schools while the Francophone district has 6 schools covering all grades. 22 per cent of the student population is enrolled in French immersion. This is one of the highest levels in the country.
Today 23.5 per cent of residents aged 15 to 19 have bilingual skills, an increase of 100 per cent in a decade. Prince Edward Island, along with most rural regions in North America, is experiencing an accelerated rate of youth emigration.
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The province has a single health administrative region (or district health authority) called Health PEI. Health PEI receives funding for its operations and is regulated by the Department of Health and Wellness.
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Many PEI homes and businesses are serviced by central sewage collection and/or treatment systems. These are operated either by
a municipality or a private utility. Many industrial operations have their own wastewater treatment facilities. Staff members with the Department of Environment, Labour and Justice provide advice to operators, as needed, on proper system maintenance. The IRAC regulates municipal water and sewer in the province, now under the Environmental Protection Act. Since around 1900, the residents of the City of Charlottetown have benefited from a central sanitary sewer service. Early disposal practices, while advanced for their time, eventually were found to compromise the ecological integrity of the nearby Hillsborough River and the Charlottetown Harbour. By 1974, the Commission had spearheaded the development of a primary wastewater treatment plant, known as the Charlottetown Pollution Control Plant, together with the construction of several pumping stations along the City’s waterfront, and outfall piping deep into the Hillsborough River.
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There is an annual arts festival, the Charlottetown Festival, hosted at the Confederation Centre of the Arts. There is also an annual jazz festival, the P.E.I. Jazz and Blues Festival. The one-week-long series of concerts takes place at a multitude of venues including Murphy's Community Center, outdoor stages and churches in Charlottetown. The moving of its date to mid August caused in 2011 a serious loss in funding from Ottawa's regional development agency ACOA. The musician's line up in 2011 included Oliver Jones, Sophie Milman, Matt Dusk, Jack de Keyzer, Jack Semple, Meaghan Smith, Meaghan Blanchard, Hupman Brothers, Alex Dean, Charlie A'Court, Sean Ferris, Jimmy Bowskill, West End Blues Band, Bad Habits, Brian McConnell and Mellotones. There is also Canada Rocks, and the Cavendish Beach Music Festival.
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