Canadians in urban centers cannot help but notice an ever-increasing ethnic and cultural diversity. The country's national goal of annually landing approximately one percent of the population as newcomers from around the world ensures that this trend will continue. However, while the country has no difficulty attracting immigrants and refugees and has welcomed more than 200,000 newcomers each year for over a decade, it is far from obvious that Canada is succeeding in its stated policy of multiculturalism, not the least because that policy is neither well understood nor consistently supported. Schools, in this regard, have a critical role to play in the implementation and ongoing definition of multiculturalism so that Canada's rich national diversity can be a source of social dynamism and competitive economic advantage in the global economy. To understand the educational challenges of multiculturalism, this article provide a brief review of the origins and complexities of multiculturalism in Canada and then examine the issues and possibilities for schools.