So Trump wants to annex Canada. But did you know that Canada itself has tried to annex another country?

That country is called Turks and Caicos. It’s British territory right now, in the Caribbean. Populated by about 45,000 people, most of whom have probably never scraped ice off a windshield. 

For the better part of a century, Canada has flirted, quietly and occasionally, with the idea of turning this tropical outpost into the country’s eleventh province or fourth territory. 

There are a few obvious reasons for the recurring interest.

There’s also history. Canadians are the second-largest source of tourists there. We also share some banking and legal norms thanks to the British connection.

This whole annexation idea first cropped up in the 1910s, when Canadian businessmen suggested it might be strategically smart for Canada to invest in a warm-weather port. 

Then in 1974, it almost turned serious. A New Democratic Party MP from Ontario introduced a motion in the House of Commons to explore annexation. It wasn’t binding, and it wasn’t even debated, but it made headlines.

Over the next few decades, the idea reappeared every so often. 

In 1986, the then-Premier of the Turks and Caicos publicly supported the idea of joining Canada. 

And in 2004, a Nova Scotia MP went further: he launched a one-person crusade to explore a formal union, arguing that Canada should consider forming a “special affiliate” relationship with the islands. This would look similar to the U.S.–Puerto Rico model. It got media attention, but not much political traction.

But if this sounds too good to be true, that’s because it is. 

First, there’s the constitutional hurdle. Here in Canada, you can’t just annex another country or territory without a process. Even if Turks and Caicos held a referendum to join, and even if 100 percent voted yes, it would still need sign-off from Canada, the United Kingdom, and probably every provincial government. And history tells us on that front, you’d have better odds of getting a federal carbon tax endorsed at an Alberta rodeo.

Then there’s the UK. Turks and Caicos is a British Overseas Territory, and while the UK hasn’t exactly said no, it has never once hinted it would consider transferring sovereignty. In fact, after a corruption scandal in the islands in 2009, the UK suspended local government and took direct control for several years, so yeah they seem pretty content to keep the territory under their wing, thankyouverymuch.

There are also practical concerns. The cost of extending Canadian services (health care, pensions, EI, mail delivery, etc.) would be high. Integration would be bureaucratically complex. And cultural and geographic differences would make the idea of Turks and Caicos as a full-fledged province a harder sell than your aunt’s fruitcake.

We are a people of compromise though.

Some have floated looser models. A kind of semi-affiliation. Think “Canadian Caribbean Partnership,” rather than full-on annexation. Some have even suggested Canada could offer permanent residency options, or create a bespoke bilateral arrangement with the islands that falls short of formal union. It’s a long shot, but not an impossible one. 

Today, the idea still bubbles up now and then, especially during Canadian winters. 

While it’s easy to dismiss it as fantasy, I think it reflects something deeper about this country: a quiet yearning to extend our values, stability, and decency (yes, even its bureaucracy) to places that share those ideals and want in. Even if they have to learn how to skate.

So no, Turks and Caicos isn’t becoming our eleventh province. But we keep the idea close, like an old postcard we never mailed.

The fact that we keep asking the question says something: That we’re still drawn to stories of belonging, and the quiet hope that even in the coldest corners of our country, there’s still room to dream about warmth.

I only post some of my content on the channels below, and I do not read comments or DMs: Facebook • Instagram • Threads • LinkedIn • Mastodon • TikTok