Atlantic Canada

Atlantic Canada is the region of Canada comprising the four provinces located on the Atlantic coast, excluding Quebec: the three Maritime provinces – New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and Nova Scotia – and the easternmost province of Newfoundland and Labrador. The population of the four Atlantic provinces in 2011 was about 2,327,650.

History

The first Premier of Newfoundland, Joey Smallwood, coined the term "Atlantic Canada" when Newfoundland joined the Dominion of Canada in 1949. He believed that it would have been presumptuous for Newfoundland to assume that it could include itself within the existing term "Maritime Provinces", used to describe the cultural similarities shared by New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and Nova Scotia. The three Maritime provinces entered into confederation during the 19th century: New Brunswick and Nova Scotia were founding members of the Dominion of Canada in 1867, and Prince Edward Island joined in 1873. Today Atlantic Canada is a culturally distinct region of Canada, with the original founding cultures of Celtic, English and French remaining strong and vibrant to this day.