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Wikimedia Canada
Supporting free & open knowledge

Welcome to Wikimedia Canada! Wikimedia Canada is a nonprofit organization promoting free access to knowledge and education, mainly by supporting the development of content on the Wikimedia projects. The most known of these projects is without a doubt Wikipedia, which is one of the ten most visited websites in the world. Content on Wikimedia projects is created, improved and put online by volunteers in more than 270 different languages. Wikimedia Canada support their efforts. Futhermore, Wikimedia Canada works with public and private institutions, such as galleries, librairies, archives, museums and universities, with the goal to make their holdings more broadly and freely accessible by everybody. Wikimedia projects All Wikimedia projects are developed collaboratively by their users on a wiki. A wiki is a system of managing content of a website allowing everybody to edit all pages, using the Mediawiki software. Content of Wikimedia projects are free as per the Creative Commons - Attribution - Share alike, which means that it can be edited, copied and distributed freely, without paying any royalties, provided that the terms of the licence are respected. Wikipedia is the most known of Wikimedia projects. It aims at building a free online encyclopedia in all languages of the world, to which everybody can contribute. The project started in January 2001 in English. Today Wikipedia is available in nearly 285 languages and has over 25 millions articles in all languages. The English version has more than 4 millions articles while the French version has a little bit more than 1.4 millions. Since the beginning of the project, more than 100,000 users did at least ten edits. Currently there are 11 main different projects that are part of the Wikimedia projects: Wikipedia, Wiktionary, Wikiquote, Wikibooks, Wikisource, Wikispecies, Wikimedia Commons, Wikinews, Wikiversity, Wikidata, and Wikivoyage. Click on the picture below for more details on each project on the website of the Wikimedia Foundation. Support Wikimedia Canada You are millions to read Wikipedia and other Wikimedia projects every day, without any ads. It is thanks to the time that volunteers put in. Support their work and allow the Wikimedia projects to remain online freely without ads by making a donation. Wikimedia Canada is an organization entirely managed and run by volunteers. Make a donation Become a member Wikimedia Canada is a member-based organization. Members can participate in all the chapter's discussions and can vote during annual general meetings to elect the board of directors, among other things. How to join

On-going and upcoming events   Annual General Meeting (12 August 2017) Annual General Meetings are held once a year, and all members in good standing are invited to participate and to vote. The main purposes of the Annual General Meetings are to elect new directors on the board of directors and approve amendments to the General Bylaw, if needed. The public is invited to attend the meetings, but only members in good standing before the meeting begins are allowed to vote. This year the Annual General Meeting will be held in Montreal during Wikimania on 12 August 2017. Click here for details   Wikimania (9 to 13 August 2017 in Montreal) Wikimania is the annual international conference celebrating Wikipedia and its sister free knowledge projects with three days of conferences, discussions, meetups, training, and workshops. Hundreds of volunteers and Free Knowledge leaders from around the world gather to discuss issues, report on new projects and approaches, and exchange ideas. This year Wikimania is hosted in Montreal, Quebec from 9 to 13 August! Official Wikimania 2017 website   Edit-a-thon: First Nations on Wikipedia (10 August 2017 in Montreal) This day-long workshop aims to encourage members of First Nations communities and allies to write, edit, and improve content on Wikipedia. The event is hosted by Wikimedia Canada in partnership with Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec, the Institut national de la recherche scientifique (INRS), and Rising Voices. The activity is taking place as part of the Wikimania Conference and the Wikipetcia Atikamekw Nehiromowin project. The event will begin with a morning workshop to train participants on how to edit articles on Wikipedia. In the afternoon, a round-table discussion will take place about the opportunities and challenges of sharing First Nations knowledge on Wikipedia. The rest of the afternoon will be devoted to the writing and editing of articles with the help of experienced Wikipedians from around the world. Trainers will speak French, English and Atikamekw. Admission is free, but prior registration is required. See the page of the event for more details   Wiki Loves Earth (1st to 30 June 2017) Wiki Loves Earth is a photographic contest with the goal of promoting natural sites throughout the world. During the month of June 2017, Canada is participating for the first time to this contest. Everybody can participate. You are invited to take pictures of national and provincial parks and then upload them to Wikimedia Commons. 2017 has been chosen since it coincide with the 150th anniversary of the Canadian Confederation during which access to all national parks of Canada is free. See the contest home page News 21 June: Official opening of the Wikipedia in Atikamekw language. 2 June: photographic workshop at Manawan, Quebec and end of the contest "Nitaskinan in pictures". The three winners are WiwaNewashishPetiquay, Jean-Flantier and Iskwew. 1st June: launchof the contest Wiki Loves Earth Our mission Wikimedia Canada will support and engage Canadians to collect, develop and disseminate knowledge and other educational, cultural and historic content in all languages of Canada, including Aboriginal languages, under a free licence or in the public domain. Contact Wikimedia Canada 535 Viger Avenue East, Montreal (Quebec) H2L 2P3 info@wikimedia.ca