Why does Canada have provinces?

Answer 1

Provinces date back at least to Roman times. Several of the 13 colonies were called provinces. Other modern countries, such as Spain, have provinces. Others choose to refer to their internal divisions as states. It all boils down to a question of nomenclature.

From a historical perspective, Canada formed as a federation of provinces of the British Empire. Though Canada's federal constitution strictly divided jurisdiction between the federal and provincial governments, the provinces, and indeed the dominion as a whole, were still subject to the legislative, executive, and judicial supremacy of the Empire. As such, they could still be seen as administrative divisions of the Empire ("provinces"), rather than independent political communities ("states"). As Canada gained its sovereignty within the British Empire, so too did the provinces, such that today it really does come down to a question of nomenclature.