What happened to Rupert's Land after Canada became province?

Answer 1

This question may arise through some confusion. The Province of Canada was a self-governing colony that pre-dated Canadian Confederation. The short answer to the question is: Nothing happened to Rupert's Land after Canada became a province. I suspect, however, that the question was intended to be: What happened to Rupert's Land after Canada's Confederation? First, however, we need to know more about Rupert's Land. Prince Rupert, grandson of King James I of England, and cousin of King Charles II, was a hero of the English Civil War. On May 2, 1670, Charles II granted a Charter to what is now the Hudson's Bay Company. It was originally called 'the Governor and Company of Adventurers of England trading into Hudson's Bay.' Prince Rupert was the first Governor of the Company. The Charter from King Charles created more than just the Hudson's Bay Company. It also created a proprietory colony, entirely owned and governed by the Hudson's Bay Company. It also gave the Company a monopoly in the trade of the colony. The area contained in the grant by King Charles was not fully appreciated at the time, but it turned out to be enormous. It covered all the land drained by all the rivers that flow into Hudson Bay (about 3.9 million sq km or 1.5 million sq mi). To put it another way, it was over one-third the area of modern-day Canada, and included parts of what are now North Dakota, South Dakota, and Minnesota. The territory covered by the grant from Charles II became known as 'Rupert's Land.' The British North America Act, through which Canada became an independent nation on July 1, 1867, contained provisions for Rupert's Land, as well as other British territories known as the North West Territories, to be transferred to and become part of Canada. The Government of Canada purchased the land included in the original grant from King Charles from the Hudson's Bay company for 300,000 British Pounds, plus a considerable amount of valuable land in return. On July 15, 1870, Britain formally transferred Rupert's Land and the North West Territories to Canada. The Hudson's Bay Company continues to this today. It is the world's oldest business corporation. The provinces of Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba have been created out of the lands transferred to Canada, as have the Yukon, Northwest and Nunavut Territories. Likewise, the northern extensions of the provinces of Ontario and Quebec, from the height-of-land to the waters of the Arctic Ocean, were made from such former British lands.