Provinces and territories of Canada

==Territorial evolution==
{{main| Territorial evolution of Canada}}
{{See also|Former colonies and territories in Canada}}

[[File:Canada provinces evolution 2.gif|thumb|upright=1.15|right|alt=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.|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|upright=1.15|right|thumb|"[[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 several 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.<ref name="Ajzenstat2003">{{cite book|first=Janet|last=Ajzenstat|title=Canada's Founding Debates|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=73gRch5cXZ4C&pg=PA3|year=2003|publisher=University of Toronto Press|isbn=978-0-8020-8607-5|page=3|access-date=November 22, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160424073840/https://books.google.com/books?id=73gRch5cXZ4C&pg=PA3|archive-date=April 24, 2016|url-status=live}}</ref> Prior to this, Ontario and Quebec were united as the Province of Canada. Over the following years, Manitoba (1870), British Columbia (1871), and Prince Edward Island (1873) were added as provinces.<ref name="Ajzenstat2003"/>

The British Crown had claimed two large areas north-west of the Canadian colony, known as [[Rupert's Land]] and the [[North-Western Territory]], and assigned them to the [[Hudson's Bay Company]]. In 1870, the company relinquished its claims for £300,000 (CND$1.5&nbsp;million), assigning the vast territory to the government of Canada.<ref name="OlsonShadle1996">{{cite book|first1=James Stuart|last1=Olson|first2=Robert|last2=Shadle|title=Historical Dictionary of the British Empire: A-J|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=L-X-XYB_ZkIC&pg=PA538|year=1996|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group|isbn=978-0-313-29366-5|page=538|access-date=November 22, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160506081515/https://books.google.com/books?id=L-X-XYB_ZkIC&pg=PA538|archive-date=May 6, 2016|url-status=live}}</ref> Subsequently, the area was re-organized into the province of Manitoba and the North-West Territories.<ref name="OlsonShadle1996"/> The North-West Territories encompassed all of current [[Northern Canada|northern]] and western Canada, except for the British holdings in the [[Arctic Archipelago|Arctic islands]] and the [[Colony of British Columbia (1866–1871)|Colony of British Columbia]]. NWT included the northern two-thirds of Ontario and Quebec. After the province of Manitoba was established in 1870, in a small area in the south of today's province, almost all of present-day Manitoba was still contained in the NWT. (Manitoba expanded to its present size in 1912.)<ref name="Gough2010"/>

The British claims to the Arctic islands were transferred to Canada in 1880, adding to the size of the North-West Territories. In 1898 the Yukon Territory, later renamed "Yukon" in 2003, was carved from the area surrounding the [[Klondike Gold Rush|Klondike gold fields]]. On September 1, 1905, a portion of the North-West Territories south of the 60th parallel north became the provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan.<ref name="Gough2010"/> 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]].<ref name="Atlas">{{cite web |url=http://atlas.nrcan.gc.ca/site/english/maps/historical/territorialevolution/1912/1 |title=Territorial evolution| author= Atlas of Canada |access-date=January 27, 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20070202135304/http://atlas.nrcan.gc.ca/site/english/maps/historical/territorialevolution/1912/1 |archive-date=February 2, 2007}}</ref>

In 1869, the people of Newfoundland voted to remain a [[British Empire|British colony]] over fears that taxes would increase with Confederation, and that the economic policy of the Canadian government would favour mainland industries.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.heritage.nf.ca/law/debate.html |title=Confederation Rejected: Newfoundland and the Canadian Confederation, 1864–1869: Newfoundland and Labrador Heritage |publisher=Newfoundland and Labrador Heritage |year=2000 |access-date=July 29, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130922063836/http://www.heritage.nf.ca/law/debate.html |archive-date=September 22, 2013 |url-status=live}}</ref> In 1907, Newfoundland acquired dominion status.