What is the difference between provinces and territories?

Canadian provinces and territories differ in three principal ways: constitutional status, the source of their legislative powers, and their representation in federal institutions. Provinces exist directly under the Constitution Act, 1867 and subsequent acts (the Manitoba Act of 1870, the Alberta Act and Saskatchewan Act of 1905, the Newfoundland Act of 1949) and have constitutionally entrenched powers that cannot be unilaterally amended by the federal Parliament. Territories exist under federal statutes (the Yukon Act, the Northwest Territories Act, and the Nunavut Act) and exercise powers that the federal Parliament has delegated to them.

In practice, modern devolution agreements have transferred most provincial-style powers to the territories. Yukon devolution took effect April 1, 2003 and the Northwest Territories devolution agreement took effect April 1, 2014, transferring authority over land and resources from the federal Department of Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada to the territorial governments. Nunavut devolution remains under negotiation, with an agreement-in-principle signed August 15, 2019. Despite devolution, the territories still depend heavily on federal Territorial Formula Financing, which provides about 75 per cent of territorial operating revenue (compared to about 18 per cent of provincial operating revenue from federal transfers).

Provinces have 10 Lieutenant Governors representing the Crown, appointed by the Governor General on the advice of the federal Prime Minister. Territories have 3 Commissioners, also appointed by the federal government, but the Commissioner's role has been transformed by convention into a primarily ceremonial position similar to a Lieutenant Governor. Each territory has a Premier (by convention selected by the Legislative Assembly through a consensus government process in the NWT and Nunavut, or through party caucus selection in Yukon).

In the Senate of Canada, the four founding regional divisions have 24 senators each (Ontario, Quebec, the Maritimes, and the West). Newfoundland and Labrador has 6 senators. Each of the three territories has 1 senator. In the House of Commons, each territory has 1 elected Member of Parliament, while provinces are allocated seats roughly proportional to population. The constitutionally entrenched 'senate floor' rule (section 51A of the Constitution Act, 1867) ensures no province has fewer MPs than it has senators (which gives Prince Edward Island 4 MPs).