From the Franklin Mystery to the comic book superheroine Nelvana, Glenn Gould's documentaries, the paintings of Lawren Harris, and Molson beer ads, the idea of the North has been central to the Canadian imagination. Canada and the Idea of North explores the ways in which Canadians have defined themselves as a northern people in their literature, art, music, drama, history, geography, politics, and popular culture.

The idea that Canada's culture takes nordicity as a major facet of its self-definition has never before been examined so thoroughly. Sherrill Grace shows how Canadians have always used ideas of Canada-as-North to promote a distinct national identity and national unity. She also presents newly emerging northern voices and shows how they view the long tradition of representations of the North by southern activists, artists, and scholars.

With the recent creation of Nunavut, increasing concern about northern ecosystems and social challenges, and renewed attention to Canada's role as a circumpolar nation, Canada and the Idea of North shows that nordicity still plays a central role in Canada's self-definition at the start of the twenty-first century.