<ref name="Clarke2010">{{cite book|first=Sandra|last=Clarke|title=Newfoundland and Labrador English|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=moDVp5TTpgcC&pg=PA7|year=2010|publisher=Edinburgh University Press|isbn=978-0-7486-2617-5|page=7|access-date=November 22, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160512031858/https://books.google.com/books?id=moDVp5TTpgcC&pg=PA7|archive-date=May 12, 2016|url-status=live}}</ref> In the middle of the [[Great Depression in Canada]], Newfoundland underwent a prolonged [[financial crisis|economic crisis]], and the legislature turned over political control to the [[Newfoundland Commission of Government]] in 1933.<ref name="FriesenHarrison2010">{{cite book|first1=John W.|last1=Friesen|first2=Trevor W.|last2=Harrison|title=Canadian Society in the Twenty-first Century: An Historical Sociological Approach|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EVGDUAP3LjAC&pg=PA115|year=2010|publisher=Canadian Scholars' Press|isbn=978-1-55130-371-0|page=115|access-date=November 22, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160429195319/https://books.google.com/books?id=EVGDUAP3LjAC&pg=PA115|archive-date=April 29, 2016|url-status=live}}</ref> Following [[Military history of Canada during World War II|Canada's participation in the Second World War]], in a [[1948 Newfoundland referendums|1948 referendum]], a narrow majority of Newfoundland citizens voted to join the Confederation, and on March 31, 1949, Newfoundland became Canada's tenth province.<ref name="Blake1994">{{cite book|first=Raymond Benjamin|last=Blake|title=Canadians at Last: Canada Integrates Newfoundland As a Province|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-bv8AVgdK1UC&pg=PA4|year=1994|publisher=University of Toronto Press|isbn=978-0-8020-6978-8|page=4|access-date=November 22, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160623221933/https://books.google.com/books?id=-bv8AVgdK1UC&pg=PA4|archive-date=June 23, 2016|url-status=live}}</ref> The province was officially renamed Newfoundland and Labrador in 2001.<ref name="Shelley2013">{{cite book|first=Fred M.|last=Shelley|title=Nation Shapes: The Story behind the World's Borders|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5qlXatHRJtMC&pg=PA175|year=2013|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=978-1-61069-106-2|page=175|access-date=November 22, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160428164804/https://books.google.com/books?id=5qlXatHRJtMC&pg=PA175|archive-date=April 28, 2016|url-status=live}}</ref>

[[Bermuda]], the last British North American colony,<ref>{{cite magazine |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=Civil List of the Province of Lower-Canada 1828: Governor |url= |magazine=The Quebec Almanack and British American Royal Kalendar For The Year 1828 |location=Quebec |publisher=Neilson and Cowan, No. 3 Mountain Street |date=1812 |access-date=}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=STAFF of the ARMY in the Provinces of Nova-Scotia, New-Brunswick, and their Dependencies, including the Island of Newfoundland, Cape Breton, Prince Edward and Bermuda |url= |magazine=The Quebec Almanack and British American Royal Kalendar For The Year 1828 |location=Quebec |publisher=Neilson and Cowan, No. 3 Mountain Street |date=1812 |access-date=}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |date=1890 |title=Meteorological Observations at the Foreign and Colonial Stations of the Royal Engineers and the Army Medical Department 1852—1886. |location=London |publisher=Meteorological Council. HMSO |page= |isbn=}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Young |first=Douglas MacMurray |author-link= |date=1961 |title=The Colonial Office in The Early Nineteenth Century |url= |location=London |publisher=Published for the Royal Commonwealth Society by Longmans |page=55 |isbn=}}</ref> which had been somewhat subordinated to Nova Scotia, was one of two [[Imperial fortress]] colonies in British North America{{snd}} the other being Nova Scotia, and more particularly the city of Halifax.<ref>{{cite book |last=Keith |first=Arthur Berriedale |author-link= |date=1909 |title=Responsible Government in The Dominions  |location=London |publisher=Stevens and Sons Ltd |page=5 |isbn= |quote=<!--Bermuda is still an Imperial fortress-->}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |first=Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Edward Sinclair |last=May|author-link= |date=1903 |title=Principles and Problems of Imperial Defence |url= |location=London |publisher=Swan Sonnenschein & Co. |page=145 |isbn= |quote=<!