Friends, as you may know, I am on a mission to spend at least one night in each state and province and to tour all of the state capitol buildings and legislatures.
The good news: I am well along in my little project. As of last week my stats are: 30 states and five provinces.
The bad news: I am woefully behind in blogging about my little project! So far I've only done a round up of 10 capitols. What do you do when you have a problem? You fix it! So let's get ourselves caught up. Today we're going to hop across the border and see how our friends up north do things.
Remind us of the difference between a capital and a capitol and tell us how it plays out in Canada
Sure thing! A capital is a city and a capitol is a building. Every US state and Canadian province has a capital city, which is the official seat of the state/provincial government.
In the US the building where the government meets is called a capitol, but that term isn't used up north. I had to pick one word to call the buildings where the provincial governments meet, and out of the options I chose the word legislature. I've also heard the terms province house and parliament, but it doesn't seem to be consistent.
Apart from the name what's the difference between a capitol and a legislature? Are you going to rate these buildings using different criteria than you did for the capitols?
As far as I'm concerned capitol=legislature, and for reasons that will become apparent as we dive in, if you ever have a chance to visit one of these buildings you should.
I don't want to get into a deep discussion of the differences between state/provincial governments because I feel that it would be inaccurate and highly boring, but I do want to mention two differences that I've seen.
- 49 of the 50 US state governments mirror the federal government's two body system with a state senate and state house of representatives. As far as I know, all of the Canadian legislatures have a single body which is simply called a legislature. The elected members of this body are called MLAs (Members of the Legislative Assembly). BTW, if you know which state has a single body government, go ahead and show off and drop it in the comments!
- There is a little more emphasis on old school Parliamentary procedures than you'll see down south. The leaders tend to wear robes and tricorn hats (if you don't know what that is, you will by the end of this post!), and there is a mace that must be present for the legislature to be in session (again, you'll see one by the end of this post). Generally you're not allowed to go on the house and senate floors in the US capitols, and it's even more of a no-no in Canada. Unless you are a member of the body or an invited guest, you are not allowed to "pass the bar" at the front of the rooms. So far in my journey I've seen traces of UK Parliament rules in some of the O.G. 13 Colony state capitols, but they are non-existent elsewhere. The are in full force up in Canada.
Criteria wise, there is only one change to the Canadian list. The credit/blame for my state capitol posts is an article that Julie sent me from the Knight Life website that ranks all 50 US State Capitols. In the state capitol posts I did a talking point on their ranking and if I agreed with it, but since they didn't rate the provinces, we'll drop that from our discussion.
Here are the talking points that we will use to discuss these buildings:
- Overall impressions
- Quality of the tour and if I was the only one taking it
- Did the tour include roof access?
- Does the building have a spirit animal?
- Did the tour guide point out any fossils in the building? The only reason that I now see fossils every time that I look at old stonework is because a Capitol tour guide pointed them out. It's definitely been a theme of many of the tours.
- Was the government in session while I was there?
- Were there any protests at the legislature while I was there?
- Did I buy the t-shirt [or other state/provincial memorabilia]? For context, I don't want to have 60 of anything, let alone t-shirts, so if I bought a shirt it was because the capitol/legislature really left an impression on me.
- Did I take a goofy photo while I was there? Although I've posted photos on my Instagram and allowed others to put my face on their blogs, I tend not to show my face very often in this space. I just can't say that I took a goofy photo without showing you that I took a goofy photo.
- Would I live in the capital city and where did I stay?
That's our background, let's roll!
Legislature #1: Victoria, British Columbia
Visited August 2025, post here
Let's see it!
Show me the dome!
Show me more!!!
Quality of the tour: Excellent! It was a large group and the guide did a great job of getting the information out to the crowd.
Did the tour include roof access: no, but the guide pointed out the service staircase for the dome. The protective shield is a somewhat recent addition.
Does the legislature have a spirit animal? No
Did the tour guide point out any fossils in the building? No
Was the government in session while I was there? No
Were there any protests at the legislature while I was there? No
Did I buy the t-shirt? No but only because I couldn't find anything that I really wanted. I would love to have a piece of BC memorabilia but alas I only have my memories.
Did I take a goofy photo while I was there? No
Would I live in the capital city? The answer is "yes, but"...yes I would live there in a heartbeat, but the nearby beach town of Nanaimo really stole my heart. And Vancouver is not too shabby either! So living in Victoria would be my third choice of those options. I stayed in an Airbnb within walking distance.
Legislature #2: Halifax, Nova Scotia
Visited September 2025, post here
Show me the dome!
