Related Resources • Newfoundland and Its Dog • Blank Map of Newfoundland and Labrador • Canadian Superlatives

Elsewhere on the Web • Map of the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador • Political Map of Canada

by Matt Rosenberg
February 23, 2003

On December 6, 2001, an amendment to Canada's federal Constitution Act officially approved a name change from the easternmost province of Newfoundland to the province of Newfoundland and Labrador. The move for change began in the early 1990s to provide "symbolic but important recognition of Labrador's status as a full and vital partner within the province, with its own unique geography, history and culture." (source)

The name Newfoundland alone represents less than half of the territory of the province, which consists both of mainland Labrador in the north and island of Newfoundland in the south. Before the change Labrador was definitely neglected by the provincial name. (Political Map of Canada)

In April 1992, the province of Newfoundland House of Assembly adopted a resolution calling on the provincial and federal government to take the necessary steps to change the name of the province to Newfoundland and Labrador. Public hearings took place throughout the province and a Select Committee of the House was established to review the matter. The end result was that there was consensus throughout the province for the name to be changed.

Seven years later, in April 1999, the Newfoundland House of Assembly unanimously adopted a resolution authorizing the Governor General of Canada to issue a proclamation amending the Constitution of Canada to change the name of the province to Newfoundland and Labrador.

Then, a year and a half later (October 2001), the Government of Canada introduced a resolution in the House of Commons to change the province's official name. At the time, Canadian Premier Roger Grimes stated, "Labrador is an important and vital part of this province. The Government of Newfoundland and Labrador is firmly committed to ensuring official recognition of Labrador as an equal partner in this province, and a constitutional name change of our province will reiterate that commitment." (source)

Labrador and Aboriginal Affairs Minister Ernie McLean also commented, "Including Labrador in the official name of the province is a reflection of the concrete action this government has taken to ensure the objectives and aspirations of the people of Labrador are met. Once passed, this constitutional amendment will finally clear up the long-standing inconsistency between the name of the government and the name of the province." (source)

Finally, on December 6, 2001, an amendment to the Canadian federal Constitution Act officially approved a name change from the province of Newfoundland to the province of Newfoundland and Labrador. The French form of the name is Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador.

Interestingly, if a cartographer prints the new name of the province across the entire province (see Political Map of Canada), the word Newfoundland sits on the portion of the map that is Labrador while the word Labrador is printed near island of Newfoundland. MapQuest.com recommends their cartographers use, in addition to the full province name, italicized labels for the two different sections of the province, to minimize confusion.

Less than a year after the official change, the federal bureaucracy caught up with the change - on October 21, 2002, Canada Post's mail processing equipment was modified to recognize NL as the provincial symbol for Newfoundland and Labrador, replacing NF as the provincial symbol for the anachronistic province of Newfoundland.