Provinces and territories of Canada

Canada has ten provinces and three territories that are sub-national administrative divisions under the jurisdiction of the Canadian Constitution. In the 1867 Canadian Confederation, three provinces of British North America—New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and the Province of Canada (which upon Confederation was divided into Ontario and Quebec)—united to form a federation, becoming a fully independent country over the next century. Over its history, Canada's international borders have changed several times as it has added territories and provinces, making it the world's second-largest country by area.

The major difference between a Canadian province and a territory is that provinces receive their power and authority from the Constitution Act, 1867 (formerly called the British North America Act, 1867). Territories are federal territories whose territorial governments have powers delegated to them by the Parliament of Canada. Powers are divided between the Government of Canada (the federal government) and the provincial governments by the Constitution Act, either exclusively or concurrently. A change to the division of powers between the federal government and the provinces requires a constitutional amendment. A similar change affecting the territories can be performed unilaterally by the government or Parliament of Canada.

In modern Canadian constitutional theory, the provinces are considered to be co-sovereign, based on the division of responsibility between the provincial and federal governments within the Constitution Act, 1867; each province thus has its own representative, the lieutenant governor, of the Canadian Crown. The territories are not sovereign but have their authorities and responsibilities devolved from the federal level; as a result, each has a commissioner who represents the federal government.

Provinces

Template:Sronly

Name and postal abbreviation		Cities		Became a province in Canada	Official language(s)	Population		Area (km2)			Seats
		Capital	Largest			2021 census	Q1 2025 estimates	Land	Water	Total	Commons	Senate
Ontario	ON	Toronto		Template:Dts	EnglishTemplate:Efn	14,223,942	16,182,641	917,741	158,654	1,076,395	122	24
Quebec	QC	Quebec City	Montreal		FrenchTemplate:Efn	8,501,833	9,111,629	1,356,128	185,928	1,542,056	78	24
Nova Scotia	NS	HalifaxTemplate:Efn			EnglishTemplate:Efn	969,383	1,079,627	53,338	1,946	55,284	11	10
New Brunswick	NB	Fredericton	Moncton		English, FrenchTemplate:Efn	775,610	858,963	71,450	1,458	72,908	10	10
Manitoba	MB	Winnipeg		Template:Dts	EnglishTemplate:Efn	1,342,153	1,504,023	553,556	94,241	647,797	14	6
British Columbia	BC	Victoria	Vancouver	Template:Dts	EnglishTemplate:Efn	5,000,879	5,722,318	925,186	19,549	944,735	43	6
Prince Edward Island	PE	Charlottetown		Template:Dts	EnglishTemplate:Efn	154,331	179,280	5,660	0	5,660	4	4
Saskatchewan	SK	Regina	Saskatoon	Template:Dts	EnglishTemplate:Efn	1,132,505	1,250,909	591,670	59,366	651,036	14	6
Alberta	AB	Edmonton	Calgary		EnglishTemplate:Efn	4,262,635	4,960,097	642,317	19,531	661,848	37	6
Newfoundland and Labrador	NL	St. John's		Template:Dts	EnglishTemplate:Efn	510,550	545,579	373,872	31,340	405,212	7	6
Total provinces						Template:Nts	Template:Nts	Template:Nts	Template:Nts	Template:Nts	Template:Nts	Template:Nts

Territories

There are three territories in Canada. Unlike the provinces, the territories of Canada have no inherent sovereignty and have only those powers delegated to them by the federal government. They include all of mainland Canada north of latitude 60° north and west of Hudson Bay, and all islands north of the Canadian mainland, from those in James Bay to the Queen Elizabeth Islands. They cover 40% of Canada's land, but contain only 0.3% of the population.Template:Efn

Another territory, the District of Keewatin, existed from October 7, 1876, to September 1, 1905, when it rejoined the Northwest Territories and became the Keewatin Region. It occupied the area that is now the Kenora District of Ontario, northern Manitoba, and mainland Nunavut. The government of Keewatin was based in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The territory did not have any representation in federal parliament.

The Northwest Territories has varied in size substantially through the years. In 1880, it covered Template:Convert, and from 1925 to 1999, it covered Template:Convert.

