Which colony joined Canada on July 20, 1871, expanding Confederation to the Pacific?

British Columbia joined Canada on July 20, 1871, expanding Confederation to the Pacific coast.

The colony entered Confederation as Canada’s sixth province after negotiations promised major financial support and a transcontinental railway linking it with eastern Canada. The Terms of Union committed Ottawa to begin construction of that railway within two years and complete it within ten. The Canadian Pacific Railway reached the Pacific in 1885.

British Columbia’s decision followed debates over whether the small, geographically isolated colony could remain viable on its own. The colony’s mainland and Vancouver Island had been united in 1866, and Confederation offered a larger political and economic framework.

The date is sometimes confused with Manitoba’s admission on July 15, 1870, or with the creation of Canada on July 1, 1867. British Columbia was not one of the four original provinces; it became the sixth, with Victoria as its capital.