Canada Provinces Visited Map: Track All 10 and 3 Territories

Canada has 10 provinces and 3 territories, 13 places in total, and a Canada provinces visited map is simply a map of Canada where you color in every one you've set foot in. Most travelers who count seriously treat the provinces and territories as one list of 13, with the three northern territories as the hard ones to finish.

The official count comes straight from the Government of Canada, which says that Canada includes ten provinces and three territories. This guide lists all 13, explains what makes a territory different, suggests how to decide what counts as "visited", and shows how to turn your answer into a map.

What are Canada's 10 provinces and 3 territories?

Here is the full list, with capitals and the year each joined Canada, according to the Government of Canada:

The 10 provinces

• Ontario: capital Toronto, joined in 1867
• Quebec: capital Quebec City, 1867
• Nova Scotia: capital Halifax, 1867
• New Brunswick: capital Fredericton, 1867
• Manitoba: capital Winnipeg, 1870
• British Columbia: capital Victoria, 1871
• Prince Edward Island: capital Charlottetown, 1873
• Saskatchewan: capital Regina, 1905
• Alberta: capital Edmonton, 1905
• Newfoundland and Labrador: capital St. John's, 1949

The 3 territories

• Yukon: capital Whitehorse, became a territory in 1898
• Northwest Territories: capital Yellowknife, 1870
• Nunavut: capital Iqaluit, 1999

Ottawa, the national capital, is in Ontario, so it doesn't add a place to your list. Newfoundland and Labrador is the odd one in the group: it only joined in 1949, so for a long time Canada had nine provinces.

What's the difference between a province and a territory?

For a traveler, almost none: both are on the map and both count. The difference is in who holds the power. According to Wikipedia's article on the provinces and territories of Canada, provinces get their authority from the Constitution Act, 1867, while the territories have no inherent sovereignty and their powers are delegated by the federal government.

Nunavut is the newest of the 13. It was created on April 1, 1999, out of the northern and eastern parts of the Northwest Territories. That is why the map of Canada you may have grown up with looks different from today's.

How big are they? Some numbers worth knowing

Size is the reason the territories are hard to tick off. Using the same Wikipedia article (population from the 2021 census):

• Largest by area: Nunavut, at about 2.09 million km². Among provinces, it's Quebec, at about 1.54 million km².
• Smallest by area: Prince Edward Island, at about 5,660 km².
• Most people: Ontario, with just over 14.2 million.
• Fewest people: Nunavut, with about 36,900. Among provinces, Prince Edward Island has about 154,000.

So the two ends of your list are very different challenges. You can cover Prince Edward Island in a long weekend. Nunavut is roughly 370 times larger than PEI and has about 36,900 residents.

What counts as "visited" in Canada?

As with countries, there's no official rule, so pick one and stay consistent. If you want a longer discussion of the options, read our guide on what counts as visiting a country. The same logic applies to provinces:

• Airport only. Changing planes in Calgary or Montreal without leaving the terminal is the classic gray area. Most travelers don't count it.
• Driving through. Crossing Manitoba on the Trans-Canada Highway with one gas stop is a closer call. A common rule is that you need to have stopped for something besides fuel.
• Overnight. The cleanest rule: you slept there. It's a strict test for the Atlantic provinces and the territories, and it makes your map one you can defend.
• As a child. Your parents took you to Banff at age four and you remember nothing? Most people count it. It's your map.

One Canada-specific tip: border towns can fool you. If you walked across from the United States for lunch in a town in another province, count it by whatever rule you picked above, not by how close it felt.

How to plan the provinces you're missing

Once you have your list, the gaps usually fall into three groups:

1. Easy add-ons. If you've been to Ontario, Quebec is a train ride away and New Brunswick and Nova Scotia are a road trip beyond that. The Maritimes (Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island) are close together, so one trip can finish three.
2. The Prairies. Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta are flat on the map and fast to cross, but easy to skip because there's no famous "stop" until you plan one.
3. The north. Yukon, the Northwest Territories and Nunavut take real planning. Treat them as a long-term goal and put them on the wishlist side of your map rather than feeling behind.

Newfoundland and Labrador sits in its own group: it's the farthest east and the newest province, and the island part needs a ferry or a flight, so it's usually a dedicated trip.

How to make your Canada provinces visited map

You can use a printed poster, a spreadsheet, or a note on your phone. A map is more fun, because you see the gaps at a glance. Here's how it works in Tripfolio:

1. Open the countries visited map and tap countries to color them in. It works without signing up.
2. In your account, Canada is split into provinces and territories on the world map, so you can mark each one as Visited or Want to visit, the same way as countries.
3. Do the same for the United States, where the map is split into 50 states. If you're also working on those, our guide to the US states visited map covers the counting rules.
4. Share the result as a card and send it to the friends you're comparing with.

Canada and the United States are sovereign countries, so in Tripfolio each one counts once toward your total out of 195. The provinces, territories and states are a closer look inside a country, not extra countries. That is how Tripfolio's map keeps the "x / 195" number honest. For the full reasoning behind that number, see how many countries there are in the world.

The country page for Canada shows where it sits in North America and who from your friends has been.

Start your map

You already know some of your 13. Open the map, color in the ones you've done, and mark the three you've always meant to visit. It takes about five minutes, and the gaps tell you where to go next.

Color in your Canada map for free

FAQ

How many provinces and territories does Canada have?

Canada has 10 provinces and 3 territories. The provinces are Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Manitoba, British Columbia, Prince Edward Island, Saskatchewan, Alberta, and Newfoundland and Labrador. The territories are Yukon, the Northwest Territories and Nunavut.

Which is the newest territory or province in Canada?

Nunavut is the newest. It was created on April 1, 1999, from part of the Northwest Territories. The newest province is Newfoundland and Labrador, which joined on March 31, 1949.

What is the smallest province in Canada?

Prince Edward Island is the smallest, at about 5,660 km², and it is also the smallest by population among the provinces, with about 154,000 people in the 2021 census.

Do Canadian territories count as places visited?

Yes, if you decide they do, and most travelers do. Territories are part of Canada and appear on its map, so a Canada visited map normally tracks all 13 provinces and territories.

Does visiting a province count as visiting a new country?

No. A province is part of Canada, so visiting Alberta and then Ontario is still one country. Only the first Canadian visit adds Canada to your country count.