Grand Prix Canada

Canada has been host to Formula One since 1967 when it first staged its race at Mosport Park in Bowmanville, Ontario. Since 1978 though the race has been organised in Montreal on Île Notre-Dame, an artificial island built from earth excavated for the Montreal Metro in 1965. It was created for Expo 67 to celebrate Canada's centennial. Nearly all of the remaining Expo 67 pavilions were demolished though in 1975 to make way for a long rowing basin for Montreal's 1976 Summer Olympics.

The first winner in Montreal (1978) was Quebec native Gilles Villeneuve, father of former BMW Sauber F1 driver Jacques Villeneuve. Gilles Villeneuve died three years later and weeks after his death the racecourse in Montreal was named 'Circuit Gilles Villeneuve' after him. Villeneuve was one of the first inducted into the Canadian Motorsport Hall of Fame.