Prince Edward Island joins the Canadian Confederation

Background. Prince Edward Island initially balked at Confederation in 1867, finding the terms unfavourable and choosing to remain a colony of the United Kingdom. In the late 1860s, the colony examined various options, including becoming a discrete dominion or joining the United States. However, facing bankruptcy from the Land Question and construction of a railroad, the colony began negotiations that eventually led to joining Canada.

Financial and Political Pressures. In 1871, the colony began construction of the Prince Edward Island Railway and, frustrated by Great Britain's Colonial Office, began negotiations with the United States. The Dominion Government of Canada assumed the colony's extensive railway debts and agreed to finance a buy-out of the last of the colony's absentee landlords to free the island of leasehold tenure, facilitating the path to Confederation.

Terms of Union. Prince Edward Island joined as Canada's seventh province on July 1, 1873, by an Imperial order-in-council. One of the Prince Edward Island Terms of Union was a guarantee by the federal government to operate a ferry link. This term was later deleted upon the completion of the Confederation Bridge in 1997.