Prince Edward Island is the smallest but most densely populated province of Canada. It has the highest number of people per square mile or kilometer. Its people usually call their province “The Island” or simply use its initials, P.E.I. In the past, a majority of the people lived in small, scattered communities. Today, more than half live in or near the cities of Charlottetown and Summerside. Charlottetown is the capital and largest city on Prince Edward Island.
Prince Edward Island is the only Canadian province that is entirely separated from the North American mainland. The island lies in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, a rich fishing area off the Atlantic coast of Canada. Lobsters are the most valuable catch of the island’s fishing industry. The province’s Malpeque oysters are known for their delicious flavor. Mussels are an important product of local aquaculture (fish farming). Fishing crews from the island also catch clams, crabs, herring, mackerel, scallops, and tuna.
The chief sources of employment and income for the people of the island are service industries. Spending by tourists benefits such service industries as transportation, restaurants, and hotels. Agriculture is also an important economic activity in the province. The island’s fertile soil is its greatest natural resource, and farmland covers one-third of the province. Each year, Prince Edward Island produces large numbers of potatoes, its chief crop. Other important farm products include dairy and beef cattle, blueberries, hogs, and grain and oil seed.
The island lacks valuable minerals. In addition, transportation to and from the mainland is expensive. For these reasons, manufacturing on Prince Edward Island has developed slowly. Food processing is the leading manufacturing activity. Aerospace and bioscience have also become important industries.
Prince Edward Island has long stretches of red or white sandy beaches along its coasts, with warm currents offshore. Few people live far from a good beach. The island’s streams are well stocked with fish. Many of the children learn to fish at an early age. Many people enjoy sailing, wind surfing, kayaking, and fishing off the coasts. The island also has many fine golf courses. All of these attractions bring hundreds of thousands of vacationers to Prince Edward Island every year.
The Mi’kmaq, a First Nations people, lived on the island long before white people arrived. First Nations are original peoples of the land that is now Canada. The Mi’kmaq called the island Abegweit (cradled on the waves). A Mi’kmaq legend tells how the god Glooscap finished painting the beauties of the world. Then he dipped his brush into a mixture of all the colors and created Abegweit, his favorite island.
In 1799, the British named the island in honor of Edward, Duke of Kent, a son of King George III. Prince Edward Island’s fertile red soil and its location in the Gulf of St. Lawrence have given it two nicknames—the Garden of the Gulf and the Million Acre Farm. In addition, it is often called Spud Island because of its large potato production.
People
Population.
The 2021 Canadian census reported that Prince Edward Island had 154,331 people. The population of the province had increased by about 8 percent over the 2016 figure of 142,907.
About 45 percent of Prince Edward Island’s people live in urban areas. About 25 percent live in Charlottetown. Summerside is the province’s only other city. Prince Edward Island has about 40 incorporated towns and villages, nearly all of which have fewer than 2,000 people. See Charlottetown; Borden-Carleton.
Almost all the province’s people were born in Canada. Most of the people have some British or Irish ancestry, and nearly all the islanders speak English. About one-fourth of the island’s people have some French or Acadian ancestry. French is spoken in a few small communities, especially in the Evangeline region in the western part of the province. About 600 Mi’kmaq live on reserves in the province.
Schools.
The first schools on the island were established during the early 1800’s. In 1852, the Free Education Act made the island the first colonial region in British North America where government took responsibility for financing basic education. The province established a Central Board of Education in 1877 and a Department of Education in 1945. The minister of education heads the department.
Today, provincial law provides for free public education for all children from ages 5 to 20 until the completion of high school. However, a child may attend a private school or may be educated at home. Most schools offer instruction in English, but some offer instruction in French.
The province has one university, the University of Prince Edward Island in Charlottetown. The school was established in 1969. In that year, the faculties and students of St. Dunstan’s University, founded in 1855, and Prince of Wales College, founded in 1834, joined to become the new University of Prince Edward Island. The Atlantic Veterinary College, one of Canada’s few veterinary schools, is on the university’s campus. Holland College, a public community college, has locations throughout the province. It offers vocational training and postsecondary and adult education programs in a variety of fields.
Libraries and museums.
In 1933, Prince Edward Island established Canada’s first provincial library system. The Confederation Centre of the Arts, which was opened in Charlottetown in 1964, includes an art gallery, theaters, and a public library. Prince Edward Island has many branch libraries and community historical museums. 
Visitor’s guide
About a million vacationers visit Prince Edward Island each summer. Many visitors camp or go swimming, sailing, kayaking, or deep-sea fishing in the warm coastal waters. People go trout fishing or canoeing in inland streams. Hikers and bicyclists travel across the island along the Confederation Trail. Golfing is also popular.
Several annual events take place in the summer. The Charlottetown Festival runs from June to September. The festival’s highlight is the musical play Anne of Green Gables—The Musical, based on the book by the Prince Edward Island novelist Lucy Maud Montgomery. Harness racing is featured at driving parks in Charlottetown and Summerside. The highlight of the racing season is the Gold Cup and Saucer race, held in Charlottetown every August. Country-style lobster suppers are served daily in several communities.
