Key dates in Canada's evolution:

1869 - Hudson's Bay Company territory added to Canada by British government.  This was known as The North-Western Territory

1870 - Manitoba created as a province

1871 - British Columbia entered Canada as a province

1873 - PEI entered Canada as a province

1880 - Canada gets title to the Artic Islands

1898 - Yukon established as a separate Territory out of the Northwest Territories

1905 - Alberta and Saskatchewan created as provinces out of the Northwest Territories

1927 - New boundary drawn between Quebec and Labrador (which was not part of Canada at the time)

1949 - Newfoundland enters Canada as a province

1999 - Nunavut created as a separate Territory out of the Northwest Territories
 

Key dates in Canada's path to independence:

1867 - Confederation: The British North America Act, 1867 joined Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, & the province of Canada into the Dominion of Canada; The province of Canada is divided into the provinces of Ontario and Quebec. The BNA Act is now known as the Constitution Act, 1867.

1923 - Halibut Treaty: The first international treaty negotiated by Canadian representative without British involvement. The Halibut treaty was reached with the United States. The treaty was still signed by the King as Emperor.

1926, 1929, 1930 - Imperial conferences held between the British Government and those from the "Dominions" - Australia, Canada, Ireland, Newfoundland, New Zeland, and South Africa. Important agreements were reached at these conferences which established the political autonomy of the self-governing Dominions. The most importnant decisions include:

• the British Government should not exercise its powers of reservation and disallowance with respect to legislation passed by the Dominon legislatures.
• Imperial legislation should not be passed without the consent of the Dominion governments to which it applied.
• the Dominions could chose their own Governors General. 

1939 - The King declares war separately for Canada.

1947 - The King issues the Letters Patent, 1947 which delegates the exercise of the monarch's powers to the Governor General.

1949 - The Supreme Court of Canada finally becomes the last court of appeal for Canada, replacing the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in London.

1982 - The Canada Act, 1982 passed by the British Parliament ends any further British legislative authority over Canada. It includes the Constitution Act, 1982 that provides the Charter of Rights and a Canadian process for amending the Constitution.