Provinces and territories of Canada

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Canada is a federation of ten provinces which, together with three territories, comprise the world's second largest country. The major difference between a Canadian province and a territory is that a province receives powers directly from the Constitution Act, 1867, while a territory is delegated powers by the federal government. Thus, the federal government has more direct control over the territories, while provincial governments have many more competences and rights. (See also Canadian federalism)

Contents

Overview

Provinces have a great deal of power relative to the federal government, with jurisdiction over health care, education, welfare, transportation (intra-provincial), and the like. They receive "transfer payments" from the federal government to pay for these, as well as exacting their own taxes. The federal government, with its greater powers to tax and spend, can use these transfer payments to influence these provincial areas. For instance in order to receive health care funding under medicare, provinces must agree to meet certain federal mandates, such as universal access to required medical treatment.

Provincial and territorial legislatures are unicameral, having no second chamber equivalent to the Canadian Senate. Originally a few provinces did have such bodies, known as legislative councils, but these were subsequently abolished, Quebec's being the last in 1968. In most provinces, the single house of the legislature is known as the Legislative Assembly except in Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador, where it 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 Canadian House of Commons. 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 Queen's representative to each province is the Lieutenant-Governor (or Lieutenant Governor). Each of the territories has a Commissioner that is analogous to a provincial lieutenant-governor. These terminological differences are summarized below.

Image:Mapofcanada.jpg

Federal, provincial, and territorial terminology compared

Canada Governor General Prime Minister Parliament Parliamentarian
Senate House of Commons Senator Member of Parliament
Quebec Lieutenant-Governor Premier n/a National Assembly n/a Member of the National Assembly
Ontario Legislative Assembly Member of the Provincial Parliament
Newfoundland and Labrador House of Assembly Member of the House of Assembly
Nova Scotia Member of the Legislative Assembly
Other provinces Legislative Assembly
Territories Commissioner

Provinces of Canada

The following table is listed in the order of precedence (i.e. when a province entered into Confederation). Population figures are from 2004.

Province Postal abbreviation Other abbreviations Capital Entered Confederation Population Area (km²)
Ontario1 ON Ont. Toronto July 1, 1867 12,439,755 1,076,395
Quebec1 QC Qué., PQ, P.Q., Qbc Quebec City 7,560,592 1,542,056
Nova Scotia2 NS N.S. Halifax 938,134 55,284
New Brunswick2 NB N.B. Fredericton 751,400 72,908
Manitoba3 MB Man. Winnipeg July 15, 1870 1,170,300 647,797
British Columbia2 BC B.C. Victoria July 20, 1871 4,168,123 944,735
Prince Edward Island2 PE PEI, P.E.I. Charlottetown July 1, 1873 137,900 5,660
Saskatchewan4 SK Sask. Regina September 1, 1905 996,194 651,036
Alberta4 AB Alta. Edmonton 3,183,312 661,848
Newfoundland and Labrador2 NL Nfld., NF, LB St. John's March 31, 1949 517,000 405,212

Notes:

  1. Immediately prior to Confederation, Ontario and Quebec were part of the Province of Canada.
  2. Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, British Columbia, and Prince Edward Island were separate colonies at the time of joining Canada. Newfoundland was a Dominion within the British Commonwealth.
  3. Manitoba was established simultaneously with the Northwest Territories.
  4. Saskatchewan and Alberta were created out of land that had been part of the Northwest Territories.

Territories of Canada

There are three territories in Canada. They include all of mainland Canada north of latitude 60° north and west of Hudson Bay, as well as essentially all islands north of the Canadian mainland (from those in James Bay to the Arctic Archipelago) that are not politically part of Greenland. The following table lists the territories in order of precedence (territories take precedence after provinces regardless of the date of their creation).

Territory Postal abbreviation Other abbreviations Capital Entered Confederation Population Area (km²)
Northwest Territories NT N.W.T., NWT Yellowknife July 15, 1870 42,800 1,346,106
Yukon YT Y.T., YK Whitehorse June 13, 1898 31,200 482,443
Nunavut NU   Iqaluit April 1, 1999 29,300 2,093,190

Note: Canada did not acquire any new land to create Yukon, Alberta, Saskatchewan, or Nunavut. All of these originally formed part of the Northwest Territories.

British Columbia, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island were separate colonies before joining Canada. Ontario and Quebec were united before Confederation as the Province of Canada.

Manitoba and the Northwest Territories were created in 1870 from Rupert's Land and the North-Western Territory. The land of the Northwest Territories at that time was all of current western Canada, except British Columbia and southern Manitoba, and the northern three-quarters of Ontario and Quebec.

In 1999, Nunavut was created from the eastern portion of the Northwest Territories. Yukon Territory lies in the western portion of The North, while Nunavut is in the east.

Nunavut's population is about 85% Inuit, while the population of the Northwest Territories is about 10% Inuit, 40% First Nations and Métis, and 50% non-Aboriginal.

All three territories combined are the most sparsely populated region in Canada with about 100,000 people spread across a huge area. They are often referred to as a single region, The North, for organizational purposes.

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 the country 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. [1]

Other

The District of Keewatin was created as a seperate territory from 1876 to 1905, after which it became a Northwest Territories administration district.

There is also active interest within both Canada and the Turks and Caicos Islands, an overseas UK territory in the Caribbean, for the latter to enter into Confederation in some capacity. While no official negotiations are yet underway, the two have a long-standing relationship and formal committees of both governments are actively exploring the circumstances under which this could be achieved. [2]

See also


Provinces and territories of Canada Image:Flag of Canada.svg
Provinces: Alberta | British Columbia | Manitoba | Newfoundland and Labrador | New Brunswick | Nova Scotia | Ontario | Quebec | Prince Edward Island | Saskatchewan
Territories: Northwest Territories | Nunavut | Yukon

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