Question

How do Canada's territories differ from Canadian provinces?

Answer 1

The provinces have their own sovereignty, having a direct link to the Crown in the Lt. Governors. The Territories have Commissioners, who are appointed by the Federal Government. They have no direct link to the Crown, so are dependencies of the Federal Government.

In practical terms, they are sort of like federal colonies. While there are Territorial governments, most funding comes from the Feds. There are some reasons; the huge spaces and very small populations mean that the Territories probably could not survive without federal money.

In geography, they are much more sparsely settled, being mostly wilderness, or tundra. There are huge unsettled spaces. The weather is cold; long winters, and short, intense summers. There is a lot of daylight (24 hours about the Arctic Circle) in summer, and a similar darkness in winter.