Template:Sronly

Name and postal abbreviation		Cities		Became a territory in Canada	Official languages	Population		Area (km2)			Seats
		Capital	Largest			2021 census	Q1 2025 estimates	Land	Water	Total	Commons	Senate
Northwest Territories	NT	Yellowknife		Template:Dts	Chipewyan, Cree, English, French, Gwichʼin, Inuinnaqtun, Inuktitut, Inuvialuktun, North Slavey, South Slavey, Tłįchǫ	41,070	45,074	1,183,085	163,021	1,346,106	1	1
Yukon	YT	Whitehorse		Template:Dts	English, French	40,232	47,126	474,391	8,052	482,443	1	1
Nunavut	NU	Iqaluit		Template:Dts	Inuinnaqtun, Inuktitut, English, French	36,858	41,414	1,936,113	157,077	2,093,190	1	1
Total territories						Template:Nts	Template:Nts	Template:Nts	Template:Nts	Template:Nts	3	3

Population

File:2016 Canada Pop Pie.svg

Canada's population from the 2016 census by province/territory

The vast majority of Canada's population is concentrated in areas close to the Canada–US border. Its four largest provinces by area (Quebec, Ontario, British Columbia and Alberta) are (with Quebec and Ontario switched in order) its most populous. Together they account for 86% of Canada's population. The territories (the Northwest Territories, Nunavut and Yukon) account for over a third of Canada's area but are only home to 0.3% of its population, which skews the national population density value.

Canada's population grew by 5.0% between the 2006 and 2011 censuses. Except for New Brunswick, all territories and provinces increased in population during this time. In terms of percent change, the fastest-growing province or territory was Nunavut with an increase of 12.7% between 2011 and 2016, followed by Alberta with 11.6% growth, while New Brunswick's population decreased by 0.5%.

Generally, Canadian provinces have steadily grown in population along with Canada. However, some provinces such as Saskatchewan, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland and Labrador have experienced long periods of stagnation or population decline. Ontario and Quebec have always been the two biggest provinces in Canada, with together over 60% of the population at any given time. The population of the West relative to Canada as a whole has steadily grown over time, while that of Atlantic Canada has declined.

Territorial evolution

When Canada was formed in 1867 its provinces were a relatively narrow strip in the southeast, with vast territories in the interior. It grew by adding British Columbia in 1871, P.E.I. in 1873, the British Arctic Islands in 1880, and Newfoundland in 1949; meanwhile, its provinces grew both in size and number at the expense of its territories.

The territorial evolution of the borders and the names of Canada's provinces and territories

File:Stained glass, Oh Canada Royal Military College of Canada Club Montreal 1965.jpg

"O Canada we stand on guard for thee". Stained glass, Yeo Hall, Royal Military College of Canada. Featuring arms of the Canadian provinces and territories as of 1965.

Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia were the original provinces, formed when three British North American colonies federated on July 1, 1867, into the Dominion of Canada and by stages began accruing the indicia of sovereignty from the United Kingdom. (Ontario and Quebec had been united as the Province of Canada from 1841 to 1867.) Over the next six years, Manitoba (1870), British Columbia (1871), and Prince Edward Island (1873) joined as provinces.

The British Crown had claimed two large areas, known as Rupert's Land and the North-Western Territory, northwest of the original Dominion and assigned them to the Hudson's Bay Company. In 1870, the company relinquished its claims for £300,000 (CND$1.5 million), assigning the vast territory to the government of Canada. The area entered confederation as the Province of Manitoba and the North-West Territories.

The North-West Territories encompassed all of current northern and western Canada except for the British holdings in the Arctic islands, the Colony of British Columbia, and the original Province of Manitoba, a small area in the south of today's province (which expanded to its present size in 1912). It also included the northern two-thirds of Ontario and Quebec.

In 1880, the British claims to the Arctic islands were transferred to Canada, adding to the size of the North-West Territories. In 1898, the Yukon Territory, renamed "Yukon" in 2003, was carved from the area surrounding the Klondike gold fields. In September 1905, a portion of the North-West Territories south of the 60th parallel north became the provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan. In 1912, the boundaries of Quebec, Ontario, and Manitoba were expanded northward: Manitoba's to the 60° parallel, Ontario's to Hudson Bay and Quebec's to encompass the District of Ungava.

