Entered Confederation: 1905

Northwest Territories joins Canada, 1870 Copyright

The land that now forms Saskatchewan and Alberta was originally part of the Northwest Territories. By the beginning of the 1900s, many people wanted this to change. The leader of the Territories was F. W. G. Haultain. He and others had several reasons to want to create new provinces:

• The economy had changed. Instead of just the fur trade, it now included farming, logging, mining and the railway. Many people were coming into the territory to work in these new industries. They believed this larger population deserved the same kind of government as in Ontario, Quebec and the other provinces.

Districts of Saskatchewan and Alberta, 1898 Copyright

Saskatchewan and Alberta created, 1905 Copyright

• They could not afford everything that the people needed, such as schools. By forming new provinces, they would be able to collect taxes and pay for these things.

Oats from a new land, Alberta (A Swede homesteader, 1919) Copyright