Provinces and Territories

Canada is a federation of 10 provinces spanning from the Atlantic in the east to the Pacific in the west and 3 territories to north. They form a vast continent almost 10 million square kilometres in area and rank second in the world in size. The main difference between provinces and territories lies in the fact that provinces were established in accordance with the Constitution Act of 1867 whereas the territories were set up by the Federal Government.

Some historical facts to note before Canada was established in 1867,

• Both Ontario and Québec were called Province of Canada. At that time, Québec City and Montréal were called Canada East, whereas Kingston and Toronto were called Canada West.
• Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, British Columbia and Prince Edward Island were separate colonies.
• Province of Manitoba and the Northwest Territories were established at the same time.
• Province of Saskatchewan and Province of Alberta were created from part of the Northwest Territories.
• Province of Newfoundland was previously an independent territory within the British Commonwealth, and Labrador was recognized as part of Newfoundland in 1927.

1. Ten Provinces

• Ontario: Joined confederation on July 1, 1867. It covers an area of 1,076,395 square kilometres, and has a population of 12,891,787 (2008 data). Toronto is the provincial capital.
• Québec: Joined confederation on July 1, 1867. It covers an area of 1,542,928 square kilometres, and has a population of 7,744,530 (2008 data). Québec City is the provincial capital.
• Nova Scotia: Joined confederation on July 1, 1867. It covers an area of 55,284 square kilometres, and has a population of 935,962 (2008 data). Halifax is the provincial capital.
• New Brunswick: Joined confederation on July 1, 1867. It covers an area of 72,908 square kilometres, and has a population of 751,527 (2008 data). Fredericton is the provincial capital.
• Manitoba: Joined confederation on July 15, 1870. It covers an area of 647,797 square kilometres, and has a population of 1,196,291 (2008 data). Winnipeg is the provincial capital.
• British Columbia: Joined confederation on July 20, 1871. It covers an area of 944,735 square kilometres, and has a population of 4,428,356 (2008 data). Vancouver is the provincial capital.
• Prince Edward Island: Joined confederation on July 1, 1873. It covers an area of 5,660 square kilometres, and has a population of 139,407 (2008 data). Charlottetown is the provincial capital.
• Saskatchewan: Covers an area of 651,036 square kilometres and has a population of 1,010,146 (2008 data). Regina is the provincial capital. Saskatchewan and Alberta used to be the southern part of the Northwest Territories from which they were taken out by the Federal Government on September 1, 1905.
• Alberta: Taken out of the Northwest Territories on September 1, 1905. It covers an area of 661,848 square kilometres, and has a population of 3,512,368 (2008 data). Edmonton is the provincial capital.
• Newfoundland and Labrador: Covers an area of 405,212 square kilometres and has a population of 508,270. St. John’s is the provincial capital. Newfoundland used to be a territory of the United Kingdom until after the Second World War. As a result of a referendum, Newfoundland officially joined the Canadian federation on March 31, 1949. This is the last province to join the confederation. Since 2001, the official name in use has been Newfoundland and Labrador.

2. The Territories in the North:

• Northwest Territories: Joined the confederation in 1870. Covers an area of 1,346,106 square kilometres in size and has a population of 43,000 (2005 data). Yellowknife is the capital. Beside English and French, there are 9 other official languages of which the Chipewyan and Cree languages are most prominent. The Northwest Territories used to be very large, about one third of the size of the whole Canada. In 1905, its southern part was taken out to establish the provinces of Saskatchewan and Alberta; and in 1999, its eastern part was sliced off to form Nunavut.
• Nunavut: Established by the Federal Government on April 1, 1999 from the eastern part of the Northwest Territories. Covers an area of 2,093,090 square kilometres and has a population of 30,000 (2005 data) of which 85% are the Inuit people with their Inuktitut language. Iqaluit is the capital.
• Yukon Territory: Joined the confederation in 1898. Covers an area of 482,443 square kilometres and has a population of 31,587 consisting of many Indian tribes of which 24% belong to a group called Fourteen First Nations. Whitehorse is the capital.