Nope! This is the first capitol/legislature that we've encountered with no dome, and spoiler, it will not be our last. Not in this post and not on the other side of the border. There is no law that says that these buildings have to have domes.
Overall impressions: the Halifax legislature is to Canada what the Maryland capitol is the the US: the oldest building that is currently in use. The building is much smaller than BC's because, duh, the province is much smaller. As you may have heard, size doesn't always matter.
Quality of the tour: Excellent! It was a bilingual group, and the guide got the info out in both languages.
Did the tour include roof access? No
Does the legislature have a spirit animal? No
Did the tour guide point out any fossils in the building? YES!!! YES!!! YES!!!
Was the government in session while I was there? No
Were there any protests at the legislature while I was there? No
Did I buy the t-shirt? No
Did I take a goofy photo while I was there? No
Would I live in the capital city? That's a trick question. I wouldn't mind living in Halifax, but I would much rather live an hour away in Wolfville, preferably next door to Elisabeth. I stayed at an Airbnb within walking distance.
Legislature #3: Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island
Visited September 2025, post here
This is the legislative building of PEI. The one thing that you will surely notice is the construction barricade. The building has been closed for renovations since 2015, and the completion date is unknown.
This is not the last time that we will encounter this situation in this post, and it is not an impediment to this project. If the "official" building is closed, we'll just go to the one where the action is happening. In PEI's case, that's right next door.
Let's see it!
Show me the dome!
Nope! I can't say for sure but I don't believe there is a dome in the "real" building either.
Overall impressions: PEI is the smallest province and has the smallest government, so there wasn't much to see but the quality>>>quantity.
Quality of the tour: I can't stress this enough: when we're talking about capitol/legislative tours size doesn't matter. I was the only one there, and the staff member who was sitting at the front desk was delighted to tell me all about the building, the history of PEI, a rundown of the flag, and of course the story that I recounted before of his good friend in Japan. Many years ago he visited Japan and got to talking with an old lady that he passed in the street. She asked where he was from, and when he said PEI, she asked to see his driver's license to prove it. The reason for her interest was exactly the same as everyone else's interest in PEI: Anne of Green Gables! In the aftermath of WWII there was a huge push in Japan toward New Normal, and part of that was the edict for everyone to learn English ASAP. For some reason part of this initiative was selecting Anne for the school curriculum so every school kid at the time read it. Japanese culture was not big on women speaking their minds or living their dreams. so for this reason all of the girls loved it. After their conversation, the staffer and the woman kept in touch, and he used to call her every year on her birthday. Inevitably the day came when he dialed the number and her son answered to tell him that his mother had passed away, but that she had never tired of telling everyone about her friend in PEI.
Did the tour include roof access? No
Does the legislature have a spirit animal? No
Did the tour guide point out any fossils in the building? No
Was the government in session while I was there? No
Were there any protests at the legislature while I was there? YES!!!!! It was proportional to the population with exactly two participants. The protest was about an island vs mainland issue.
Did I buy the t-shirt? No. But the guide handed out some PEI swag which has earned a permanent place on my desk. Again, size doesn't matter.
Did I take a goofy photo while I was there? Oh yes I did!!! This photo was not my idea although obviously I was a willing participant. I feel that this would not have happened in the Official Building, but somehow the temporary location and a slow workday put the guide in a good mood. Remember how I said that if you didn't know what a tricorn hat was that you would by the end of this post?
Would I live in the capital city? Again, this is a tough one. In theory I would be delighted to live anywhere on PEI, but I know that life on an island can be hard, so my answer is the same as Halifax: I'd move in next to Elisabeth and drive the four hours to PEI to explore when the mood hit me. I stayed at an Airbnb that was fairly close.
Legislature #4: Fredricton, New Brunswick
Visited September 2025, post here
Let's see it!
Show me the dome!
Yes friends, at last we have a dome, albeit a Tiny Dome.
Overall impressions: we have another entry in the small but mighty category.
Quality of the tour: none! For whatever reason, guided tours were not offered that day, so it was just me wandering about on my own.
Did the tour include roof access? No
Does the legislature have a spirit animal? No
Did the tour guide point out any fossils in the building? There was no tour, so no
Was the government in session while I was there? No
Were there any protests at the legislature while I was there? No
Did I buy the t-shirt? No
Did I take a goofy photo while I was there? No
Would I live in the capital city? After a string of maybes we have a definite resounding YES!!!!! I can't explain it, but Fredricton felt like home. People were friendly and chatted with me on my morning walk. I very much regret only being there for 24 hours and I will be back. I had one of my all time best Airbnb stays, and it was within walking distance of the legislature.
Let's see it!
Show me the dome!
Nope, no dome. Just because Ontario is the largest province doesn't mean that we get a dome.
