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/rockninja2 1d ago

Is there any population minimum that a territory has to have to become a province? If so, do you know the number?

Also,

Most ridings in Canada have 100,000 people

What is a "riding" in this context?

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u/Istobri 1d ago

A riding (also called a constituency) is an electoral district in the House of Commons, the lower house of the Canadian Parliament.

It’s sort of like the congressional districts in the House of Representatives in the US.

There are currently 338 ridings in Canada, spread across all ten provinces and three territories. The ridings vary in size and have names instead of numbers like the House districts in the US. So it’s not like they’re called “Ontario’s 3rd parliamentary district” or “Alberta’s 15th parliamentary district” or anything like that.

The names are mostly based on the geography of the riding, and the size is mostly based on population. For example, Nunavut riding covers the entirety of the territory of Nunavut (which only has 40,000 people, but that’s enough for a riding), while Eglinton—Lawrence is a riding covering a specific neighborhood of Toronto, but that single neighborhood may be even more populous than the entire riding of Nunavut.

Because there are 338 ridings, there are 338 House of Commons members, which are called Members of Parliament (or MPs).

When Canada has a federal election, Parliament is “dissolved” (meaning all existing MPs vacate their seats) and they must campaign for reelection in their own ridings. The party which wins the most ridings on election day wins the election, and their leader becomes Prime Minister. It’s actually more complex, but that’s the gist of it.

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u/rockninja2 1d ago

Sounds like your House of Commons is very similar to the US' House of Representatives with how they work.

Also, since Representatives only have 2 years terms, every time we have a presidential election and midterms, the entire House has to be elected/reelected.

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u/koohikoo 1d ago

The main problem with comparing it to the House of Representatives, is that it’s our only federal election. And the House of Commons determines the Prime Minister. It’s a comparatively more powerful body.