As used in these acts, the term "British North America" (BNA) originally referred to the British colonies in North America which formed Confederation in 1867: the Province of Canada (which became the provinces of Ontario and Quebec), Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick.

The 1867 act also envisaged that specific other colonies might join Confederation in the future: British Columbia, Newfoundland, Prince Edward Island, Rupert's Land, and the North-Western Territory.

Canada dates its history as a country to the British North America Act, 1867, which came into effect on July 1, 1867.

The fifteen BNA Acts enacted by the United Kingdom Parliament do not have official French-language versions.

Five of the British North America Acts were enacted by the Parliament of Canada; namely those of 1952, 1965, 1974, 1975, and 1975 (No.

The remaining acts dealt with a variety of topics, though the majority were concerned with modifying the representation in Parliament or in the Senate of Canada as the country enlarged and changed (1886, 1915, 1943, 1946, 1952, 1974, 1975, 1975 (No.

2)), adding the newer Provinces of Manitoba, British Columbia, Saskatchewan, Alberta, and Newfoundland.

The act entails the original creation of a federal dominion and sets the framework for much of the operation of the Government of Canada, including its federal structure, the House of Commons of Canada, the Senate, the justice system, and the taxation system.

Amendments were also made at this time: section 92A was added, giving the provinces greater control over non-renewable natural resources.

The act recognized the creation of the province of Manitoba, and also the incorporation of Rupert's Land and the Northwest Territories into Canada.

This Act also allowed the Canadian parliament and the legislatures of Ontario and Quebec to redraw the boundaries of the province of Ontario and the province of Quebec in order to include parts of these land acquisitions, specifically around Hudson Bay and James Bay.

This Act extended the duration of the 12th Canadian Parliament through October 1917, beyond the normal maximum of five years.

[7] This Act gave the newer provinces of British Columbia, Alberta, Manitoba, and Saskatchewan rights over certain natural resources found in federally controlled lands.

This Act gave the Federal government jurisdiction over unemployment insurance, thus allowing such a program to be established on a national level.

[9] An earlier attempt to create an Employment and Social Insurance Act during the Great Depression had been ruled to be unconstitutional, since unemployment assistance was judged by the courts to be a provincial responsibility.

This Act delayed redistribution of seats in the Canadian House of Commons until the end of World War II.

This Act adjusted the formula for distributing seats in the Canadian House of Commons among the provinces and territories.

However, the approval of the British Parliament was still needed for wider constitutional changes, such as those involving areas of provincial and federal responsibilities.

This Act gave the Federal government the power to pass legislation concerning old age pensions, while also recognizing the rights of provincial legislatures to do so.

[13] While the Canadian Parliament had established an old age pension program in 1927, this was administered by the provinces and jointly funded by them.

This was the last time that the British Parliament enacted legislation on Canada's behalf before the patriation of the Canadian constitution in 1982.

This Act established a mandatory retirement age of 75 for all members who were appointed to the Canadian Senate in future.

This was the fourth of the British North America Acts to be enacted by the Parliament of Canada.

This Act increased the number of representatives from the Northwest Territories in the Canadian House of Commons, from one to two members.