Lesson 4 — Activity 1:

Organization of Provincial Governments



Warm Up


Canada is a huge country. Governing it effectively with just one central government in Ottawa would be difficult. The needs of the citizens in Alberta are very different from the needs of citizens in Newfoundland or Québec, for example. To address these needs more fairly, each of the 10 provinces has a provincial government and its own capital city.




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Although each province has its own form of government, there are basic rules that everyone must follow.


Click here to see all the provinces, territories, and capital cities.


Provincial governments are elected and organized in much the same way as the federal government. The same three branches of the government are in place: legislative, executive, and judicial. Political parties are active, elections are held, and the winning party forms the government.

However, one very big difference is that provincial governments have only one house in the legislative branch. No provincial government in Canada has an upper house such as the Senate. The names of the provincial parliaments vary. Alberta has a Legislative Assembly. Québec has a National Assembly, Ontario has a Provincial Parliament, and other provinces call theirs the House of Assembly. No matter the names, elected representatives meet in the provincial capital cities, and they make laws for their own provinces.

The following chart compares Canadian federal and provincial governments.

Please see this website


Most of the other differences have to do with the names used. The monarch is the head of the provincial governments, and her representative is given the title of lieutenant governor. The leader of the party that wins a provincial election becomes the premier (called the premier ministre in Québec). Those elected by the voters to the legislature are called members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs) in several provinces, members of the National Assembly (MNAs) in Québec, and members of Provincial Parliament (MPPs) in Ontario.

The premier chooses elected members of his own party to form the cabinet. Just as the prime minister has to ensure that all areas of Canada are represented in the cabinet, the premier must ensure that all areas of the province are represented in a provincial cabinet.

Provinces were created as separate states in the Constitution Acts of 1867 and 1982. They own provincial lands on behalf of the crown (monarchy). If Canada wants to change anything in the Canadian Constitution, provincial governments are included in the process and have a vote.

Self-check!

Try This!

Try the true/false questions below on your own first, and then click on the tab to check your answers! You can look back in the lesson to find the answers.


  1. Provincial governments have the same three levels as the federal government.
  2. The provincial governments have an upper house, such as the Senate.
  3. The queen's provincial representative is the lieutenant governor.
  4. The leader of the party that wins a provincial election becomes the premier.



1. True
2. False (There is only one house.)
3. True
4. True



Digging Deeper!

Click on the Play button below to watch a video on how the Canadian provincial governments work.