Land and climate
Almost all the land of Prince Edward Island is a gently rolling plain. Forests cover about half the island. The province also has meadowland. The highest point rises 465 feet (142 meters) above sea level in Queens County. Many tidal inlets (called rivers locally) and deep bays indent the 688-mile (1,107-kilometer) coastline. Two of the bays, Hillsborough and Malpeque, nearly cut the island into three parts. Other major bodies of water along the island’s shores include Bedeque, Cardigan, and Egmont bays. Low cliffs rise along the eastern and southern coasts. Lennox Island and several other small islands that belong to the province lie near the shores.
Northern grasses and wildflowers, such as black-eyed Susans, buttercups, daisies, and violets, thrive in the red soil of the island. About half of the land is used for farming. Small wood lots of beech, birch, evergreen, and maple trees dot the land. Wild orchards of apple and cherry trees grow in some areas.
The island has small game animals such as ducks, geese, Hungarian partridges, ring-necked pheasants, ruffed grouse, and snowshoe hares. Coyotes, foxes, raccoons, and skunks are also common. Game fishes include Atlantic salmon and several kinds of trout. Clams, crabs, hake, herring, lobsters, mackerel, mussels, oysters, and scallops live in the offshore waters.
The island has a milder climate than that of Canada’s mainland. The province has an average temperature of 18 °F (–8 °C) in January and 66 °F (19 °C) in July. The province’s precipitation (rain, melted snow, and other forms of moisture) averages 46 inches (116 centimeters) per year, and its snowfall averages 110 inches (280 centimeters) per year.
Economy
Service establishments make up the largest part of Prince Edward Island’s economy. Manufacturing activities also employ many workers in the province. Farming and fishing have retained much of their traditional importance to Prince Edward Island’s economy.
Natural resources.
Rich red soil is the province’s chief resource. This loam (mixture of clay, decayed matter, and sand) lies on beds of soft red or brown sandstones and shales. The loss of topsoil due to erosion is a serious problem on Prince Edward Island. Peat and sand and gravel are the most valuable mined products on the island. Deposits of natural gas, uranium, and gold also have been found. The water supply comes mainly from wells.
Service industries
account for about three-fourths of Prince Edward Island’s gross domestic product (GDP)—that is, the total value of all goods and services produced in the province in a year—and also about three-fourths of its employment. Many of these industries are in Charlottetown, the provincial capital.
Agriculture.
Farmland makes up one-third of Prince Edward Island’s land area. Potatoes, grown for table use and for seed, are the chief crop. Much of the potato crop is made into French fries at a local processing plant. Other important crops on Prince Edward Island include barley, blueberries, and soybeans. Broad fields produce hay for the dairy industry. Livestock includes beef and dairy cattle and hogs.
Manufacturing.
The processing of farm and fish products accounts for much of the province’s manufacturing income. Biotechnology and the manufacture of aircraft parts have become major activities. In addition, companies in the province produce fabricated metal products, fertilizer, machinery, medical instruments, and wood products.
Fishing industry.
Lobsters are Prince Edward Island’s most important catch. Other catches include clams, crab, herring, mackerel, oysters, scallops, and tuna. The province supplies most of Canada’s cultivated mussels.
Electric power and utilities.
Prince Edward Island is a world leader in wind-generated electric power. It generates much of its electric power using wind energy. The island imports the rest of its electric power from New Brunswick via a cable under Northumberland Strait.
Transportation.
Confederation Bridge and a ferryboat line carry passengers and motor vehicles across Northumberland Strait between Prince Edward Island and the Canadian mainland. A second ferryboat line operates between Souris and the Magdalen Islands, a part of Quebec in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Sheltered bays provide good harbors at Charlottetown, Georgetown, Souris, and Summerside. Icebreakers help keep them open to shipping the year around.
Airlines provide service between Charlottetown and major cities in eastern and central Canada. A highway system links the province’s largest urban areas. All railroad service on Prince Edward Island was discontinued in the late 1980’s.
Communication.
The province has two major newspapers. The Guardian was founded in Charlottetown in 1887. The Journal Pioneer was established in Summerside in 1865.
Government
Lieutenant governor
of Prince Edward Island represents the British monarch, Canada’s official head of state, in the province. The lieutenant governor is appointed by the governor general in council, the governor general of Canada acting with the advice and consent of the federal Cabinet. The position of lieutenant governor is essentially an honorary one.
Premier
of Prince Edward Island is the actual head of the provincial government. Prince Edward Island, like the other provinces and Canada itself, has a parliamentary form of government. The premier is an elected member of the Legislative Assembly and is usually the leader of the majority party in the Assembly. The premier presides over the Executive Council (cabinet). The Executive Council includes the premier and a number of ministers appointed by the premier from among his or her party’s members in the Legislative Assembly. The Executive Council resigns if it loses the support of a majority of the Assembly.
Legislative Assembly
is a one-house legislature that makes the provincial laws. It has 27 members, who are elected from 27 electoral districts. The members of the Legislative Assembly are elected to terms that may last up to five years. However, the lieutenant governor, on the advice of the province’s premier, may call for an election sooner. 
