There has been a lot of trolling from U.S. President Donald Trump in recent weeks about Canada being the 51st state, though it seems more likely that rather than Canada being integrated as a state of its own, that it would be encouraged to integrate with the United States on a more piece by piece basis. When I queried Chat GPT about this, it gave me the following write-up:

Ordering the provinces and territories of Canada by how easily they could integrate into the United States depends on multiple factors, including economic ties, cultural similarities, political alignment, and geographic considerations. Here’s a possible ranking from easiest to most difficult:

1. Alberta

• Strong economic ties to the U.S., especially in oil and gas.
• Politically leans more conservative, aligning with many U.S. states.
• Strong individualist culture and history of separatist sentiment.

2. British Columbia

• Major trade connections with the U.S. West Coast (especially Washington State).
• Vancouver is culturally similar to Seattle, Portland, and California cities.
• Military and economic ties are well established.

3. Saskatchewan

• Economically similar to states like Montana and North Dakota (agriculture and energy).
• Conservative-leaning politics align with the U.S. Midwest and Great Plains.
• Sparse population and geographic continuity with U.S. border states.

4. Manitoba

• Similar to U.S. Midwest in terms of agriculture and climate.
• Winnipeg has strong historical ties to trade with Minnesota and North Dakota.
• Somewhat conservative, though less so than Alberta and Saskatchewan.

5. Ontario

• Largest economy in Canada and deeply integrated with U.S. trade.
• Southern Ontario shares many cultural ties with the Great Lakes region (e.g., Detroit and Buffalo).
• Toronto is cosmopolitan but may resist Americanization.

6. Newfoundland and Labrador

• Historically had closer ties to Britain and the U.S. before joining Canada in 1949.
• Economy could benefit from integration with the U.S. Northeast.
• Small population could make transition easier, though cultural pride is strong.

7. Nova Scotia

• Historically linked to New England through trade and culture.
• Strong economic and naval ties with the U.S.
• Would integrate relatively smoothly but has a strong Canadian identity.

8. New Brunswick

• Shares a border with Maine and has similar cultural traits.
• More Francophone presence might complicate integration.
• Small population and rural nature make transition easier.

9. Prince Edward Island

• Small and dependent on external trade, so U.S. economic ties could be beneficial.
• Culturally unique but not radically different from New England.
• Could integrate easily due to size, though regional identity is strong.

10. Quebec

• Strong French identity and history of separatism from Canada make integration difficult.
• Some economic ties with the U.S., but language and culture would be major barriers.
• Politically leans left, making alignment with U.S. governance challenging.

11. Yukon

• Small population, strong economic and geographic ties to Alaska.
• Would integrate smoothly but lacks political motivation to do so.

12. Northwest Territories

• Similar to Yukon but more isolated and dependent on federal Canadian support.
• Sparse population makes it low-priority for U.S. integration.

13. Nunavut

• The most difficult to integrate due to its Inuit-majority population with strong cultural and legal ties to Canada.
• Remote, lacks economic incentives, and would require significant support from the U.S. government.
• Deeply tied to Canada’s Indigenous policies, which differ from U.S. approaches.

Conclusion

Alberta, British Columbia, and Saskatchewan would likely be the easiest to integrate due to economic and cultural ties, while Quebec and Nunavut would be the most difficult due to strong regional identities and language/cultural barriers.

In general, I think that this is a pretty sound analysis for the most part, but I do have some comments. For one, I agree strongly that overall, Nunavut and Quebec would, for cultural reasons, have the hardest time integrating with the United States, but given the low population of Canada’s provinces, they would likely at best be incorporated territories within the United States and even that for Nunavut would be a stretch given how similar cases in the United States like Guam and the Virgin Islands remain unincorporated territories after being in the United States for more than a century. Similarly, while nothing prevents Prince Edward Island from being integrated into Greater New England from a cultural standpoint (unlike the francophone culture that is part of New Brunswick), the low population of the Atlantic provinces would seem to argue against statehood for the Atlantic Provinces unless they joined together into one, where they might just barely have enough population to enter as one state. In such a larger state, the French-speakers of New Brunswick would just become Yankee Cajuns [1] or something of that nature. What do you all think?

[1] For the record, before I get swarmed by angry Canucks, I am aware that the Cajuns of Louisiana are descended from the Acadians of what is now New Brunswick who were kicked out of their homes after the Peace of Utrecht in 1713, but if you can’t laugh about this sort of thing, you probably shouldn’t be commenting on an American blog in the first place.