In 1869, the people of Newfoundland voted to remain a British colony over fears that taxes would increase with Confederation, and that the economic policy of the Canadian government would favour mainland industries. In 1907, Newfoundland acquired dominion status. In the middle of the Great Depression in Canada, Newfoundland underwent a prolonged economic crisis, and the legislature turned over political control to the Newfoundland Commission of Government in 1933. Following Canada's participation in the Second World War, in a 1948 referendum, a narrow majority of Newfoundland citizens voted to enter into Confederation, and on March 31, 1949, Newfoundland became Canada's tenth province. The province was renamed Newfoundland and Labrador in 2001.

Bermuda, the last British North American colony, which had been somewhat subordinated to Nova Scotia, was one of two Imperial fortress colonies in British North AmericaTemplate:Snd the other being Nova Scotia, and more particularly the city of Halifax. Halifax and Bermuda were the sites of the Royal Navy's North America Station main bases, dockyards, and Admiralty Houses (called variously the River St. Lawrence and Coast of America and North America and West Indies Station, the North America and Newfoundland Station, the North America and West Indies Station, and the America and West Indies Station). The squadron of the station was based at Royal Naval Dockyard, Halifax, during the summers and Royal Naval Dockyard, Bermuda, in the winters. In the 1820s, Bermuda, which was better located to control the Atlantic Seaboard of the United States, impossible to attack over land, and almost impregnable against attack over water, became the main base year round.

A large British Army garrison in Bermuda, which fell under the commander-in-chief in Nova Scotia, existed to defend the colony as a naval base, and to prevent it becoming as useful a base to the navy of an adversary, and to support amphibious operations throughout the region, such as the Chesapeake campaign during the American War of 1812. Bermuda was consequently the most important British naval and military base in the Americas.

Canadian confederation resulted in the Canadian Militia becoming responsible for the defence of the Maritimes, the abolition of the British Army's commander-in-chief there, and the reduction of British military forces in the Maritimes to a small garrison for the protection of the Halifax dockyard, which was withdrawn when the dockyard was handed over to the Dominion government in 1905 for use by the new Canadian naval service. Britain retained control of Bermuda as an imperial fortress, with the governor and commander-in-chief of Bermuda (a military officer previously ranking between lieutenant-colonel and major-general) becoming a lieutenant-general termed a general officer commanding and the Bermuda garrison becoming a command in its own right.

Bermuda was consequently left out of Canadian confederation. It retained naval links with Halifax. The state church (or established church), the Church of England, continued to place Bermuda under the bishop of Newfoundland until 1919. Bermuda also remained linked to the Maritimes under the Methodist and Roman Catholic churches.

In 1903, resolution of the Alaska Panhandle Dispute fixed British Columbia's northwestern boundary, the first of only two provincial reductions in Canada. In 1927, the second reduction occurred when a boundary dispute between Canada and the Dominion of Newfoundland saw Labrador (part of the Dominion of Newfoundland) enlarged at Quebec's expense. (In 1949, this land returned to Canada as part of the province of Newfoundland.) In 1999, Nunavut was created from the northern and eastern portions of the Northwest Territories.

The three territories are the most sparsely populated region in Canada, combined covering Template:Convert in land area. They are often referred to as a single region, the North, for organizational and economic purposes. For much of the Northwest Territories' early history, it was divided into several districts for ease of administration. The District of Keewatin was created as a separate territory from 1876 to 1905, after which, as the Keewatin Region, it became an administrative district of the Northwest Territories. In 1999, it was dissolved when it became part of Nunavut.

Government

Theoretically, provinces have a great deal of power relative to the federal government, with jurisdiction over many public goods such as health care, education, welfare, and intra-provincial transportation. They receive "transfer payments" from the federal government to pay for these, as well as exacting their own taxes. In practice, however, the federal government can use these transfer payments to influence these provincial areas. For instance, in order to receive healthcare funding under Medicare, provinces must agree to meet certain federal mandates, such as universal access to required medical treatment.

Provincial and territorial legislatures have no second chamber like the Canadian Senate. Originally, most provinces had such bodies, known as legislative councils, with members titled councillors. These upper houses were abolished one by one, Quebec's being the last in 1968. In most provinces, the single house of the legislature is known as the Legislative Assembly. The exceptions are Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador, where the chamber is called the House of Assembly, and Quebec where it is called the National Assembly. Ontario has a legislative assembly but its members are called members of the Provincial Parliament or MPPs.

