How Canada can become part of the United States

While Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney shops his country to China and Qatar, Americans should revisit an idea the Founding Fathers first proposed: welcoming Canada into the Union. 

Donald Trump is not the first president to entertain the idea of Canada joining the United States. That title goes to George Washington. In his 1775 open letter to the Inhabitants of Canada,  Washington invited Canadian colonists to support the Revolution against British despotism: “Come then, my brethren, unite with us in an indissoluble Union”.

Later, the Articles of Confederation followed up with a standing invitation for Canadians to join the Union. The Founding Fathers understood that America’s destiny was not solely westward, but northward as well. Canada’s incorporation was seen not as conquest, but as completion.

As we approach America’s 250th birthday, realizing that unfinished vision has become an imperative, not a curiosity. Bringing Canada into the Union would add trillions of dollars in productive capacity, secure America’s northern frontier, and strengthen its strategic posture. What better legacy for President Trump, a real-estate developer turned president, than acquiring land for this country?

However, integrating Canada as one state would be unwise. Trump’s talk of a “51st state” may entertain some, but it misses the point. Instead, Canada should be integrated into America one province at a time beginning with the Province of Alberta.

Alberta’s vast energy and mineral wealth would immediately strengthen the U.S. economy. Alberta has the world’s third largest oil reserve and is estimated to have 166 billion barrels of oil yet untapped. To put this into perspective, at the current crude price of $60 a barrel, the economics of Alberta is a blue-chip investment for America, with meteoric potential, comparable to Nvidia.

Presently, even with free trade, the U.S. cannot access Albertan oil because of Canadian regulations, which Alberta has long opposed but is powerless to resist. For example, several pipeline projects (Northern Gateway, Energy East, and Eastern Mainline) have been canceled or delayed by Canada’s federal government because progressive voters in Ontario and Quebec did not like them. These decisions denied Albertans high-wage jobs and much needed exports.

The first step for President Trump should be to formally invite Alberta, if it votes by referendum, to become a U.S. territory. Canada would not be able to easily block such a referendum due to its existing laws. Washington should move swiftly to admit Alberta as a U.S. territory, with a defined pathway to full statehood.

For those curious about Alberta’s interest in joining the Land of the Free, you should instead ask, what would hold them back? Alberta’s grievances with Canada are plenty. Alberta is Canada’s wealthiest province, yet much of its revenue is constitutionally mandated to be redistributed to other provinces with little political recourse. At the same time, Alberta is deliberately underrepresented in Canada’s Parliament due to special laws that entrench apportionment advantages to other provinces.

The result is a persistent imbalance: Alberta votes one way, gets governed another way, and there is no institutional mechanism to reconcile the divide.

These political frustrations are compounded by regulatory ones. Alberta sits atop world-class energy and mineral deposits, yet faces an ever-tightening regulatory apparatus hostile to development. Recent laws like Bill C-69 have only added new regulatory complexity that effectively makes any new energy investments unprofitable.

For America, Alberta’s value extends well beyond economics. Energy security and critical mineral supply chains now sit at the center of national security planning, particularly as China consolidates 70% of global rare-earth production. Alberta and broader Canada have large reserves of rare earth minerals but is crippled by its own regulators. Alberta’s resources, workforce, and industrial base would fold naturally into the U.S. economy, preserving American dominance across energy, defense, and technology.

Integrating Alberta would not merely add a resource-rich jurisdiction to the American map; it would unplug the energy source of the Canadian federation, knocking down the first domino that would bring the rest of Canada to America. Saskatchewan, with a similar economy and political profile, would likely follow soon after. However, it cannot be overstated that any serious American plan to annex Canada must recognize that Quebec is not part of the plot. Its identity as a French-speaking nation with its own singular laws, culture, and norms deserves respect and separation.

With that said, once Alberta joins the United States and Quebec exits the confederation, the backbone of Canada collapses. Smaller provinces would face a stark choice: cling to a diminished federal core or integrate into the American system that already anchors their trade and security. At that point, accepting the life raft from America would merely be recognizing reality.

The U.S. does not need to annex Canada in a single stroke. Like a lion devouring a fat gazelle, America should absorb Canada one bite at a time.