Federal state

A federated state (…) is a territorial and constitutional community forming part of a federation. A federated state does not have international sovereignty since powers are divided between the other federated states and the federal government. Unlike international sovereign states (…), federated states operate under their domestic or federal law with relation to the rest of the world.¹

Importantly, federated states do not have automatic standing as entities of international law.¹

In countries with federal constitutions, there is a division of power between the central government and the component states. These entities (…) are partially self-governing and are afforded a degree of constitutionally guaranteed autonomy that varies substantially from one federation to another. Depending on the form the decentralization of powers takes, a federated state’s legislative powers may or may not be overruled or vetoed by the federal government. Laws governing the relationship between federal and regional powers can be amended through the national or federal constitution, and, if they exist, state constitutions as well.¹

Canada has 10 provinces (federated states):

• Alberta
• British Columbia
• Manitoba
• New Brunswick
• Newfoundland and Labrador
• Nova Scotia
• Ontario
• Prince Edward Island
• Quebec
• Saskatchewan

Canada has also 3 territories, meaning that they are purely administrative divisions, ruled by the jurisdiction of the Canadian Constitution²:

• Northwest Territories
• Nunavut
• Yukon

Footnotes

1. Federated State, Wikipedia ↩ ↩² ↩³

2. Provinces and Territories of Canada, Wikipedia ↩