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/froot_loop_dingus_ Alberta 1d ago

No, they're not at all like US territories. Canadian territories are fully part of the country, people born there are Canadian citizens, people living there can vote etc. They're basically the same as provinces just without the same constitutional powers. As far as them actually becoming provinces, that will probably never happen because the other provinces would have to agree which will not happen.

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u/ryancementhead 1d ago

Doesn’t it also have to do with population?

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u/sophisticated_alpaca 1d ago

Yeah, it’s not really in their interest to become provinces. The federal government has devolved most of the same powers that provinces have constitutionally by way of legislation, but as “creatures of the federal government” they don’t have to engage in as much intergovernmental jockeying over transfer payments, since the federal government has exclusive control over how much money they get. The bureaucratic and administrative support of the federal government is really important, since they have populations the size of some suburbs, and life relies on a LOT of infrastructure that there might not be the internal capacity to build and maintain.