The legislative assemblies use a procedure similar to that of the House of Commons of Canada. The head of government of each province, called the premier, is generally the head of the party with the most seats. This is also the case in Yukon, but the Northwest Territories and Nunavut have no political parties at the territorial level. The King's representative in each province is the lieutenant governor. In each of the territories there is an analogous commissioner, but they represent the federal government rather than the monarch.

Federal, provincial, and territorial terminology compared

Jurisdiction	Legislature	Lower house	Members of lower house	Superior court	Head of government	Viceroy
Canada	Parliament	House of Commons	Member of Parliament (MP)	Federal Court	Prime minister	Governor general
Ontario	Parliament	Legislative Assembly	Member of the Provincial Parliament (MPP)Template:Efn	Superior Court of Justice	Premier	Lieutenant governor
QuebecTemplate:Efn	Legislature	National Assembly	Member of the National Assembly (MNA)	Superior Court
Nova Scotia	General Assembly	House of Assembly	Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA)	Supreme Court
New Brunswick	Legislature	Legislative Assembly		Court of King's Bench
Manitoba
British Columbia	Parliament			Supreme Court
Prince Edward IslandTemplate:Efn	General Assembly
Saskatchewan	Legislature			Court of King's Bench
Alberta
Newfoundland and Labrador	General Assembly	House of Assembly	Member of the House of Assembly (MHA)	Supreme Court
Northwest Territories	Assembly	Legislative Assembly	Member of the Legislative Assembly	Supreme Court	PremierTemplate:Efn	Commissioner
Yukon	Legislature
Nunavut	Assembly			Court of Justice

Provincial legislature buildings

• Alberta Legislature Building
  Alberta Legislature Building
• British Columbia Parliament Buildings
  British Columbia Parliament Buildings
• Manitoba Legislative Building
  Manitoba Legislative Building
• New Brunswick Legislative Building
  New Brunswick Legislative Building
• Newfoundland and Labrador Confederation Building
  Newfoundland and Labrador Confederation Building
• Nova Scotia Province House
  Nova Scotia Province House
• Ontario Legislative Building
  Ontario Legislative Building
• Prince Edward Island Province House
  Prince Edward Island Province House
• Quebec Parliament Building
  Quebec Parliament Building
• Saskatchewan Legislative Building
  Saskatchewan Legislative Building

Territorial legislature buildings

• Northwest Territories Legislative Building
  Northwest Territories Legislative Building
• Nunavut Legislative Building
  Nunavut Legislative Building
• Yukon Legislative Building
  Yukon Legislative Building

Provincial political parties

Most provinces have rough provincial counterparts to major federal parties. However, these provincial parties are not usually formally linked to the federal parties that share the same name. For example, no provincial Conservative or Progressive Conservative Party shares an organizational link to the federal Conservative Party of Canada, and neither do provincial Green Parties to the Green Party of Canada.

Provincial New Democratic Parties, on the other hand, are fully integrated with the federal New Democratic Party—meaning that provincial parties effectively operate as sections, with common membership, of the federal party.

The Liberal Party of Canada shares such an organizational integration with Atlantic Canada provincial Liberals in New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island. Other provincial Liberal parties are unaffiliated with their federal counterpart.

Some provinces have provincial political parties with no clear federal equivalent, such as the Alberta Party and Saskatchewan Party.

The provincial political climate of Quebec is different: the main split is between sovereignty, represented by the Parti Québécois and Québec solidaire, and federalism, represented primarily by the Quebec Liberal Party. The , meanwhile, takes an abstentionist position on the question and does not support or oppose sovereignty.

Currently, the one minority provincial/territorial government is held by the Liberals in Yukon. They are in government with a formal confidence and supply agreement from the Yukon New Democratic Party.

