How did Rupert’s Land become part of Canada?

Rupert’s Land became part of Canada through a formal transfer of territory from the Hudson’s Bay Company to the Canadian government.

The process was facilitated by Section 146 of the British North America Act, which provided the legal framework for the admission of the territory into the new dominion. In 1869, the Hudson’s Bay Company surrendered its title to the British Crown, which then transferred the land to the Dominion of Canada in 1870.12

As part of this agreement, the Canadian government paid the company £300,000. Additionally, the company was permitted to retain title to one-twentieth of the lands within the "fertile belt"—the region suitable for agricultural settlement—as well as specific blocks of territory surrounding its various trading posts. Following this acquisition, the Canadian government began administering the region, which included the area that would eventually become the province of Saskatchewan.312