Before we get into the criteria, let's talk maces for a moment. Ontario has two good stories to tell about theirs.
Their official mace (which was being used for real since the government was in session that day) has two diamonds that were mined in Ontario. The diamonds are the property of the citizens of Ontario.
The second mace story is that the original mace of Ontario is on display in the lobby. The reason why it's not in use is that it was absent from Canada for over 100 years. It was taken by American troops in the War of 1812, and FDR returned it to its rightful owners in 1934.
Overall impressions: big province, big legislature. There was no dome, but all of the other hallmarks of a grand, important building were in place.
Quality of the tour: mid and even though it was a busy day, I was the only one on it.
Did the tour include roof access? No, but in lieu of that I got to take elevator #3. Elevators in Toronto are numbered in the order that they were licensed in the city. Presumably all of the components have been replaced since then.
Does the legislature have a spirit animal? No
Did the tour guide point out any fossils in the building? No
Was the government in session while I was there? Yes. It was a hoppin' day. I chose not to go into the public gallery but I watched a bit of the hearing from the TV outside of the press room.
Were there any protests at the legislature while I was there? No, which was surprising given that the government was in session and that there were so many people there.
Did I buy the t-shirt? No
Did I take a goofy photo while I was there? No
Would I live in the capital city? In a heartbeat! I made many work trips to Toronto in a previous life but this was my first leisure visit and it was to die for. I loved everything about the city. I stayed at an Airbnb in a fancy condo within walking distance.
Let's Rate 'Em
By the Authority of the Official Opinion of Me:
5. Ontario. Even though it's the biggest province, something left me a little cold.
4. PEI. This is under protest, and its lower ranking is only a function of the other provinces offering a little extra oomph.
3. New Brunswick
2. Nova Scotia. It was a very close race with NB, but NS wins for being the oldest, for having fossils, and for having a guided tour on the day that I was there.
1. British Columbia. C'mon it's not even close, of course BC took the lead.
But Wait There's More!
Remember the "+1" in the title? Even though my focus is state/provincial capitols/legislatures, of course I went to the Mother Ship. This is Parliament in Ottawa, which I visited in November, 2025.
Let's see it!
As you can see, there is a PEI situation going on. Large parts of the building are closed for renovations. The estimated completion date is 2032.
Show me the dome!
Just because it's closed for construction doesn't mean that it isn't there. There is a dome in the library. Let's circle back on this after 2032.
Overall impressions: in spite of the construction, Parliament left an impression. It gave feels.
Quality of the tour: Excellent, and very comprehensive. The tour was three separate events: the Senate, which is currently housed in an old, very grand railway station, the House of Commons, and the Parliament Immersive experience, which is a 360 rendering of the building and the rennovations.
Did the tour include roof access? No
Does the legislature have a spirit animal? No
Did the tour guide point out any fossils in the building? No
Was the government in session while I was there? No
Were there any protests while I was there? Yep! There were a couple of groups hanging around and speaking their minds. The one that I remember was a group of folks with a toilet and a sign that said "flush the turd" which was a reference to Mark Carney. [Look, I'm out of my depth with my own country's politics let alone another country's politics but I've talked to some folks who I respect who like him and he has no problem standing up to Trump so in my book he's OK.]
Did I buy the t-shirt? I'm not opposed to buying a shirt/memorabilia when I'm in the spirit or when it's something that's not very expensive that I can use. The Parliament gift store delivered!
The leash is patterned after the carpet in the Senate. The pattern is the 10 species of maple that are native to Canada. We already talked about this in the Provincial flags post, but the Big Leaf in the Canadian flag is a composite of the 10 leaves.
If you have a dog, then you need to have a dog leash in every possible place that your dog could be. The Parliament leash is my dedicated car leash which we use if we're out and about and it turns out that I've forgotten to bring one of her many other leashes.
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| Stylin' |
The collapsible water bowl comes along with us whenever we go to the park. I always bring a water bottle for myself on these outings so why wouldn't I bring water for my dog?
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| Schlurpin' |
Did I take a goofy photo while I was there? No.
Would I live in the capital city? Sorry to end on a downer, but HARD PASS. Parts of Ottawa were beautiful, but the neighborhood where I stayed was pretty rough. It's one thing to not feel safe outside at night, it's another level to not feel safe outside in daylight. The situation improved in the very touristy areas, but I still saw a few disturbing things here and there. I stayed at the Hyatt Andaz in Byward Market, which is very close to Parliament.
Thanks for hanging out! We'll get caught up on our usual stuff and my most recent trip soon, and then we'll get back to capitol/flag rankings!
Who has been to any of these buildings?
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