Provincial/territorial governments

Provincial/territorial governments of Canada

Province/territory	Premier	Party in government		Party main ideology	Party political position	Majority/Template:Wbrminority	Party in Opposition	Lieutenant governor / commissioner	Last election	Next election
Alberta	Template:Sortname	Template:Canadian party colour |	United Conservative	Conservatism (Canadian)	Centre-right to right-wing	Majority	New Democratic	Template:Sortname	2023	2027
British Columbia	Template:Sortname	Template:Canadian party colour |	New Democratic	Social democracy	Centre-left	Majority	Conservative	Template:Sortname	2024	2028
Manitoba	Template:Sortname	Template:Canadian party colour |	New Democratic	Social democracy	Centre-left	Majority	Progressive Conservative	Template:Sortname	2023	2027
New Brunswick	Template:Sortname	Template:Canadian party colour |	Liberal	Liberalism (Canadian)	Centre to centre-left	Majority	Progressive Conservative	Template:Sortname	2024	2028
Newfoundland and Labrador	Template:Sortname	Template:Canadian party colour |	Progressive Conservative	Progressive conservatism	Centre-right	Majority	Liberal	Template:Sortname	2025	2029
Nova Scotia	Template:Sortname	Template:Canadian party colour |	Progressive Conservative	Red Toryism	Centre-right	Majority	New Democratic	Template:Sortname	2024	2029
Ontario	Template:Sortname	Template:Canadian party colour |	Progressive Conservative	Conservatism (Canadian)	Centre to centre-right	Majority	New Democratic	Template:Sortname	2025	2029
Prince Edward Island	Template:Sortname	Template:Canadian party colour |	Progressive Conservative	Progressive conservatism	Centre to centre-right	Majority	Liberal	Template:Sortname	2023	2027
Quebec	Template:Sortname	Template:Canadian party colour |		Quebec nationalism	Centre-right	Majority	Liberal	Template:Sortname	2022	2026
Saskatchewan	Template:Sortname	Template:Canadian party colour |	Saskatchewan Party	Conservatism (Canadian)	Centre-right to right-wing	Majority	New Democratic	Template:Sortname	2024	2028
Northwest Territories	Template:Sortname	Template:Canadian party colour |	colspan="4" Template:Nonpartisan	N/A	Template:Sortname	2023	2027
Nunavut	Template:Sortname	Template:Canadian party colour |	colspan="4" Template:Nonpartisan	N/A	Template:Sortname	2025	2029
Yukon	Template:Sortname	Template:Canadian party colour |	Liberal	Liberalism (Canadian)	Centre	Minority	Yukon Party	Template:Sortname	2025	2029

File:Provincial Parties 2025 Nov.jpg

Provincial party standings at the district level across Canada Template:As of

Ceremonial territory

The Canadian National Vimy Memorial, near Vimy, Pas-de-Calais, and the Beaumont-Hamel Newfoundland Memorial, near Beaumont-Hamel, both in France, are ceremonially considered Canadian territory. In 1922, the French government donated the land used for the Vimy Memorial "freely, and for all time, to the Government of Canada the free use of the land exempt from all taxes".

In 1921, the site of the Somme battlefield near Beaumont-Hamel site was purchased by the people of the Dominion of Newfoundland. These sites do not enjoy extraterritorial status and are subject to French law.

Proposed provinces and territories

Since Confederation in 1867, there have been several proposals for new Canadian provinces and territories. The Constitution of Canada requires an amendment for the creation of a new province. The creation of a new territory requires only an act of Parliament, a legislatively simpler process.

In late 2004, Prime Minister Paul Martin surprised some observers by expressing his personal support for all three territories gaining provincial status "eventually". He cited their importance to Canada as a whole and the ongoing need to assert sovereignty in the Arctic, particularly as global warming could make that region more open to exploitation, leading to more complex international waters disputes.

See also

• List of Canadian provincial and territorial name etymologies
  • Canadian adjectival and demonymic forms of place names
• Language policies of Canada's provinces and territories
• List of areas disputed by Canada and the United States
• List of regions of Canada
• List of governments in Canada by annual expenditures
• Commonwealth Local Government Forum
• Provincial and territorial museums of Canada
• List of Canada-related topics by provinces and territories
  • List of Canadian provinces and territories by gross domestic product
  • List of Canadian provincial and territorial symbols
  • List of Canadian provinces by unemployment rate
  • List of Canadian provinces and territories by Human Development Index
  • Population of Canada by province and territory
  • List of Canadian flags

External links

• Provincial and territorial government web sites – Service Canada (archived August 6, 2013)
• Provincial and territorial legislature web sites – Parliament of Canada
• Difference between provinces and territories – Intergovernmental Affairs (archived February 27, 2014)
• Provincial and territorial statistics Template:Webarchive – Statistics Canada
• Provincial and territorial immigration information – Citizenship and Immigration Canada (archived November 22, 2017)
• Canadian governments compared – University of Public Administration