Proposals for new Canadian provinces and territories

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Since Canadian Confederation in 1867, there have been several proposals for new Canadian provinces and territories. The Constitution of Canada requires an amendment for the creation of a new province but the creation of a new territory requires only an act of Parliament; therefore it is easier to create a territory than a province.

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Successful movements

Canada's four original provinces in 1867 were Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick, with their shape and size varying over time. Since then, the following provinces and territories have joined Canada:

  • Manitoba was created as a province in 1870 in an area that had been planned to be part of the Northwest Territories. It was originally intended to be a homeland for the Métis. It attained its current size in 1912.
  • The Northwest Territories joined Canada on the same day as Manitoba. It was originally very large in size; two other provinces and three territories have been created from it. There have been proposals for it to become a province from a territory.
  • British Columbia joined Canada as a province in 1871.
  • Prince Edward Island joined Canada as a province in 1873.
  • Yukon was created as a territory from the western part of Northwest Territories in 1898. It was created for better control of the Klondike Gold Rush. There are currently proposals for it to change from a territory to a province.
  • Saskatchewan and Alberta were provinces created from part of the Northwest Territories in 1905. They were created because of the large-scale settlement of the Canadian prairies.
  • Newfoundland and Labrador joined Canada as a province in 1949.
  • Nunavut was created from the eastern part of the Northwest Territories in 1999. It was intended as a homeland for the Inuit and has been essential in maintaining a prominent Inuit culture in Canada. Like Canada's older territories, there is currently a movement for it to evolve from a territory into a province.
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Current and defunct movements within Canada

People in many areas across Canada have expressed wishes that their communities receive heightened autonomy via provincehood or territoryhood. These areas include:

  • Acadia - a community mainly in New Brunswick that is linguistically French, but is a distinct culture from Quebec. There have been proposals for Acadia to separate from New Brunswick and become a separate province. This was promoted by the Parti Acadien. Currently, there is little support for this idea, and creating a separate Acadian province would actually be quite difficult, considering that Acadians are dispersed throughout New Brunswick.
  • Cape Breton Island - an area which is currently a part of Nova Scotia, but in the past it has been a separate colony. Cape Breton Island is usually considered distinct from mainland Nova Scotia by people across Canada including mainland Nova Scotia. Provincehood has been advocated by the Cape Breton Labour Party.
  • English Quebec - around the time of the second referendum on separation a self-named 'partition' movement to create an 11th province consisting of the English-speaking areas of Quebec (mainly in the Western part of the Island of Montreal) flourished. This movement is no longer active.
  • Labrador - the Mainland portion of the province of Newfoundland and Labrador. The Labrador Party campaigns on the platform of a separate province. Its population of 28,000 people would suggest that Labrador would more likely be a territory if it separated.
  • National Capital Region - at various times, provincial, territorial or special federal status has been proposed for the metropolitan area consisting of Ottawa, Ontario and Gatineau, Quebec, so that the national capital would not be part of any province. Currently not a popular movement.
  • Northern Ontario - the Northern Ontario Heritage Party advocated for the creation of a separate province in the 1970s, although the party did not attract widespread electoral support. A newer group, the Northern Ontario Secession Movement, has begun a similar campaign, but has not to date attracted the same degree of attention.
  • Nunatsiavut - an area in northern Labrador, it is inhabited mainly by Inuit, many of whom wish to leave Newfoundland and Labrador and form a territory similar to Nunavut.
  • Nunavik - an area in northern Quebec, it is inhabited mainly by Inuit, many of whom wish to leave the province and form a territory similar to Nunavut.
  • Toronto - the largest city in Canada. There is little support for its separation from Ontario, and some Torontonians consider it to be a bad (if not comical) idea. However, many politicians and political groups have lobbied for a separate Province of Toronto.
  • Vancouver Island - was originally a separate British colony before joining British Columbia. Some island residents believe that the island would be better off as its own province. Currently not a popular movement.
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Countries and territories that have expressed a wish to join Canada

  • Turks and Caicos Islands - a British overseas territory in the Caribbean. There is some support for it to join Canada, although the islands' small economy and Canada's involvement in Haiti has made this controversial.
  • Jamaica - In the late 19th Century, there was some discussion of some form of political union between Canada and Jamaica.
  • Barbados - In 1884, the Barbados Agricultural Society sent a letter to Sir Francis Hicks requesting his private and public views on whether the Dominion of Canada would favourably entertain having the then colony of Barbados admitted as a member of the Canadian Confederation. Asked of Canada is what were the terms of the Canadian side to initiate discussions, and whether or not the island of Barbados could depend on the full influence of Canada in getting the change agreed to by Britain.
  • Bermuda - In 1949 Mr. Henry Vassey the then Chairman of the Bermuda Trade Development Board urged the Bermuda House of Assembly to pursue a political union with Canada.
  • The West Indies Federation – In a 1952 letter by T.G. Major, a Canadian Trade Commissioner in Trinidad and Tobago, it was stated to the Under Secretary of State for External Affairs that the respective leaders of the British Caribbean could not reach a clear consensus for the exact style of a Federal Union with Canada. During a Parliamentary Conference held in Ottawa, it was also noted though that the colony of British Honduras showed the most interest in a union with Canada exceeding that of the other British Caribbean colonies.
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Other boundary changes

There have also been some proposals that would result in a change of the boundary status between existing provinces.

  • Northwestern Ontario - Recently, some residents of Northwestern Ontario have proposed that the region secede from Ontario to join Manitoba, due to the perception that the government of Ontario does not pay sufficient attention to the region's issues. This would not result in the creation of a new province, however, but simply a change in the boundary between two existing provinces.
  • Maritime Provinces - At various times, some politicians in Canada's Maritime provinces of New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island have proposed that the three provinces unite into a single new province, which would be larger and have more political and economic clout than any of the three provinces does individually. Although this Maritime Union proposal often attracts media attention, there has been little substantive discussion.
  • Northeastern British Columbia - In the 1990s, there was discussion amonst some municipal councillors in the portion of northeastern British Columbia lying east of the Rocky Mountains about joining Alberta, whose conservative politics were more in line with their own, than were the left-wing politics of the Lower Mainland of BC. This discussion did not result in any formal movement.
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See also

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