Provinces and territories of Canada

==Proposed provinces and territories==
{{main|List of proposed provinces and territories of Canada}}
Since Confederation in 1867, there have been several proposals for new Canadian provinces and territories. The Constitution of Canada requires an [[Amendments to the Constitution of Canada|amendment]] for the creation of a new province<ref name="amendment">An amendment to the Constitution of Canada in relation to the following matters may be made only in accordance with subsection 38(1)...notwithstanding any other law or practice, the establishment of new provinces.</ref> but the creation of a new territory requires only an [[Acts of Parliament#Canada|act of Parliament]], a [[Parliamentary procedure|legislatively]] simpler process.<ref name="Nicholson1979">{{cite book|first=Norman L.|last=Nicholson|title=The boundaries of the Canadian Confederation|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ek7cloNk3E8C&pg=PA174|year=1979|publisher=McGill-Queen's Press – MQUP|isbn=978-0-7705-1742-7|pages=174–175|access-date=November 22, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160624010940/https://books.google.com/books?id=Ek7cloNk3E8C&pg=PA174|archive-date=June 24, 2016|url-status=live}}</ref>

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 [[Territorial claims in the Arctic|sovereignty in the Arctic]], particularly as [[global warming]] could make that region more open to exploitation leading to more complex [[Northwest Passage#International waters dispute|international waters disputes]].<ref>{{cite news |date=November 23, 2004 |title=Northern territories 'eventually' to be given provincial status |publisher=CBC News |url=http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2004/11/22/provinces041122.html |url-status=dead |access-date=January 27, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070225050248/http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2004/11/22/provinces041122.html |archive-date=February 25, 2007}}</ref>