Constitution of Canada/1867 II Union

Previous section: I Preliminary

3. Declaration of Union:

It shall be lawful for the Queen, by and with the Advice of Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, to declare by Proclamation that, on and after a Day therein appointed, not being more than Six Months after the passing of this Act, the Provinces of Canada, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick shall form and be One Dominion under the Name of Canada; and on and after that Day those Three Provinces shall form and be One Dominion under that Name accordingly.

4. Construction of subsequent Provisions of Act:

Unless it is otherwise expressed or implied, the Name Canada shall be taken to mean Canada as constituted under this Act.

5. Four Provinces:

Canada shall be divided into Four Provinces, named Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick.

6. Provinces of Ontario and Quebec

The Parts of the Province of Canada (as it exists at the passing of this Act) which formerly constituted respectively the Provinces of Upper Canada and Lower Canada shall be deemed to be severed, and shall form Two separate Provinces. The Part which formerly constituted the Province of Upper Canada shall constitute the Province of Ontario; and the Part which formerly constituted the Province of Lower Canada shall constitute the Province of Quebec.

7. Provinces of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick:

The Provinces of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick shall have the same Limits as at the passing of this Act.

8. Decennial Census

In the general Census of the Population of Canada which is hereby required to be taken in the Year One thousand eight hundred and seventy-one, and in every Tenth Year thereafter, the respective Populations of the Four Provinces shall be distinguished.

Next section: III Executive Power

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notes:

Section 4 was partially repealed by the Statute Law Revision Act, 1893, 56-57 Vict., c. 14 (U.K.). As originally enacted the section read as follows:

4. The subsequent Provisions of this Act shall, unless it is otherwise expressed or implied, commence and have effect on and after the Union, that is to say, on and after the Day appointed for the Union taking effect in the Queen's Proclamation; and in the same Provisions, unless it is otherwise expressed or implied, the Name Canada shall be taken to mean Canada as constituted under this Act.

Canada now consists of ten provinces (Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Manitoba, British Columbia, Prince Edward Island, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Newfoundland and Labrador) and two territories (the Yukon Territory and the Northwest Territories).

The first territories added to the Union were Rupert's Land and the North-Western Territory, (subsequently designated the Northwest Territories), which were admitted pursuant to section 146 of the Constitution Act, 1867 and the Rupert's Land Act, 1868, 31-32 Vict., c. 105 (U.K.), by the Rupert's Land and North-Western Territory Order of June 23, 1870, effective July 15, 1870. Prior to the admission of those territories the Parliament of Canada enacted An Act for the temporary Government of Rupert's Land and the North-Western Territory when united with Canada (32-33 Vict., c. 3), and the Manitoba Act, 1870, (33 Vict., c. 3), which provided for the formation of the Province of Manitoba.

British Columbia was admitted into the Union pursuant to section 146 of the Constitution Act, 1867, by the British Columbia Terms of Union, being Order in Council of May 16, 1871, effective July 20, 1871.

Prince Edward Island was admitted pursuant to section 146 of the Constitution Act, 1867, by the Prince Edward Island Terms of Union, being Order in Council of June 26, 1873, effective July 1, 1873.

On June 29, 1871, the United Kingdom Parliament enacted the Constitution Act, 1871 (34-35 Vict., c. 28) authorizing the creation of additional provinces out of territories not included in any province. Pursuant to this statute, the Parliament of Canada enacted the Alberta Act, (July 20, 1905, 4-5 Edw. VII, c. 3) and the Saskatchewan Act, (July 20, 1905, 4-5 Edw. VII, c. 42), providing for the creation of the provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan, respectively. Both these Acts came into force on Sept. 1, 1905.

Meanwhile, all remaining British possessions and territories in North America and the islands adjacent thereto, except the colony of Newfoundland and its dependencies, were admitted into the Canadian Confederation by the Adjacent Territories Order, dated July 31, 1880.

The Parliament of Canada added portions of the Northwest Territories to the adjoining provinces in 1912 by The Ontario Boundaries Extension Act, S.C. 1912, 2 Geo. V, c. 40, The Quebec Boundaries Extension Act, 1912, 2 Geo. V, c. 45 and The Manitoba Boundaries Extension Act, 1912, 2 Geo. V, c. 32, and further additions were made to Manitoba by The Manitoba Boundaries Extension Act, 1930, 20-21 Geo. V, c. 28.

The Yukon Territory was created out of the Northwest Territories in 1898 by The Yukon Territory Act, 61 Vict., c. 6, (Canada).

Newfoundland was added on March 31, 1949, by the Newfoundland Act, (U.K.), 12-13 Geo. VI, c. 22, which ratified the Terms of Union of Newfoundland with Canada. Its name was changed to Newfoundland and Labrador in 2001.