How many provinces and territories does Canada have?

Canada has 10 provinces and 3 territories, 13 in total. The territories — Northwest Territories, Yukon, and Nunavut — are in the north and derive their powers from the federal government rather than the constitution.

What is the code for Ontario?

Ontario's two-letter code is ON. In full ISO 3166-2 form it is written CA-ON. The same two-letter portion is used by Canada Post for addressing mail.

What is the difference between a province and a territory?

Provinces have constitutional authority of their own, while territories are administered under powers delegated by the federal Parliament. The three territories are far larger in area but much smaller in population.

Which is the newest territory?

Nunavut, created in 1999 from the eastern part of the Northwest Territories. It is also the largest by area and has Iqaluit as its capital.

Is Ottawa a provincial capital?

No. Ottawa is the federal capital of Canada and sits in Ontario, but Ontario's own provincial capital is Toronto. The two should not be confused.

Canadian Province & Territory Reference

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Canada’s 13 at a glance

Canada is divided into 10 provinces and 3 territories. This reference lists all 13 with the two-letter code used by both ISO 3166-2 and Canada Post, the capital city, and a short note. It is useful for address forms, dropdowns, data validation, or simply checking which capital belongs to which province.

How it works

The dataset is a curated offline table. Typing in the search box filters every entry whose code, name, capital, or note matches — so ON finds Ontario, Toronto finds Ontario by its capital, and prairie finds the prairie provinces. Codes are uppercase two-letter abbreviations; in full ISO form they are prefixed CA-, as in CA-ON or CA-BC.

Notes and example

The distinction between province and territory matters legally: provinces hold their own constitutional powers, while the three northern territories — Northwest Territories (NT), Yukon (YT), and Nunavut (NU) — exercise authority delegated by the federal Parliament. Nunavut is the newest, carved from the eastern Northwest Territories in 1999. Watch the Ottawa trap: Ottawa is Canada’s federal capital and lies in Ontario, but Ontario’s provincial capital is Toronto.