Constitution Act, 1867

Assent in London

Queen Victoria granted royal assent to the British North America Act, 1867, on 29 March 1867, completing its enactment by the United Kingdom Parliament.

Delegates from the participating colonies had agreed on union proposals at Quebec and London and asked the imperial Parliament to implement them. The enacted statute authorised a later royal proclamation uniting the Province of Canada, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick as one Dominion named Canada.

Three colonies in, four provinces out

The Act divided the Province of Canada into Ontario and Quebec, so three colonial units were to produce four provinces. Neither Ontario nor Quebec existed as a province on 29 March.

It created the framework for a federal Parliament and provincial legislatures — 72 senators and 181 members of the House of Commons — and named Ottawa the seat of government, with the qualification "until the Queen otherwise directs."

Canada did not exist yet

No Dominion came into being that day. The Act required a proclamation to appoint the Union date, and that date was subsequently fixed as 1 July 1867.

John A. Macdonald, who helped shape the measure, did not become prime minister until the Union took effect.

Confederation also did not make Canada fully independent: executive authority remained vested in the Crown, and important constitutional ties to Britain persisted.