CANADIAN RELOCATION
PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND PROFILE

Prince Edward Island: population: 145,211 ; (2014); Area 2,185 square miles (5,660 square km).

Prince Edward Island lies in the southern sector of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence and is separated from Nova Scotia and New Brunswick by the Northumberland Strait. Its capital is Charlottetown.

Prince Edward Island is known as the "Cradle of Confederation" because the Charlottetown Conference, held there in 1864, instigated the movement toward Canada's federation. The island became a province in 1873. Prince Edward Island has numerous streams, bays, and tidal estuaries.

The island has a mild climate and fertile soil, and more than half the island is used for agriculture. Potatoes are the most important crop, and dairying is a major industry. Fishing for lobster, cod, tuna, scallops, and Malpeque oysters is important, as is the harvesting of Irish moss (a seaweed).

The great majority of the residents are descendants of early Scottish, Irish, and English settlers. Several thousand are descended from 18th-century Acadian immigrants. About three-fifths of residents live in rural areas.

Prince Edward Island is a low-wage area with limited opportunities for employment. From the late 1960s the provincial and federal governments instituted economic reforms to enable residents to create viable economic enterprises.

Government and service sectors account for the largest share of the provincial economy, but there was significant growth in manufacturing in the late 20th century. Machinery, chemical products, and food products are important.

Regular ferry services operated between the island and the provinces until 1997, when a bridge was completed across Northumberland Strait, connecting the island to New Brunswick. Regular airline flights connect Charlottetown with Toronto, Montreal, and major cities in the United States.

The provincial government consists of the 27-seat Legislative Assembly, whose members serve five-year terms; the premier, who is the head of the majority party in the assembly and who selects therefrom the members of the Executive Council; and the lieutenant governor, who represents the British monarch and is appointed by Canada's governor-general. Judges are appointed by the federal government.

Primary and secondary education is free and compulsory through the 12th grade and may include technical or vocational training. The leading institution of higher education is the University of Prince Edward Island, in Charlottetown.

The cultural centre of Prince Edward Island is the Charlottetown Confederation Centre of the Arts. The centre's art gallery has a rich collection, including works of Robert Harris, the province's best-known artist.

An annual summer festival performs a musical version of the novel Anne of Green Gables (1908), written by the province's best-known author, Lucy Maud Montgomery.

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