Map Date

Description

1867 Canada - Territorial Evolution Map
(PDF 449 kb)

Confederation. By the time Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Ontario and Quebec form the Dominion of Canada, the Robinson Treaties, Upper Canada Land Surrenders and Peace and Friendship Treaties are already in place.

1870 Canada - Territorial Evolution Map
(PDF 1567 kb)

Purchase of Rupert's Land. Canada acquires Rupert’s Land and the adjacent North-Western Territory from the Hudson’s Bay Company. Manitoba enters Confederation.

1871 Canada - Territorial Evolution Map
(PDF 1622 kb)

Treaty No. 1 & Treaty No. 2. The first post-Confederation treaty, Treaty One, is concluded in August 1871 and covers Manitoba as it existed then. Treaty Two is concluded a few weeks later and covers areas needed for expansion and settlement in the west and north of the Province. British Columbia enters Confederation on the understanding that construction of the east-west railway will begin in two years and will be completed in ten.

1873 Canada - Territorial Evolution Map
(PDF 1630 kb)

Treaty No. 3. After three years of negotiations, the Dominion of Canada and the Saulteaux tribe of Ojibway Indians entered into treaty at the North-West Angle of the Lake of the Woods. With the Saulteaux surrendering title to an area of 14,245,000 hectares, Canada acquired land for agriculture, settlement and mineral discovery. More importantly, Canada secured communications with the North-West Territories, including the route of the future Canadian Pacific Railway.

In 1873, Prince Edward Island enters Confederation, bringing the number of provinces in the Dominion to seven.

1874 Canada - Territorial Evolution Map
(PDF 1646 kb)

Treaty No. 4. Initiated by Indians and Métis concerned about the declining numbers of animals which provided them with a living. Treaty 4 covers present-day southern Saskatchewan. Provisional boundary set in northern Ontario.

1875 Canada - Territorial Evolution Map
(PDF 1651 kb)

Treaty No. 5. This treaty originated in two historical processes. The southern part, negotiated in 1875, was one of the southern Prairie treaties, and was in large part a result of the insistence of the Native people of that region that their aboriginal rights be recognized by the Canadian government, which had recently acquired title to their lands. The northern part of Treaty 5 was negotiated in 1908.

1876 Canada - Territorial Evolution Map
(PDF 1665 kb)

TreatyNo. 6 - The negotiation of this treaty took place during a difficult period for the Plains Cree, who were suffering from the rapid decline of the buffalo. The documents indicate that their concerns included medical care and relief in case of need.

1877 Canada - Territorial Evolution Map
(PDF 1662 kb)

Treaty No. 7. The last of the numbered treaties negotiated and signed during the 1870s. The treaty covers the southern part of present-day Alberta.

1880 Canada - Territorial Evolution Map
(PDF 1956 kb)

Addition of Arctic Islands. British rights to these islands pass to Canada.

1881 Canada - Territorial Evolution Map
(PDF 1956 kb)

Addition to Manitoba. The boundaries of Manitoba are extended to include substantially all the area covered by Treaties One, Two and Three.

1889 Canada - Territorial Evolution Map
(PDF 1962 kb)

Treaty No. 6 Adhesion (Montreal Lake). Addition to Ontario (Kenora District)

1898 Canada - Territorial Evolution Map
(PDF 1984 kb)

Creation of the Yukon. The Yukon becomes a Territory separate from the North-West Territories. The boundaries of Quebec are extended north, almost complementing the revised northern boundary of Ontario.

1899 Canada - Territorial Evolution Map
(PDF 2057 kb)

Treaty No. 8. The first of the northern treaties covered an area of 324,900 sq miles and represents the most geographically extensive treaty activity undertaken. It comprises what is now the northern half of Alberta, the northeast quarter of British Columbia, the northwest corner of Saskatchewan, and the area south of Hay River and Great Slave Lake in the Northwest Territories.

1905 Canada - Territorial Evolution Map
(PDF 2048 kb)

Treaty No. 9. In response to continuous petitions from the Cree and Ojibwa people of northern Ontario, and in keeping with its policy of paving the way for settlement and development, the federal government in 1905-1906 negotiated Treaty 9, also known as the James Bay Treaty. For the first and only time, a provincial government took an active role in negotiations. Together with the area acquired by adhesions in 1929-1930, Treaty 9 covers almost two-thirds of the are that became northern Ontario.

In 1905, the provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan are created.

1906 Canada - Territorial Evolution Map
(PDF 2028 kb)

Treaty No. 10. Covers 220,000 square kilometres of northern Saskatchewan and Alberta. Unlike the land in southern Saskatchewan, the Treaty 10 lands were deemed unsuitable for agriculture and so the federal government did not respond to demands from the region’s Native people for a treaty until the early 20th century, when the mixed-blood people of northern Saskatchewan began to demand compensation for loss of aboriginal rights and the Provinces of Saskatchewan and Alberta had been created.

1908 Canada - Territorial Evolution Map
(PDF 2033 kb)

Adhesion to Treaty No. 5. Though requested for many years by the Native people, this adhesion was the result of government initiative.

1912 Canada - Territorial Evolution Map
(PDF 2052 kb)

Ontario and Manitoba attain their present boundaries. Quebec extends northward to absorb the Ungava District and agrees to negotiate surrender of the Indian title to the territory; the Quebec-Labrador boundary remains in contention.

1921 Canada - Territorial Evolution Map
(PDF 2163 kb)

Treaty No. 11. The last of the numbered treaties covers most of the Mackenzie District . The land in the area was deemed unsuitable for agriculture, so the federal government was reluctant to conclude treaties. Immediately following the discovery of oil at Fort Norman in 1920, however, the government moved to begin treaty negotiations.

1923 Canada - Territorial Evolution Map
(PDF 2100 kb)

Williams Treaties. Treaty-making activities along the north shore of Lake Ontario in 1783-84, variously known as the Toronto Purchase, the Carrying Place Purchase, the Crawford Purchases and the Gunshot Treaty, produced lingering uncertainties that are resolved in large part by the Chippewa and Mississauga Agreements negotiated in 1923.

1949 Canada - Territorial Evolution Map
(PDF 2185 kb)

Newfoundland and Labrador enter Confederation.

1999 Canada - Territorial Evolution Map
(PDF 2585 kb)

Creation of Nunavut.

Historical Treaties of Canada
(PDF 1615 kb)

Historical Treaties of Canada