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.

What is the Canadian Province & Territory Reference?

Searchable reference of Canada's 10 provinces and 3 territories with the ISO 3166-2 and Canada Post two-letter codes, capital cities, and a short note on each. Look up by code, name, or capital. It runs free in your browser on Gera Tools, with nothing uploaded.

Canadian Province & Territory Reference

Name: Canadian Province & Territory Reference
Creator: Gera Tools
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

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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.

Quick reference table

Code	Name	Type	Capital
AB	Alberta	Province	Edmonton
BC	British Columbia	Province	Victoria
MB	Manitoba	Province	Winnipeg
NB	New Brunswick	Province	Fredericton
NL	Newfoundland and Labrador	Province	St. John’s
NS	Nova Scotia	Province	Halifax
NT	Northwest Territories	Territory	Yellowknife
NU	Nunavut	Territory	Iqaluit
ON	Ontario	Province	Toronto
PE	Prince Edward Island	Province	Charlottetown
QC	Quebec	Province	Quebec City
SK	Saskatchewan	Province	Regina
YT	Yukon	Territory	Whitehorse

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.

Provinces vs territories — a practical distinction

Provinces derive their authority from the Constitution Act, 1867 and control areas like education, healthcare, and property law. The three territories — Northwest Territories (NT), Yukon (YT), and Nunavut (NU) — are governed under federal legislation and their legislatures operate at the pleasure of Parliament. For practical purposes like address validation and shipping, this distinction does not change anything: all 13 codes work the same way with Canada Post. But it matters for legislative and tax purposes, since territorial tax rates and certain regulations differ from provincial ones.

Common traps and corrections

Ottawa vs Toronto: Ottawa is Canada’s federal capital and lies within Ontario — but Ontario’s own provincial capital is Toronto. Many people confuse these. Similarly, British Columbia’s capital is Victoria on Vancouver Island, not Vancouver, which is the province’s largest city.

Quebec’s accent: The province’s full English name is Quebec (no accent); the city within it is also Quebec City. The French form Québec (with an accent) is common and accepted in Canadian federal usage. The code QC works unambiguously in either language.

Newfoundland and Labrador: The full name includes Labrador since 2001. Its two-letter code NL reflects this. The capital, St. John’s (with an apostrophe), is the easternmost city in North America.

Nunavut: Created in 1999 from the eastern part of the Northwest Territories. Its capital Iqaluit is pronounced roughly “ee-KAL-oo-eet” and was named Frobisher Bay until 1987.

Using the codes for address forms

Canada Post uses the two-letter codes without the CA- prefix. The full address format on domestic mail is:

RECIPIENT NAME
STREET ADDRESS
CITY  PROVINCE-CODE  POSTAL CODE
CANADA

For example: TORONTO ON M5H 2N2. The postal code follows the province code on the same line, separated by two spaces.