While packing up her life in British Columbia, preparing to return to her eastern roots, Bonnie Ste-Croix had a revelation.

“All of Canada is my hometown,” the folk-roots singer-songwriter said, reflecting on her transient life, having lived in Gaspe, Que., Montreal, Banff and Vancouver, before moving to Halifax, N.S., a year and a half ago.

And with that revelation came an idea. 

“I had a thought,” said Ste-Croix, “‘I’d love to do something musically that would represent my many hometowns, and kind of build a strand of music from one end of the country to the other, all the way up to the north.’”

It only took 12 plane trips and 7,849 kilometres in her van, with a 1974 Boler trailer in tow, to get Ste-Croix to each of Canada’s provinces and territories to meet 46 Canadian artists, before she saw her vision come to life in her latest album, Canadian Girl, released in September. 

Each artist to appear on the album represents one of Canada’s provinces or territories.

The artists range from Natalie McMaster (Nova Scotia), Stephen Fearing (Ontario), Leela Gildary (Northwest Territories) and Shari Ulrich (British Columbia).

“Musically speaking, it was creative and diverse and it just had so many elements to it that I love,” Ste-Croix said of her fourth album. “I got to work with so many fabulous musicians and then, on the other side of it, I got to even further explore Canada and be inspired by so much of that and hear so many stories along the way, which has only inspired more song writing, so it’s been a wonderful thing. 

“In general, it’s the most meaningful thing I’ve ever done,” she said.

“I really didn’t know at the beginning if it was possible for it to work, I just wanted to try and I am so happy with how it has turned out.”

Ste-Croix’s song for Alberta is called If I Had a Heart. She performs it with Brent Tyler and The Fates. 

When it came to selecting artists to accompany her on the album, Ste-Croix said it really wasn’t a challenge. She just thought about Canadian folk artists who would best represent their province or territory and who would fit the song she had written. Then she sent them an email, whether she knew them or not, and for the most part, people responded positively, taking her up on the opportunity to appear on the album.

Ste-Croix said one of the best reactions she received was from the Inukshuk Drum Dancers, who were featured in You Are the Reason. 

“The Inuit girls choir from Nunavut were just so excited to be part of it, that was definitely a wonderful reaction,” said Ste-Croix, who recorded her songs in Nunavut and the Northwest Territories in the frigid month of January – a feat she says earned her her “Canadian girl badges.”

Ste-Croix is now on a national tour in promotion of Canadian Girl. Her tour began in Halifax, N.S. on Sept. 17 and will wrap up on Nov. 27 in Truro, N.S. Between those dates, she’s playing 34 shows in seven provinces.

Ste-Croix will be at the Royal Canadian Legion in Jasper Nov. 18, performing an intimate show, full of stories about how her songs were written and recorded across the country. 

“I went out into Canada to record this album and I have a commitment to bringing this album to the doorsteps of Canadians,” she said.

To learn more about Ste-Croix or to hear songs from her new album, visit www.bonniestecroix.com