Which island province joined Confederation on July 1, 1873?

Prince Edward Island joined Canadian Confederation on July 1, 1873.

The island had hosted the Charlottetown Conference in September 1864, an important early meeting in the negotiations that eventually created Canada. Yet hosting that conference did not mean Prince Edward Island joined Confederation in 1867. The colony rejected the original terms and remained separate for six years.

Economic pressure helped change the decision. Prince Edward Island had taken on heavy debts while building its railway, and its long-running Land Question left much of the island controlled by absentee landlords. The Canadian government agreed to assume railway obligations and provide money to resolve landownership disputes. Those terms helped persuade the colony to enter the union.

Prince Edward Island became Canada’s seventh province. A common mix-up is confusing the island’s role as the “Birthplace of Confederation” with its date of entry: the Charlottetown meeting came first, Canada was created in 1867, and PEI joined in 1873.