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Federation Maps and Fact Sheets
Canada
A federation since 1867
Government of Canada Official Website
| Population |
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30. 3 million (1998) |
| Capital |
Ottawa |
Constituent units
- 10 provinces: Alberta; British Columbia; Manitoba; New Brunswick;
Newfoundland; Nova Scotia; Ontario; Prince Edward Island; Quebec;
Saskatchewan.
3 territories: Northwest Territories, Yukon Territory, and since
1999, Nunavut.
Constitutional distribution of powers
Legislative institutions
- Federal: Bicameral Parliament composed of the Senate and the House
of Commons.
- Regional representation in the Senate: a total of 24 Senators for each
of the four regions (Atlantic provinces; Quebec; Ontario; Western
provinces); 6 senators for the province of Newfoundland; 1 senator for
each of the three territories.
- Official
Website of Canada's Parliament: Senate and House of Commons
- Provincial and territorial: Unicameral assemblies
Official languages
The Canadian Constitution stipulates that English and French are official
languages in the institutions of the Federal Parliament and Federal government
and in all courts established by the Federal Parliament.
The Canadian Constitution also defines 1) the status of English and French in
the legislative assemblies and legal institutions of the provinces of
New Brunswick, Quebec and Manitoba, 2) the status of the English and French
linguistic communities of the province of New Brunswick and 3) minority official
language education rights in all provinces and territories.
Some provinces and territories have made English, or French, or English and
French, or English, French and Aboriginal languages their official languages.
Other links of interest
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