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Natural Earth 1:50m · 13 capitals
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Canadian Provincial Capitals Quiz

Thirteen provincial and territorial capitals on a flat map of Canada. Each card names a city — click the province or territory it is the capital of, or drag the card onto it. Victoria is not Vancouver, and Iqaluit is a long way north. Three tries per card; one flag, one hint and one skip are free for the round.

Read the capital on the card, then click its province or drag the card onto it. Flag turns the card into that province's flag, Hint opens all three facts about it; after three misses, or Skip, the map places it for you. Scroll or pinch to zoom in.

All 13 capitals and their provinces, the flags explained, more maps ↓

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Canadian Provincial Capitals Quiz

The thirteen capitals of Canada's provinces and territories on a flat map: read the city and click its province. Three tries each.

Five capitals that are not the largest city

Eight of the thirteen capitals are also the biggest city of their province or territory, and five are not, which is where the difficulty lies. Victoria, the capital of British Columbia, sits on Vancouver Island across the strait from Vancouver, the province's largest city. Edmonton was made Alberta's capital when the province was created in 1905, although Calgary has more people. Regina governs Saskatchewan while Saskatoon has more residents. Quebec City, founded by Champlain in 1608, is the capital of Quebec, not Montreal. Fredericton is the capital of New Brunswick, smaller than both Saint John and Moncton. And Ottawa, the national capital, is in Ontario but is not on any card: Ontario's capital is Toronto.

How they came to be capitals

Several capitals were chosen before their provinces existed. Regina, named for Queen Victoria, became the capital of the North-West Territories in 1883 and kept the job when Saskatchewan was carved out in 1905. Victoria was the capital of the colony of British Columbia before it joined Canada in 1871. Whitehorse took over from Dawson City, the Klondike gold-rush town, in 1953, once the rush was long over. Yellowknife, a gold-mining town on Great Slave Lake, became the capital of the Northwest Territories in 1967. Iqaluit, once called Frobisher Bay, became a capital in 1999 with the creation of Nunavut; it is the smallest of the thirteen, has no road to any other community, and is reached by air or, in summer, by sea. Charlottetown hosted the 1864 conference that led to Confederation, which is why Prince Edward Island calls itself its birthplace. Halifax was founded in 1749 as a British naval base.

Names that trip people up

St. John's, the capital of Newfoundland and Labrador, is not Saint John, the port in New Brunswick, whose capital is Fredericton. Two capitals honour the same queen: Victoria by name and Regina in Latin. Charlottetown is named after Queen Charlotte, wife of George III, and Fredericton after their son Frederick, Duke of York. Winnipeg takes its name from Cree words for muddy water, Iqaluit means place of many fish in Inuktitut, and Yellowknife is named after the Yellowknives Dene, whose copper-bladed knives gave them their name.

All 13 capitals and their provinces

13 capitals are in the deck, listed in alphabetical order by city, each with its province. Every province on the map is in the deck.

  1. CharlottetownPrince Edward Island
  2. EdmontonAlberta
  3. FrederictonNew Brunswick
  4. HalifaxNova Scotia
  5. IqaluitNunavut
  6. Quebec CityQuebec
  7. ReginaSaskatchewan
  8. St. John'sNewfoundland and Labrador
  9. TorontoOntario
  10. VictoriaBritish Columbia
  11. WhitehorseYukon
  12. WinnipegManitoba
  13. YellowknifeNorthwest Territories

Questions about the capitals

Is Ottawa one of the capitals on this map?

No. Ottawa is the capital of Canada as a whole, and the deck holds only the provincial and territorial capitals. It lies in Ontario, whose own capital is Toronto, so the Ontario card reads Toronto and Ottawa never comes up.

What is the capital of British Columbia?

Victoria, not Vancouver. Victoria sits at the southern tip of Vancouver Island and was the capital of the colony before British Columbia joined Canada in 1871. Vancouver, on the mainland, is far larger, but it has never been the capital.

What is the difference between St. John's and Saint John?

St. John's, with the apostrophe, is the capital of Newfoundland and Labrador, on the eastern tip of the island. Saint John, spelled out, is a port city in New Brunswick and not a capital; New Brunswick is governed from Fredericton, further up the river of the same name.

More maps

Flags of the same map: Canadian provinces. Other maps: US state capitals, European capitals, Asian capitals, Capitals of the Americas, African capitals, French regional capitals, Spanish regional capitals, Italian regional capitals, Brazilian state capitals, German state capitals. All 235 flags of the world with their capitals: Flags of the world · all modes.