Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Ontario and Quebec were the original four provinces to join the confederation. These four provinces joined on July 1, 1867, when Canada first became a nation. These provinces were all once ruled by France and were part of New France.
Around 1864 leaders of these provinces felt that the provinces should be joined together as a single country. There were several years of political debate while these leaders met to discuss the creation of Canada as one country. Three historic meetings were held throughout this debate. The meetings were held in Quebec City, Charlottetown and London, England. These leaders eventually wrote a constitution for the new country and became known as the Fathers of the Confederation. This constitution was passed by the Parliament of the United Kingdom and later became known as the British North American Act. Several other provinces and territories became part of Canada at later dates. Manitoba and the Northwest Territories joined in 1870 followed by British Columbia in 1871. Prince Edward Island joined in 1873 and Yukon (formerly Yukon Territory) joined in 1898. In1905 Alberta, Saskatchewan joined the confederation. Newfoundland and Labrador joined in 1949. Finally, in 1999 Nunavut became the most recent province to join the confederation.