Canada West

For the rugby union team that competes in the North America 4 Series, see Canada West (rugby team).

Canada West was the western portion of the Province of Canada from 1841 to 1867. Its boundaries were identical to those of the former province of Upper Canada.

The area of Canada West covered all of modern-day southern Ontario and all those areas of Northern Ontario in the pays d'en haut which had formed part of New France, essentially the watersheds of the Ottawa River, Lake Huron, and Lake Superior.

Canada West was not a political entity, but a geographic way of referring to the former Upper Canada, following its merger into the united Province of Canada. Canada West was given 42 seats in the Legislative Assembly of Canada, exactly the same number as Canada East.

The area was named Ontario under the British North America Act of 1867.

The population of Canada West had grown substantially during the period it existed, mostly due to unprecedented immigration and a high birth rate. In 1841 it was 455,000 but grew to approximately 1,500,000 people or more than 300% at the time of Confederation in 1867.

See also