The United Kingdom transferred most of its remaining land in North America to Canada, with Rupert's Land and the North-Western Territory becoming the North-West Territories. The Rupert's Land Act 1868 transferred the region to Canada as of 1869, but it was only consummated in 1870 when £300,000 was paid to the Hudson's Bay Company. The transfer of Rupert's Land is the largest land purchase in Canada's history. In 1870, the Manitoba Act took effect, and a large square area of the newly acquired region near the city of Winnipeg was made the province of Manitoba.[2][3]
July 20, 1871
The British colony of British Columbia joined Canada as the sixth province.[4] British Columbia joined the Canadian confederation following The Great Confederation Debates in the spring of 1870 and the Confederation Negotiations of the following summer and winter.[5]
July 1, 1873
The British colony of Prince Edward Island joined Canada as the seventh province by an Act of Parliament (and, as part of the terms of union, was guaranteed a ferry link, a term which was deleted upon completion of the Confederation Bridge in 1997).[6]
July 26, 1874
The borders of Ontario were provisionally expanded north and west. When the Province of Canada was formed, its borders were not entirely clear, and Ontario claimed to eventually reach all the way to the Rocky Mountains and Arctic Ocean. With Canada's acquisition of Rupert's Land, Ontario was interested in clearly defining its borders, especially since some of the new areas it was interested in were rapidly growing. After the federal government asked Ontario to pay for construction in the new disputed area, the province asked for an elaboration on its limits, and its boundary was moved north to the 51st parallel north.[7][8]
April 12, 1876
The District of Keewatin was created by the passage of the Keewatin Act on April 12, 1876 in a central separate strip from the North-West Territories, in order to provide government for the growing area north of Manitoba and west of Ontario.[9][10][11]
Manitoba's borders were expanded to a larger postage stamp province taking land easterly from the District of Keewatin to the western boundary of Ontario. Since the province's eastern border was defined as the "western boundary of Ontario", the exact definition of which was still unclear, Ontario disputed a portion of the new region.[13]
The dispute between Manitoba and Ontario ended as Ontario's borders were finalized in accordance with the Canada (Ontario Boundary) Act, 1889, which extended the province west to the Lake of the Woods and north to the Albany River.[15]
alt=Map of the country of Canada on June 13, 1898, depicting the larger postage stamp sized province of Manitoba along with the provinces of Ontario, Prince Edward Island, Quebec, New Brunswick, British Columbia and Nova Scotia, in the colour white. The disputed area between Manitoba and Ontario is resolved, Ontario expands west to the Lake of the Woods and north to the Albany River. The North-West Territories is separate from the District of Keewatin. Territories are depicted in the colour pink; the northern arctic islands are a part of the NWT. The District of Keewatin now has a geographically shaped border to encompass the eastern borders of the newly formed provisional districts of the NWT. Yukon Territory is now formed from the NWT. The area called Newfoundland, Labrador, and Alaska are depicted in bluish grey colour, and are not a part of Canada.
May 23, 1901
The eastern border of Yukon Territory was adjusted to the Peel River, so that the borders would not cross a watershed, and also to include some more islands.[20]
The provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan were created from the North-West Territories. Saskatchewan's western border and Alberta's eastern border run concurrent with the 4th meridian[A] or the 110°W longitude. Saskatchewan's eastern border is not a meridian, but instead follows a staircase-shaped Dominion Land Survey range line. Alberta's southern and northern borders are the same as Saskatchewan's: the southern border is the Canada – United States border or the 49th parallel and the northern border is the 60th parallel. Alberta's western border runs along peaks of the Rocky Mountain ridge then extends north to the 60th parallel and the District of Keewatin was dissolved. [21][21][22][23]
1906
The Northwest Territories Act was passed 1906, significantly removing the hyphen from the name of the territory.[24]
May 15, 1912
Manitoba, Ontario, and Quebec were all expanded into their present-day boundaries. The Northwest Territories is now only situated north of the 60th parallel (except Hudson Bay and James Bay islands) with three districts, Keewatin, Mackenzie and Franklin.[24]
Lougheed Island is discovered and annexed to Northwest Territories.
June 13, 1916
Meighen Island is discovered and annexed to Northwest Territories.
1925
The boundaries of the Northwest Territories expand, and they now extend north to the North Pole.[24]
March 11, 1927
A British Privy Council of 1927 decided the issue of the border between Labrador and Quebec in Labrador's favour, transferring a small portion of land from Canada to the Dominion of Newfoundland.[25] The government of Quebec, however, does not officially recognize the 1927 border delineation.
November 11, 1930
Sverdrup Islands are ceded to Canada by Norway, in exchange for British recognition of Norway's soveriegnty over Jan Mayen
The territory of Nunavut was created from the Northwest Territories. The provisional districts are no longer administrative areas of the Northwest Territories.[24]
December 6, 2001
The province of Newfoundland was renamed Newfoundland and Labrador by the Constitution Amendment 2001 (Newfoundland and Labrador).[27]
April 1, 2003
The name of Yukon Territory became simply Yukon.[28]
^Bolger, Francis William Pius (1961). "Prince Edward Island and Confederation 1863-1873"(PDF). St. Dunstan's University, Charlottetwon CCHA Report 28 (1961) 25-30. University of Manitoba. Retrieved August 22, 2009.
^Martin, Frederick; Keltie, Sir John Scott; Renwick, Isaac Parker Anderson; Epstein, Mortimer; Steinberg, Sigfrid Henry; Paxton, John; Hunter, Brian (1899). The Statesman's Year-Book. p. 223.
^ abThomson, Malcolm M. (04/1977). "Canada's Prime Meridian". Journal of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada. 71: 204. 1977JRASC..71..204T. {{cite journal}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)Cite error: The named reference "Widdis" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
^Lewry, Marilyn (2006). "Boundary surveys". The Encyclopedia of Saskatchewan. Canadian Plains Research Center, University of Regina. Retrieved January 6, 2009.
^"Les Dix Grand Mensonges". Henri Dorion discrédite les Dix Grand Mensonges sur la frontière du Labrador (Henri Dorion debunks the Ten Great Myths about the Labrador boundary). Québec—Assemblée Nationale—Première session, 34e Législature (Quebec—National Assembly—First Session, 34th Legislature). October 1, 1991. Archived from the original on 2009-08-05. Retrieved August 25, 2009.
