Random Canadian Province

How this random Canadian province generator works

Press Generate and you get a province. Turn up the Number box for more, no repeats. Ask for eleven and you will get ten, because there are ten.

Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Prince Edward Island, Quebec, Saskatchewan.

Ten provinces, and about forty percent of Canada lies outside all of them.

The three territories are not provinces

Yukon. The Northwest Territories. Nunavut.

Between them, the three territories cover roughly 40 percent of Canada's land mass and hold about 0.3 percent of its population. They lie mostly north of the sixtieth parallel. Nunavut alone is larger than any province.

And a territory is not a province. Not a smaller province. Not a province in waiting. It is a different constitutional object with a different origin, and the difference is not a technicality.

This is a distinction that maps hide. On a map they are all pastel shapes with borders. In law they are opposites.

Where the power comes from

Everything follows from one question: who gave this government its authority?

A province gets its powers from the Constitution Act, 1867. They are written down in the constitution itself, divided between Ottawa and the provinces, and they belong to the province. Nobody lent them.

A territory gets its powers from an ordinary Act of Parliament. The Yukon Act. The Northwest Territories Act. The Nunavut Act. Each territory's constitution is a federal statute.

The territorial governments are real. They run schools, hospitals, courts, roads. Yukoners elect a legislature and a premier. Nothing about daily life announces the difference.

The difference shows up exactly once, and it is decisive.

One can be changed by a vote. The other cannot.

To alter the division of powers between Canada and its provinces, you need a constitutional amendment. That means the amending formula, which means agreement among the provinces themselves.

To alter the powers of a territory, Parliament passes a law.

That is it. Ottawa can reshape a territory's authority, its structure, or its boundaries by doing the same thing it does to change the tax code. The Northwest Territories legislature says so on its own website.

And to become a province, a territory would need a constitutional amendment: the consent of Parliament and of seven provinces holding at least half of Canada's population.

Ten provinces. Three territories. The same colour on the map. One group holds its powers by right and the other holds them at the pleasure of a legislature in Ottawa.

Nunavut, 1999

The newest of Canada's thirteen first-level divisions was created in April 1999, carved out of the eastern Northwest Territories. More than eighty percent of its population is Inuit.

The direction of travel is called devolution: Ottawa handing down powers, one agreement at a time. Yukon took control of its lands and resources in 2003. The Northwest Territories in 2014. Nunavut's own agreement came later.

Devolved power still arrives as a gift. It can be given generously, and it is. It is still given.

Canada is the second largest country on Earth by area, and its top level of government has thirteen members, ten of which are sovereign in their own sphere and three of which are not.

Ways people actually use this

• Address forms and test data. The ten provinces, exactly. Add YT, NT and NU alongside them.
• Quizzes. Show the province, ask for the capital. Then ask which three parts of Canada are not provinces, and why.
• Teaching federalism. The clearest short example in the world of the difference between constitutional power and delegated power.
• Picking somewhere to go. Ten options, and a north that is bigger than all of them.
• Settling an argument. No, Nunavut is not a province. Yes, it is bigger than every province.

Getting more out of the filters

• With ten entries the filters are mostly a curiosity, but Contains New gives you two: New Brunswick and Newfoundland and Labrador.
• Starts with and Ends with compare a single character. Starts with N gives you three.
• Set Number to 10 and press Generate once. That is all of them, in a random order.
• Type and into Contains for the two provinces whose names are compounds of two places.

Questions people ask

How many provinces does Canada have?

Ten. It also has three territories: Yukon, the Northwest Territories, and Nunavut. Together that makes thirteen first-level divisions, and only ten of them are provinces.

What is the difference between a province and a territory?

Where the power comes from. Provinces hold legislative powers granted by the Constitution Act, 1867. Territories exercise powers delegated to them by the Parliament of Canada under ordinary legislation.

Can Ottawa change a territory's powers?

Yes, by passing a law. Changing provincial powers requires a constitutional amendment. This is the practical meaning of the distinction.

What is Canada's newest division?

Nunavut, created in April 1999 from the eastern Northwest Territories. More than eighty percent of its population is Inuit.

Could a territory become a province?

It would take a constitutional amendment, requiring the agreement of Parliament and of seven provinces containing at least fifty percent of Canada's population.

References

1. Provinces and territories, Government of Canada
2. Differences from provincial governments, NWT Legislative Assembly
3. Territorial government, The Canadian Encyclopedia