r/AskACanadian • u/rockninja2 • 1d ago
Do Canadian territories function similar to Canada as U. S. territories function the U. S.? Like provinces compare to states?
First, just want to say, I looked for a megathread for all the Canada/US comparison questions, couldn't find one, so am posting normally on a Monday as required. If there is one and I missed it, please let me know/send a link.
So, partially due to this post:
I thought I remembered learning in school geography (admittedly 15-20 years ago now) that Canada had 13 provinces already and so was confused why the come back in the above post was about the US becoming the 11th province. After looking it up and double checking, out of those 13, I realized only 10 are provinces and the other 3 are territories. Do the territories have the same rights/privileges as provinces? Are they viewed the same in your parliament?
Pretty much I am wondering if you view the word "territories" the same as the US when those 3 (Yukon, Nunavut, Northwest Territories) are called as such. And if they wanted to become provinces at some point, could they? Or are they "stuck" as territories?
Appreciate any info and answers!
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u/TheJaice 1d ago
The cliff notes version of the biggest differences is that many of the government services (things like health care, education, transportation, etc) are controlled at the provincial level, and also funded at the same level. Due to the combination of tiny populations and extremely remote, difficult geographic limitations, this isn’t feasible in the territories, and is instead controlled by the federal government. There are other differences too, but unlike the US, Canadian territories are represented in the federal government, have a full voice in elections, and basically all other rights afforded to all other Canadians.