Eastern Canada

This article is about the grouping of all provinces east of Manitoba; not to be confused with Canada East, an administrative division of the former Province of Canada. For the grouping of the Maritime provinces with Newfoundland and Labrador, see Atlantic Canada.
Eastern Canada
Est du Canada (Canadian French)
Region
Eastern Canada (green) within the rest of Canada (tan)
Eastern Canada (green) within the rest of Canada (tan)
CountryCanada
Composition
Principal cities
List
Area
 • Total
2,783,400 km2 (1,074,700 sq mi)
Population
 (2021)
 • Total
29,730,600
 • Density10.681/km2 (27.665/sq mi)
Time zonesUTC-05:00 (Eastern)
UTC-04:00 (Atlantic)
UTC-03:30 (Newfoundland)

Eastern Canada (Canadian French: Est du Canada,[citation needed] also known as the Eastern provinces, Canadian East or the East) is generally considered to be the region of Canada south of Hudson Bay and Hudson Strait, and east of Manitoba. From east to west, it consists of the provinces of Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick, Quebec, and Ontario.

Eastern Canada overlaps into other geographic regions; Ontario and Quebec, Canada's two largest provinces, define Central Canada, while the other provinces in Eastern Canada constitute Atlantic Canada. New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island are also known as the Maritime provinces.

Capitals

Ottawa, Canada's capital, is located in Eastern Canada, within the province of Ontario.

The capitals of the provinces are in the list below:

Definitions

Historical map of Eastern Canada (1884)

The Canadian Press defines Eastern Canada as everything east of and including Thunder Bay, Ontario.[verification needed] This definition excludes from Eastern Canada the sparsely populated section of Northwest Ontario that is west of Thunder Bay, that section including Rainy River District and the most populated part of Kenora District.

Population

The total population of this region is about 25,135,649 in 2021, or about 70% of Canada's population. Most of the population resides in Ontario and Quebec. The region contains three of Canada's five largest metropolitan areas, Toronto being the fourth largest municipality in North America.

Canada population density map (2014)
Top left: The Quebec City–Windsor Corridor is the most densely inhabited and heavily industrialized region accounting for nearly 50 percent of the total population
Largest metropolitan areas

The population of each province in 2021, from greatest to least is here:

Politics

In Canadian politics, Eastern Canada generally supports the Liberal Party. A notable exception is Central Ontario, which remains heavily conservative.

Eastern Canada is represented by 232 Members of Parliament out of the 338 (122 in Ontario, 78 in Quebec, and 32 in the Atlantic Provinces) and 78 senators out of 105.

2025 Federal Election Results for Eastern Canada
Party name ON QC NB NS PE NL Total
     Liberal Seats: 70 44 6 10 4 4 138
Vote: 49.0 42.6 53.4 57.2 57.5 54.0 –
     Conservative Seats: 52 11 4 1 – 3 71
Vote: 43.8 23.3 40.8 35.2 36.9 39.7 –
     Bloc Québécois Seats: – 22 – – – – 22
Vote: – 27.7 – – – – –
     New Democratic Party Seats: – 1 – – – – 1
Vote: 4.9 4.5 2.9 5.2 2.5 5.5 –
     Green Seats: – – – – – – –
Vote: 1.2 0.9 1.7 0.9 2.2 0.1 –
Total seats 122 78 10 11 4 7 232
2025 Federal Election Seat Results for Eastern Canada
138 71 22 1
Liberal Conservative Bloc N
2021 Federal Election Seat Results for Eastern Canada
137 55 32 6 1
Liberal Conservative Bloc Québécois N G
2019 Federal Election Seat Results for Eastern Canada
140 50 32 8 1
Liberal Conservative Bloc Québécois ND G
2015 Federal Election Seat Results for Eastern Canada
152 45 24 10
Liberal Conservative NDP BQ
2011 Federal Election Seat Results for Eastern Canada
92 87 30 4
Conservative New Democratic Liberal B
2008 Federal Election Seat Results for Eastern Canada
71 69 49 22 2
Conservative Liberal Bloc Québécois NDP I
2006 Federal Election Seat Results for Eastern Canada
87 59 51 15 1
Liberal Conservative Bloc Québécois NDP I
2004 Federal Election Seat Results for Eastern Canada
118 54 31 10
Liberal Bloc Québécois Conservative NDP
2000 Federal Election Seat Results for Eastern Canada
155 38 10 5 2
Liberal Bloc Québécois PC N C
1997 Federal Election Seat Results for Eastern Canada
138 44 19 8 1
Liberal Bloc Québécois PC ND I
1993 Federal Election Seat Results for Eastern Canada
148 54 2 1 1
Liberal Bloc Québécois P R I
1988 Federal Election Seat Results for Eastern Canada
121 75 10
Progressive Conservative Liberal NDP
1984 Federal Election Seat Results for Eastern Canada
150 38 13 1
Progressive Conservative Liberal NDP I
1980 Federal Election Seat Results for Eastern Canada
145 52 5
Liberal Progressive Conservative N

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Maritime Provinces". The Canadian Encyclopedia. Retrieved 8 November 2015.
  2. ↑ Canadian Press Style Guide. Canadian Press. 1995. p. 471.
  3. ↑ "Population Counts, Canada, Provinces and Territories, 2021 and 2016 Censuses - 100% Data" (PDF). Newfoundland & Labrador Statistics Agency, Department of Finance. 2022-02-09.
  4. ↑ McMurry, Peter H.; Shepherd, Marjorie F.; Vickery, James S. (2004). Particulate Matter Science for Policy Makers: A NARSTO Assessment. Cambridge University Press. p. 391. ISBN 978-0-521-84287-7.
  5. ↑ Webber, Patrick (2021-12-13). "The East is (Still Mostly) Red". Inroads.
  6. ↑ "Election Results". enr.elections.ca. August 18, 2025. Retrieved 29 Oct 2025.
  7. 1 2 3 "Official Voting Results".
  8. ↑ "Official Voting Results".
  9. ↑ "Official Voting Results".
  10. ↑ "OVR / ROS".
  11. ↑ "OVR / ROS".
  12. ↑ "OVR / ROS".
  13. ↑ "OVR / ROS".
  14. 1 2 "Past elections – Elections Canada".
  15. 1 2 3 4 Parliament, Library of. "History of the Federal Electoral Ridings, 1867-2010 - Open Government Portal". open.canada.ca.

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