Courts.
The highest court on Prince Edward Island is the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court is made up of five justices, including a chief justice. These justices are appointed by Canada’s governor general in council. They serve until the age of 75.
Local government.
Charlottetown and Summerside—the province’s only cities—and the province’s towns have a mayor-council form of government. Most smaller communities are governed by community councils.
Revenue.
Taxes levied by the provincial government account for about half of its income. The most important are a general sales tax and a personal income tax.
Most of the rest of the province’s income comes from federal-provincial tax-sharing arrangements and federal grants. License fees, governmental liquor sales, and lottery revenue are other sources of income.
Politics.
Prince Edward Island’s main political parties are the Liberal Party and the Progressive Conservative Party, often called simply the Conservative Party. Other parties include the New Democratic Party and the Green Party, which won its first legislative seat in 2015.
History
Exploration and early history.
The Mi’kmaq were the first people to live on what is now Prince Edward Island. Vikings may have visited the island around A.D. 1000. Basque fishing crews from Europe landed there in the early 1500’s. The French explorer Jacques Cartier landed on the island on June 30, 1534. Another French explorer, Samuel de Champlain, claimed the island for France in 1603. He named it Île St.-Jean (Island of St. John). The island became part of the French colony of Acadia.
French people began to settle on the island in 1720. British troops took over the area in 1758, during the French and Indian War (1754-1763). They deported most of the French Acadians to France. In the Treaty of Paris of 1763, France gave the island to Britain (now the United Kingdom). The British changed its name to St. John’s Island and made it a part of Nova Scotia.
In 1765, the island was divided into 67 townships. In 1767, these townships were given away in a lottery to British nobles, military officers, and government officials. The British depended on these landlords to develop the area. Few of the landlords kept their promises to improve their property, and the landownership question led to bitter political disputes. In 1769, St. John’s Island became a separate British colony. The British changed its name to Prince Edward Island in 1799.
Self-government.
The British gave the islanders control of their local affairs in 1851. In 1864, delegates from Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia met in Charlottetown to discuss forming a Maritime union (union of these Maritime colonies). Delegates from present-day Ontario and Quebec joined them and proposed a federal union of all the provinces. The delegates met again later in 1864 in Quebec. This conference drew up a plan for Canadian union that led to the creation of the Dominion of Canada on July 1, 1867.
Prince Edward Island refused to join the Dominion. The people were enjoying a period of great economic prosperity and did not feel they needed union. In addition, they feared that the larger provinces would control their small island in the new government.
Member of the union.
In the early 1870’s, the Prince Edward Island Railway was built. As a result, the island fell into debt, and the people realized they needed help. On July 1, 1873, Prince Edward Island entered the Dominion as the seventh province. James C. Pope, a Conservative who was born on the island, became the first provincial premier in the confederation. 
The problem of absentee landownership continued until the provincial government passed the Land Purchase Act of 1875. This act forced many landlords to sell their property and gave the province funds to buy it. The people bought the land from the province and improved their own farms.
During the late 1800’s, the small local industries could not compete with the larger industries in central Canada, and the island’s economy declined. The province’s limited income from taxes decreased as the population grew smaller, and the island became more dependent on federal aid. Thousands of islanders moved away. They sought greater job opportunities elsewhere in Canada and in the United States.
During the 1920’s and 1930’s, the province expanded such governmental services as education, health and welfare, and public works. The high costs of these services increased the province’s financial problems.
The mid-1900’s.
The 1941 census showed the first population increase on Prince Edward Island since 1891. During the 1940’s, the province received large increases in federal aid, which helped pave many of the island’s red clay roads. The improved highways in the province speeded delivery of farm and fishery products to markets, increased contact between urban and rural areas, and made school consolidation possible.
Economic development.
A federally supported economic development plan, begun in 1969, was concluded in 1984. This plan provided for new schools and highways, opened new markets for farm and fish products, and expanded the tourism industry. It also helped attract some small manufacturing companies to the province. But manufacturing remains limited. The province continues to rely on the service industries—especially tourism—and on agricultural production. The island is also still heavily dependent on federal economic aid. Prince Edward Island has one of the lowest provincial and per capita (per person) incomes in all of Canada. But the island’s residents are working to create a stable economy that will enable people in both rural districts and small communities to make a comfortable living.
The late 1900’s and early 2000’s.
In January 1993, the Liberal Party chose Catherine Callbeck to succeed Joseph Ghiz, who had resigned as party leader and premier of Prince Edward Island. The Liberals won the general election held in March, making Callbeck the first woman in Canadian history to become a provincial premier by leading her party to victory in a general election. Callbeck resigned as party leader and premier in 1996.
In 1997, construction was completed on Confederation Bridge. The new bridge connected Prince Edward Island with New Brunswick across the Northumberland Strait.
The Progressive Conservatives, led by Dennis King, won general elections in 2019 and 2023. The Green Party placed second in the 2019 election and served as the official opposition party until 2023. It was the first time in Canadian history that a Green Party won official opposition status. The official opposition generally challenges government policies and holds the government accountable for its actions.
