{"id":16476,"date":"2025-02-13T18:56:19","date_gmt":"2025-02-13T18:56:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/torontotribune.ca\/index.php\/2025\/02\/13\/could-the-u-s-actually-make-canada-a-51st-state-how-the-process-works-national\/"},"modified":"2025-02-13T18:56:19","modified_gmt":"2025-02-13T18:56:19","slug":"could-the-u-s-actually-make-canada-a-51st-state-how-the-process-works-national","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/torontotribune.ca\/index.php\/2025\/02\/13\/could-the-u-s-actually-make-canada-a-51st-state-how-the-process-works-national\/","title":{"rendered":"Could the U.S. actually make Canada a 51st state? How the process works – National"},"content":{"rendered":"


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President Donald Trump<\/a> has repeatedly said Canada<\/a> should be the 51st U.S. state as he proposes to erase the 5,525-mile-long border that separates the two countries. The very notion is ludicrous to Canadians and the hurdles to transforming it into a state are sky high.<\/p>\n

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But in Trump\u2019s thinking, the traditional Lower 48 states would become the contiguous 50 as the Canadian territory between the U.S. mainland and Alaska disappears, leaving Hawaii as the only non-continental state.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf people wanted to play the game right, it would be 100% certain that they\u2019d become a state,\u201d Trump said recently.<\/p>\n

Canada at first reacted as though Trump must be joking, and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said flatly his country would never be the 51st state. Trudeau more recently suggested behind closed doors that Trump\u2019s sustained annexation calls may not be just light talk and appear to be \u201ca real thing.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Here\u2019s what it would take to transform Canada from a nation to a state:<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\t\tWhat\u2019s the process for adding a state?\t\t\t<\/h2>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

Congress has to approve accepting a new state.<\/p>\n

It takes only a House majority, but Senate filibuster rules require a minimum of 60 votes in the 100-member chamber to bring a bill to the floor \u2014 an insurmountable threshold for all kinds of key legislation.<\/p>\n

The Constitution\u2019s Admissions Clause, Article IV, Section 3, states: \u201cNew States may be admitted by the Congress into this Union; but no new State shall be formed or erected within the Jurisdiction of any other State; nor any State be formed by the Junction of two or more States, or Parts of States, without the Consent of the Legislatures of the States concerned as well as of the Congress.\u201d<\/p>\n

Any measure approving a new state that clears Congress would also have to be signed into law by the president. In the case of Canada, Trump has made it clear he would be eager to do so.<\/p>\n

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Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, a Trump ally, joked on X when all 50 states certified Trump\u2019s Electoral College victory last month, \u201cThey skipped Canada. We\u2019ll fix that next time!\u201d<\/p>\n

No major legislation is advancing that would extend an invitation to statehood to America\u2019s northern neighbor.<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\t\tDoesn’t Canada have a say?\t\t\t<\/h2>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

To say that most Canadian leaders aren\u2019t interested in becoming a state would be an understatement. Ontario Premier Doug Ford, head of Canada\u2019s most populous province, has spun out a counteroffer for Trump.<\/p>\n

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\u201cHow about, if we buy Alaska, and we\u2019ll throw in Minnesota and Minneapolis at the same time,\u201d he said, adding of Trump\u2019s suggestion: \u201cIt\u2019s not realistic.\u201d<\/p>\n

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There have been multiple past pathways to statehood \u2014 from the absorption of the 13 colonies under the Articles of Confederation, to Congress formally agreeing to Texas\u2019 request to be annexed as the 28th state.<\/p>\n

Most states were added after Congress accepted a petition from some territorial legislative body, which could include legislatures that Congress itself suggested forming as part of the process.<\/p>\n

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Canada would probably have to have a referendum to gauge voters\u2019 interests in joining the U.S. before more detailed aspects of the process could begin \u2014 and that\u2019s almost certainly a non-starter.<\/p>\n

While not addressing Canada as the 51st state directly, polling last year from Gallup and the Pew Research Center shows that Americans overwhelmingly have a positive view of Canada \u2014 and that while Canadians view the U.S. more positively than negatively, their view may be a little more muted.<\/p>\n

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Trump\u2019s threats of tariffs have left Canadians feeling betrayed, and sports fans in Canada have begun voicing their displeasure by booing the U.S. national anthem at NBA and NHL games.<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\t\tHow would adding Canada affect U.S. elections?\t\t\t<\/h2>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

Profoundly \u2014 and that\u2019s without speculating about whether a majority of Canadians might back Democrats or Republicans for president and in Congress.<\/p>\n

If Canada were to join the U.S. \u2014 again, a highly unlikely prospect \u2014 its population of 41.6 million would make it the largest state, outpacing California\u2019s 39.4 million residents. Canada would get two senators but also 55 House seats based on the average congressional district population following the 2020 U.S. census, which was 761,169 individuals.<\/p>\n