Canada was colonized by Europeans.
Canada . Various aboriginal peoples had inhabited what is now Canada for thousands of years prior to European colonization . This began an accretion of provinces and territories to the mostly self-governing Dominion to the present ten provinces and three territories forming modern Canada . In 1931 , Canada achieved near total independence from the United Kingdom with the Statute of Westminster 1931 , but at the time , Canada decided to allow the British Parliament to temporarily retain the power to amend Canada 's constitution , on request from the Parliament of Canada .