• Canada's federal government buildings in Ottawa, Ontario.aerial view of government buildings in ottawa image by Gary from Fotolia.com
  
  Canadian government is divided into three levels: federal, which addresses national concerns; provincial, which tends to provincial responsibilities; and municipal, which deals with city and regional issues. Elected officials run each type of government, and responsibilities are divided among the three tiers. The duties of Canadian provincial governments are much the same from province to province, and they have evolved over time with negotiations between federal and provincial powers, according to The Canadian Encyclopedia.
  
  

Public Schooling

• Provincial governments are responsible for funding public education. Besides deciding on school board divisions, providing guidelines and rules for curriculum building and giving schools the money to operate, provincial governments also assess the quality of public education. Provinces administer standardized testing to ensure that students are getting the skills and knowledge they need.
  
  

Administration of Justice

• The provinces govern most of the institutions and agencies responsible for trying potential criminals and punishing proven offenders. These institutions include courts, jails, land registry offices, Crown attorneys' offices and coroners' offices. According to Public Safety Canada, there's one caveat. While the provinces are responsible for jails that hold prisoners serving less than two years, the Correctional Service of Canada, a federally run institution, is responsible for more dangerous offenders serving longer sentences.
  
  

Social Services

• Although the federal government occasionally launches nationwide initiatives to improve the financial and social well-being of Canadians, social services are largely the provinces' responsibility. Important safety nets and services that the provinces provide include insurance for unemployment, welfare and child protection agencies.
  
  

Health Care

• Universal health care is a federal mandate in Canada, but maintaining health services and facilities is a provincial duty. While the federal government helps the provinces fund their health care systems, decisions related to public health education, treatments covered by taxpayer dollars and distribution of money to build hospitals fall under provincial jurisdiction.
  
  

Highways

• While municipal governments maintain city roads, highways and expressways are maintained by the provinces. Besides keeping pavement smooth and pothole-free, the provincial government also polices its highways for speeding and reckless driving. While a police force exists at the federal level (the Royal Canadian Mounted Police), provincial officers are the ones patrolling highways and issuing tickets.
  
  

Natural Resources

• The provinces have the power to sell, develop and manage public land and natural resources, and retain income derived through these activities. In Canada, richer provinces give equalization payments to poorer ones, leveling the distribution of wealth across the country and limiting how much revenue resource-rich provinces can put back into their own jurisdictions. According to The Canadian Encyclopedia, the provinces have held unrestricted taxing power on natural resources since a constitutional amendment passed in 1982.