-- In the North American and West Indian station the naval base is at the Imperial fortress of Bermuda, with a garrison numbering 3068 men, of whom 1011 are Colonials; while at Halifax, Nova Scotia, we have another naval base of the first importance which is to be classed amongst our Imperial fortresses, and has a garrison of 1783 men.-->}}</ref> Halifax and Bermuda were the sites of the Royal Navy's [[North America Station]] (or, depending on the time period and the extent of the Western Hemisphere it included, 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 finally the ''America and West Indies Station'') main bases, dockyards, and Admiralty Houses. The squadron of the station was based at [[Royal Naval Dockyard, Halifax]], during the summers and [[Royal Naval Dockyard, Bermuda]], in the winters until the 1820s, when 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.<ref>{{cite book |last=Stranack, Royal Navy |first=Lieutenant-Commander B. Ian D |date=1977 |title=The Andrew and The Onions: The Story of The Royal Navy in Bermuda, 1795–1975 |url= |location=Bermuda |publisher=Island Press Ltd <!--., Bermuda, 1977 (1st Edition); Bermuda Maritime Museum Press, Royal Naval Dockyard Bermuda, Ireland Island, Sandys, Bermuda, 1990 (2nd Edition)--> |page= |isbn=9780921560036}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/983/multiple=1&unique_number=1147 |title=World Heritage List: Historic Town of St George and Related Fortifications, Bermuda |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=<!--Not stated-->  |publisher=UNESCO |access-date=July 28, 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Ingham-Hind |first=Jennifer M. |title=Defence, Not Defiance: A History Of The Bermuda Volunteer Rifle Corps |year=1992 |location=Bermuda |publisher=The Island Press |isbn=0969651716}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Harris |first=Edward C. |author-link=Edward C. Harris |title=Bermuda Forts 1612–1957 |year=1997 |location=Bermuda |publisher=The Bermuda Maritime Museum Press |isbn=9780921560111}}</ref> A large [[Bermuda Garrison|British Army garrison in Bermuda]], which fell under the [[Commander-in-Chief, North America#Commanders-in-Chief, Maritime provinces 1783–1875|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), as well as to support amphibious operations throughout the region (such as the [[Chesapeake campaign]] during the [[American War of 1812]]).<ref>{{cite news |last=Harris |first=Edward Cecil |date=January 21, 2012 |title=Bermuda's role in the Sack of Washington |url=https://www.royalgazette.com/archive/lifestyle/article/20120121/bermudas-role-in-the-sack-of-washington/ |work=The Royal Gazette |location=City of Hamilton, Pembroke, Bermuda |access-date=August 8, 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |last=Grove |first=Tim |date=January 22, 2021 |title=Fighting The Power |url=https://chesapeakebaymagazine.com/fighting-the-power/ |magazine=Chesapeake Bay Magazine |location=Annapolis |publisher=Chesapeake Bay Media, LLC |access-date=August 8, 2021}}</ref> Bermuda was consequently the most important British naval and military base in the Americas.<ref>{{cite book |last=Willock [[United States Marine Corps|USMC]] |first=Lieutenant-Colonel Roger |title=Bulwark Of Empire: Bermuda's Fortified Naval Base 1860–1920 |year=1988 |location=Bermuda |publisher=The Bermuda Maritime Museum Press |isbn=9780921560005}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Gordon |first=Donald Craigie  |date=1965 |title=The Dominion Partnership in Imperial Defense, 1870-1914  |location=Baltimore, Maryland, US |publisher=Johns Hopkins Press |page=14 |isbn= |quote=<!-- There were more than 44,000 troops stationed overseas in colonial garrisons, and slightly more than half of these were in imperial fortresses: in the Mediterranean, Bermuda, Halifax, St. Helena, and Mauritius. The rest of the forces were in colonies proper, with a heavy concentration in New Zealand and South Africa. The imperial government paid approximately £1,715,000 per annum toward the maintenance of these forces, and the various colonial governments contributed £370,000, the largest amounts coming from Ceylon and Victoria in Australia.-->}}</ref> 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 would be withdrawn when that 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.