Provincial and Territorial Government Web Sites (2024)

FAQs

What are provincial and territorial governments? ›

The main difference between a Province and a Territory has to do with the Canadian Constitution. The Territories are not included in the amending formula used to change Canada's constitution, only the Parliament of Canada and the provinces are.

Due to the size of the land claim, the land was now effectively separate from the Northwest Territories so it was made its own territory. Ethnic hom*ogeneity was not the goal, but is simply reflective of the demographics (the Arctic is very sparsely populated, largely by First Nations and Inuit peoples.)

Canada is a federal state. This means that the powers and duties of government are split between two levels. There is one national (central, or federal) government and many smaller regional (provincial) ones. The areas of jurisdiction for each level were first outlined at the Quebec Conference in 1864.

The provincial governments can levy taxes and are responsible for local education, industry and business development. The local-level governments also have revenue-raising powers, and collect local taxes and fees, receiving transfers from the national government to cover salaries and development projects.

There is a clear constitutional distinction between provinces and territories. While provinces exercise constitutional powers in their own right, the territories exercise delegated powers under the authority of the Parliament of Canada.

The term “territorial government” means the government of a covered territory, including all covered territorial instrumentalities.

Yukon was split from the Northwest Territories in 1898 as the Yukon Territory. The federal government's Yukon Act, which received royal assent on March 27, 2002, established "Yukon" as the territory's official name, although Yukon Territory remains in popular usage.

A province is a political division within a country, typically used in countries that are federal or have a federal system of government. A state, on the other hand, is a political entity that is typically sovereign and has defined geographic boundaries.

Nunavut became a territory of Canada official on April 1st, 1999, making it Canada’s newest territory. Prior to this point the area which is now Nunavut had been part of Canada's Northwest Territories.

Most sections of the Constitution can be changed with approval from the Senate, the House of Commons and the legislatures of at least two-thirds (seven) of the provinces, so long as those provinces contain at least 50 per cent of Canada's population. This is known as the 7/50 rule.

Who is the head of government in Canada? ›

Justin Trudeau

Canada / Head of government

There are three territories in Canada. Unlike the provinces, the territories of Canada have no inherent sovereignty and have only those powers delegated to them by the federal government.

Provincial and territorial governments are responsible for their own province or territory and issues such as education, health care, social welfare, transportation and infrastructure. Municipal and local governments receive their powers from their respective provincial or territorial governments.

National Government makes and carries out laws and policies for the whole country. It is made up of: • Parliament led by the Speaker; and • National Government led by the President and Ministers. Provincial Government makes and carries out laws and policies that affect the province only.

A political subdivision of a foreign country, corresponding to the U.S. state. A few foreign countries, including Mexico, are divided into states, and in such cases the state name should appear in the Province/Territory field of the foreign address.

A simple definition is that States have their own governments and laws. Territories have administrators and are bound by Federal laws.