Which foundational document did Canada adopt as its constitution in 1867?

• A. The British North America Act (Constitution Act, 1867)
• B. The Statute of Westminster
• C. The Canada Act
• D. The Constitution Act, 1982

Answer: (A)

Canada's founding constitutional framework was established in 1867 through a single document enacted by Britain, the British North America Act. This act created the Dominion of Canada, brought Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick into Confederation, and laid out the division of powers between federal and provincial governments. It also established the basic structure of the federal Parliament—the House of Commons and the Senate—and defined the Crown’s constitutional role in Canada. That document remained Canada’s constitution for many decades and was later renamed the Constitution Act, 1867 when patriation occurred in 1982, becoming part of the larger framework that includes the Charter of Rights and Freedoms in the Constitution Act, 1982. The other options refer to later constitutional changes: the Statute of Westminster expanded legislative independence in 1931, the Canada Act relates to patriation, and the Constitution Act, 1982 introduces the Charter rather than founding Confederation.