The orders, decorations, and medals of the Canadian provinces comprise a system in which each province of Canada has created orders and other awards to honour residents for actions or deeds that benefit their local community or province, and are in turn subsumed within the Canadian honours system. Each province sets its own rules and criteria for eligibility and for how each award is presented. Most of the awards allow for the recipients to wear their awards in public, and most grant the recipients the use of post-nominal letters after their names. Not all of the awards created by the provinces are part of the Canadian honours system, therefore some of them may not be worn or court mounted with awards that are part of the Canadian honours system.
Development
upright|thumb|[[Ontario was the first province to establish their own honour with the Ontario Medal for Good Citizenship in 1973]]
British Columbia was the first province to establish an award that was distinct to the province: the Dogwood Medallion, created in 1957 for the centennial of the province and its preceding Colony of British Columbia, and reformed into the Order of the Dogwood in 1966.
After the establishment of the Canadian honours system in 1967, the rest of the provinces, recognizing the Crown's distinct operation within each provincial jurisdiction, moved to establish their own honours after Ottawa declined to do so on their behalf. Ontario was the first, creating the Ontario Medal for Good Citizenship in 1973, and the Police Bravery Medal and Firefighter's Bravery Medal in 1975 and 1976, respectively.
Alberta followed with the Alberta Order of Excellence in 1979. Quebec was the first province to establish a true order: l'Ordre national du Quebec in 1984. The Saskatchewan Order of Merit was established in 1985.
The Order of Ontario came in 1986, the Order of British Columbia in 1989 (which replaced the Order of the Dogwood), the Order of Prince Edward Island in 1997, the Order of Manitoba in 1999, and the Order of Nova Scotia, of New Brunswick, and of Newfoundland and Labrador in 2001.
However, the federal government did not recognize these honours and decorations, fearing duplications and citing the fact that, aside from the Order of Newfoundland and Labrador, the Queen had not authorized them. The provinces responded by stating that since provincial ministers did not constitutionally have the right to advise the sovereign directly, they would do so via legislation under the prerogative of the provincial Crown. The federal government finally came to recognize provincial orders after a compromise was reached between Governor General Ray Hnatyshyn and Lieutenant-Governor of Saskatchewan Sylvia Fedoruk, wherein provincial honours established by legislation or order in council would be ranked below all national honours, but above national decorations.
Provincial and territorial orders
{| class="wikitable"
! Name
! Founded
! Ribbon bar
! Post-nominal letters
! Number of inductees
|-
| colspan="5" style="text-align:center;" bgcolor="LightGray"| Provincial
|-
|Alberta Order of Excellence
|1979
|File:Alberta Order Excellence ribbon bar.svg
|A.O.E.
|
|-
|Order of British Columbia
|1989
|File:Order British Columbia ribbon bar.svg
|O.B.C.
|
|-
|Order of Manitoba
|1999
|File:Order Manitoba ribbon bar.svg
|O.M.
|
|-
|Order of New Brunswick
|2000
|File:Order New Brunswick ribbon bar.svg
|O.N.B.
|
|-
|Order of Newfoundland and Labrador
|2001
|105px
|O.N.L.
|
|-
|Order of Nova Scotia
|2001
|File:Order Nova Scotia ribbon bar.svg
|O.N.S.
|
|-
|Order of Ontario
|1986
|File:Order Ontario ribbon bar.svg
|O.Ont.
|
|-
|Order of Prince Edward Island
|1996
|File:Order Prince Edward Island ribbon bar.svg
|O.P.E.I.
|
|-
|National Order of Quebec
|1984
|File:National Order Quebec ribbon bar.svg
|G.O.Q., O.Q., C.Q.
|
|-
|Saskatchewan Order of Merit
|1985
|File:Saskatchewan Order Merit ribbon bar.svg
|S.O.M.
|
|-
| colspan="5" style="text-align:center;" bgcolor="LightGray"| Territorial
|-
|Order of the Northwest Territories
|2013
|105px
|O.N.W.T.
|
|-
|Order of Nunavut
|2010
|105px
|O.Nu.
|
|-
|Order of Yukon