List of Canadian provinces and territories

Canada consists of ten provinces and three territories. The major difference between a Canadian province and a Canadian territory is that a province is a creation of the Constitution Act, while a territory is created by federal law. Thus, the federal government has more direct control over the territories, while the provinces are run by provincial governments.

Provinces have a great deal of power relative to the federal government, having a large measure of control over spending on social programs such as medicare, education, employment insurance, and the like. They receive "transfer payments" from the federal government to pay for these, as well as exacting their own taxes.

Provincial legislatures are unicameral, having no Senate, and operate on a procedure similar to that of the Canadian House of Commons. (The legislature of Quebec is called the National Assembly, and that of Newfoundland and Labrador is called the House of Assembly.) The head of government of each province, called the premier, is the head of the party with the most seats. This is also the case in Yukon. The legislatures of the Northwest Territories and Nunavut have no parties. The Queen's representative to each province is the Lieutenant-Governor; to each territory, the Commissioner.

Provinces, their capitals, and the date that they joined Confederation:

Alberta - Edmonton - 1905*
British Columbia - Victoria - 1871
Manitoba - Winnipeg - 1870*
New Brunswick - Fredericton - 1867
Newfoundland and Labrador - St. John's - 1949
Nova Scotia - Halifax - 1867
Ontario - Toronto - 1867
Prince Edward Island - Charlottetown - 1873
Quebec - Quebec City - 1867
Saskatchewan - Regina - 1905*

Territories, their capitals, and the date that they joined Confederation:

Northwest Territories - Yellowknife - 1870
Nunavut - Iqaluit - 1999*
Yukon - Whitehorse - 1898*

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