<ref>{{cite book |last=MacFarlane |first=Thomas |author-link= |date=1891 |title=Within the Empire; An Essay on Imperial Federation  |location=Ottawa |publisher=James Hope & Co. |page=29 |isbn= |quote=<!-- Besides the Imperial fortress of Malta, Gibraltar, Halifax and Bermuda it has to maintain and arm coaling stations and forts at Siena Leone, St. Helena, Simons Bay (at the Cape of Good Hope), Trincomalee, Jamaica and Port Castries (in the island of Santa Lucia).-->}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |last=Kennedy, R.N. |first=Captain W. R. |date=July 1, 1885 |title=An Unknown Colony: Sport, Travel and Adventure in Newfoundland and the West Indies |url= |magazine=Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine  |publisher=William Blackwood & Sons |access-date= |page=111 |quote=<!--As a fortress, Bermuda is of the first importance. It is situated almost exactly half-way between the northern and the southern naval stations; while nature has made it practically impregnable. The only approach lies through that labyrinth of reefs and narrow channels which Captain Kennedy has described. The local pilots are sworn to secrecy; and, what is more reassuring, by lifting buoys and laying down torpedoes, hostile vessels trying to thread the passage must come to inevitable grief, So far Bermuda may be considered safe, whatever may be the condition of the fortifications and the cannon in the batteries. Yet the universal neglect of our colonial defences is apparent in the fact that no telegraphic communication has hitherto been established with the West Indies on the one side, or with the Dominion of Canada on the other.-->}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |last=VERAX |first=(anonymous) |date=May 1, 1889 |title=The Defense of Canada. (From Colburn's United Service Magazine) |url= |magazine=The United Service: A Quarterly Review of Military and Naval Affairs |location= |publisher=LR Hamersly & Co. |access-date= |page=552 |quote=<!--The objectives for America are clearly marked,—Halifax, Quebec, Montreal, Prescott, Kingston, Ottawa, Toronto, Winnipeg, and Vancouver. Halifax and Vancouver are certain to be most energetically attacked, for they will be the naval bases, besides Bermuda, from which England would carry on her naval attack on the American coasts and commerce.-->}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Dawson |first1=George M. |last2=Sutherland |first2=Alexander  |date=1898 |title=MacMillan's Geographical Series: Elementary Geography of the British Colonies |location=London |publisher=MacMillan and Co.|page=184 |isbn= |quote=<!--There is a strongly fortified dockyard, and the defensive works, together with the intricate character of the approaches to the harbour, render the islands an almost impregnable fortress. Bermuda is governed as a Crown colony by a Governor who is also Commander-in-Chief, assisted by an appointed Executive Council and a representative House of Assembly.-->}}</ref> Bermuda was consequently left out of the confederation of Canada, though it retained naval links with Halifax and the [[state church]] (or ''established church''), the [[Church of England]], continued to place Bermuda under the [[Diocese of Newfoundland|bishop of Newfoundland]] until 1919 (Bermuda also remained linked to the Maritimes under the Methodist and Roman Catholic churches).<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.anglican.bm/index.php/worship/our-churches.html |title=Our Churches: Pembroke Parish |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=<!--Not stated--> |website=Anglican Church of Bermuda |access-date=August 28, 2021 |quote=}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://anglicanenl.net/home/our-history |title=Our History |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=<!--Not stated--> |website=Anglican East NL |publisher=Anglican Diocese of Eastern Newfoundland and Labrador |access-date=August 17, 2021 |quote=}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.heritage.nf.ca/articles/society/anglicanism.php |title=The Church of England |last=Piper |first=Liza |date=2000 |website=Heritage Newfoundland and Labrador |publisher=Newfoundland and Labrador Heritage Web Site |access-date=August 17, 2021 |quote=}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.romancatholicbermuda.bm/about-us |title=A History Of Our Church |author=<!--Not stated--> |date= |website=Roman Catholic Diocese of Hamilton in Bermuda |publisher=The Diocese of Hamilton in Bermuda |access-date=August 28, 2021 |quote=The Diocese of Hamilton in Bermuda was established in 12th June 1967. Bermuda was served by the Diocesan clergy of Halifax until 1953, after which pastoral responsibility transferred to the Congregation of the Resurrection.}}</ref>

