What happened to Upper and Lower Canada in 1840?

Discover Canada answers this in one direct sentence: In 1840, Upper and Lower Canada were united as the Province of Canada. The change the test wants is therefore the merger of two earlier colonies into a single new one — the Province of Canada.

The political path to that merger runs through the rebellions of 1837–38 and Lord Durham's subsequent report. Discover Canada says Durham, sent "to report on the rebellions," "recommended that Upper and Lower Canada be merged and given responsible government." The 1840 union is the first half of that recommendation in action — the two colonies created by the Constitutional Act of 1791 were re-joined into one province.

The new Province of Canada then became the staging ground for the second half of Durham's recommendation: responsible government. Discover Canada records that "Reformers such as Sir Louis-Hippolyte La Fontaine and Robert Baldwin, in parallel with Joseph Howe in Nova Scotia, worked with British governors toward responsible government." So the 1840 merger is not just a name change — it is the political vehicle that carried Canada from the post-rebellion period into the era of elected ministers responsible to an elected legislature.

The Province of Canada itself did not last forever. Discover Canada later notes that at Confederation in 1867, "the old Province of Canada was split into two new" provinces — the start of modern Ontario and Quebec. So the 1840 merger lasted exactly 27 years before being split again at Confederation.

The question is testing whether new citizens can match a year (1840) with a constitutional event. Discover Canada uses one short, clear sentence: "In 1840, Upper and Lower Canada were united as the Province of Canada." The right answer is the option that repeats those words.

The 1840 merger also matters as a step in the chain leading to Confederation. Discover Canada's narrative runs from the Royal Proclamation of 1763 through the Quebec Act (1774), the Constitutional Act (1791), the Act of Union (1840) and finally Confederation (1867). The 1840 union of Upper and Lower Canada is the next-to-last step before Confederation itself.