Tuesday Treasures

  Tom the backroads traveller hosts this weekly meme - Tuesday Treasures

January 2026 

We've been to all 10 provinces and 2 of 3 territories, the exception being Nunavut.

British Columbia: The Columbia part of the name comes from the Columbia River, which was named by Robert Gray in 1792 for his ship Columbia Rediviva. In 1858, Queen Victoria chose the name British Columbia to distinguish it from the Columbia District (Oregon).

Alberta: The province was named for the fourth daughter of Queen Victoria, Princess Louise Caroline Alberta. She was the wife of the Marquess of Lorne, who served as Governor General of Canada from 1878 to 1883. Lake Louise in Banff National Park is also named for her.

Saskatchewan: The name comes from the North and South Saskatchewan Rivers, which are named for the Cree word kisiskāciwani-sīpiy meaning "swift flowing river". Explorer Anthony Henday spelled the word as Keiskatchewan and that is where the modern spelling comes from.

Manitoba: The name may come from the Cree word manitou-wapow or the Ojibwe word manidoobaa, both meaning Manitou, the Great Spirit. Another theory is it comes from the Assiniboine word minnetoba, meaning Lake of the Prairie. Louis Riel chose the name over Assiniboia.

Ontario: The origin of the province's name may be the Wyandot word Ontarí:io, meaning great lake, or skanadario, meaning "beautiful water" or "sparkling water" in the Ogwehoweh language.Both words refer to Lake Ontario.

Quebec: The name comes from the Algonquin word for "strait" or "narrow passage". It is believed this refers to an area near Quebec City where the St. Lawrence River narrows in a cliff-lined gap. The name was chosen by Samuel de Champlain for his outpost in 1608.

New Brunswick: The name was chosen in 1784 in honour of King George III, who was also the prince-elector of Brunswick-Lüneburg in the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation (now Germany). It was briefly named New Ireland from April to June 1784.

Nova Scotia: The name of the province is Latin for New Scotland. It has also been called Nova Francia and New Caledonia in its history. The name of Nova Scotia was given to the area by Sir William Alexander who established a Scottish colony in 1629.

Prince Edward Island: Named Abegweit by the Mi'kmaq, meaning "land cradled on the waves", the French called it Île Saint-Jean meaning "St. John's Island". In 1798, the English named it for Prince Edward, who was the fourth son of King George III.

Newfoundland and Labrador: Named by King Henry VII after John Cabot's voyage to the island in 1497. The Beothuk called it Onewayk, meaning “Our Land”.Labrador got its name from the Portuguese navigator João Fernandes Lavrador who reached the area in 1498.

Nunavut (ᓄᓇᕗᑦ ): The name of the territory comes from the Inuktitut word for "Our Land". It was chosen during the process to create the territory with many local leaders like John Amagoalik advocating for the name.

Northwest Territories: The name was adopted by the British government to indicate where the land was in relation to Rupert's Land (the watershed of Hudson Bay). In Inuktitut, the area is called Nunatsiaq (ᓄᓇᑦᓯᐊᖅ) meaning "beautiful land".

Yukon: The territory is named for the Yukon River, which comes from the contraction (Ųųg Han) of the words in the Gwich'in phrase chųų gąįį han, which means "white water river".