In 1903, resolution of the [[Alaska boundary dispute|Alaska Panhandle Dispute]] fixed British Columbia's northwestern boundary.<ref name="Laxer2010">{{cite book|first=James|last=Laxer|title=The Border: Canada, the US and Dispatches From the 49th Parallel|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MjVlI8V0i9AC&pg=PT215|year=2010|publisher=Doubleday Canada|isbn=978-0-385-67290-0|page=215|access-date=November 22, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160430173323/https://books.google.com/books?id=MjVlI8V0i9AC&pg=PT215|archive-date=April 30, 2016|url-status=live}}</ref> This was one of only two provinces in Canadian history to have its size reduced. The second reduction, in 1927, occurred when a [[Labrador#Boundary dispute|boundary dispute]] between Canada and the Dominion of Newfoundland saw Labrador enlarged at Quebec's expense; this land returned to Canada, as part of the province of Newfoundland, in 1949.<ref name="Cukwurah1967">{{cite book|first=A. Oye|last=Cukwurah|title=The Settlement of Boundary Disputes in International Law|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xHm7AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA186|year=1967|publisher=Manchester University Press|page=186|id=GGKEY:EXSJZ7S92QE|access-date=November 22, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160519125410/https://books.google.com/books?id=xHm7AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA186|archive-date=May 19, 2016|url-status=live}}</ref> In 1999, Nunavut was created from the eastern portion of the Northwest Territories.<ref name="School2013"/> Yukon lies in the western portion of Northern Canada, while Nunavut is in the east.<ref name="Nuttall2012">{{cite book|first=Mark|last=Nuttall|title=Encyclopedia of the Arctic|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LcucDSk4w3YC&pg=PA301|year=2012|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-57958-436-8|page=301|access-date=November 22, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160506200637/https://books.google.com/books?id=LcucDSk4w3YC&pg=PA301|archive-date=May 6, 2016|url-status=live}}</ref>

All three territories combined are the most sparsely populated region in Canada, covering {{convert|{{#expr:1346106+482443+2093190}}|km2|mi2|abbr=on}} in land area.<ref name=StatsCan/> They are often referred to as a single region, the North, for organizational and economic purposes.<ref name="Development2002">{{cite book|author=Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development|title=Oecd Territorial Reviews: Canada|url=https://archive.org/details/oecdterritorialr0000orga|url-access=registration|year=2002|publisher=OECD Publishing|isbn=978-92-64-19832-6|page=[https://archive.org/details/oecdterritorialr0000orga/page/16 16]|access-date=November 22, 2015}}</ref> For much of the Northwest Territories' early history it was divided into [[Districts of the Northwest Territories|several districts]] for ease of administration.<ref name="WaldmanBraun2009">{{cite book|first1=Carl|last1=Waldman|first2=Molly|last2=Braun|title=Atlas of the North American Indian|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=P2HKD9PgC6wC&pg=PA234|year=2009|publisher=Infobase Publishing|isbn=978-1-4381-2671-5|page=234|access-date=November 22, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160516202620/https://books.google.com/books?id=P2HKD9PgC6wC&pg=PA234|archive-date=May 16, 2016|url-status=live}}</ref> 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.<ref name="ForsythMuller2001">{{cite book|last1=McIlwraith|first1=Thomas Forsyth|first2=Edward K.|last2=Muller|title=North America: The Historical Geography of a Changing Continent|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8NS0OTXRlTMC&pg=PA359|year=2001|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|isbn=978-0-7425-0019-8|page=359|access-date=November 22, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160506120037/https://books.google.com/books?id=8NS0OTXRlTMC&pg=PA359|archive-date=May 6, 2016|url-status=live}}</ref> In 1999, it was dissolved when it became part of Nunavut.