The Yukon territory is the traditional home of many Indigenous nations (see below).  However, it was "bitter rivalries inherent in the rapid expansion of the European fur trade on the North Pacific coast during the late 18th and early 19th century [that led to...] An agreement between Russia and Great Britain in 1825, a year after the first Hudson's Bay explorer/trader set foot in the Yukon."  The 141st meridian became the boundary between their territories to the north of the 60th parallel.

During and just after Confederation, the area was just another of a few unnamed districts of the North-west Territories, but eventually in response to the administrative needs of The Gold Rush, the Yukon Judicial District was created.  

"Then, in June 1898, at the peak of the Klondike gold rush (from the perspective of population) the Yukon achieved recognition as a separate territory, and a government structure was established, although all members of the government were appointed by the federal government, not elected by Yukoners.”
Source: The 1898 Yukon Act Introduction by Murray Lundberg at www.explorenorth.com/yukon/yukon_act-1898.html 

Yukon Act:  On 13 June 1898, the Yukon Territory Act created Yukon as a separate Canadian territory and placed its capital at Dawson City. The territorial government consisted of a federally appointed commissioner and an appointed council of no more than six members. It grew into a fully elected council of 10 members in 1908.

The gold rush quickly faded in the early 1900s and many of the new settlers left Yukon. Dawson City’s busy commercial life collapsed, leaving a much-reduced near-ghost town. In 1953, the capital was moved to Whitehorse.

Source: Tattrie, J. (2015). Yukon and Confederation. In The Canadian Encyclopedia. 

“Canada "from sea to sea" became a reality in 1949 when Newfoundland joined Confederation. Although it was our newest province, its capital, St. John's, is the oldest city in Canada. European fishermen have been coming to the shores of the Grand Banks for hundreds of years. Our tenth province had held out a long time. It declined Confederation in the 1860s, feeling, quite logically, that its outlook was to the Atlantic and to England.”

“After the Second World War the debate began again. Most people wanted to change their current colonial status which included government by appointed officials from England. But some wanted responsible government with economic links to the United States. Others wanted to join Canada. The leading Confederationist was a feisty broadcaster and labour leader, Joey Smallwood. After two plebiscites, Confederation won by a narrow margin.”

Source and video presentation at Newfoundland Joins Canada http://canadahistoryproject.ca/1949/index.html#movie 

British North America Act - Legally defines powers, in order to avoid conflicts

“The British North America Act, 1867 (BNA Act, 1867) was passed by the British Parliament in 1867. It is the law that created the Canadian Confederation. Many other Acts called British North America Act were later passed, amending the 1867 Act, or adding to it.

A federation usually consists of at least two main levels of government - local states or provinces, and a federal government. Canada is no different. However, these levels can't share the same powers, as that would lead to direct competition and chaos.

The BNA Act was passed to set the legal ground rules for Canada, and [divide] up the powers between the provinces and the federal government. 

Section 91 of the BNA Act lists the powers the federal Parliament can exercise. Section 92 lists the powers of the Provincial Legislatures. Unless the parties agree otherwise, the federal government must not make laws dealing with matters of provincial jurisdiction, and vice versa. If one party does pass a law that intrudes on the jurisdiction of the other, the courts will strike it down.  

Source: A Three-Minute Guide to the BNA Act, 1867 A Three-Minute Guide to the BNA Act, 1867. Archived at https://web.archive.org/ 

For more information: BNA Act 1867. Canadahistoryproject.ca

Provincial Powers

“Under Canada's federal system, the powers of government are shared between the federal government and 10 provincial governments. The provinces are responsible for public schooling, health and social services, highways, the administration of justice, and local government. However, overlapping and conflicting interests have stretched provincial concerns across virtually every area of Canadian life. Provinces are free to determine their own levels of public services, and each province has been true to its economic and cultural interests in its own fashion.”

Source: Ruff, Norman J.. "Provincial Government". The Canadian Encyclopedia, 13 December 2017, Historica Canada. 

92. In each Province the Legislature may exclusively make Laws in relation to Matters coming within the Classes of Subjects next hereinafter enumerated; that is to say,

• 1. Repealed.  [Old allowance to amend is moved to other section in 1982]

• 2. Direct Taxation within the Province in order to the raising of a Revenue for Provincial Purposes.

• 3. The borrowing of Money on the sole Credit of the Province.

• 4. The Establishment and Tenure of Provincial Offices and the Appointment and Payment of Provincial Officers.

• 5. The Management and Sale of the Public Lands belonging to the Province and of the Timber and Wood thereon.
  
  And so on to include provincial prisons, hospitals, alcohol, etc…. I.e.:

• “16. Generally all Matters of a merely local or private Nature in the Province.”

Source: Exclusive Powers of Provincial Legislatures at "Constitution Acts, 1867 to 1982"  https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/ 

Federal Government provides:
Peace, Order and Good Government of Canada (P.O.G.G.):

Residuary/Residual Powers [i.e. undefined/new/national] fell to the Central/Federal Government

“The Constitution Acts, 1867 to 1982, s. 91, confer on the Federal Parliament the power ‘to make Laws for the Peace, Order and good Government of Canada, in relation to all Matters not coming within the Classes of Subjects by this Act assigned exclusively to the Legislatures of the Provinces’. This power is ‘residuary’ in the sense that any matter that does not come within the power of provincial legislatures comes within the power of the federal Parliament. This residuary power ensures that every area of legislation comes under one or both of Canada's two orders of government.”

Source: The constitutional distribution of legislative powers - Canada.ca

Related today:  The “National Concern” Doctrine

Note that what developed later was the notion of “national concern” in order to “govern the federal government’s use of its residual power to regulate for the “Peace, Order and Good Government of Canada.” 

The National Concern Doctrine allows the federal government to act if a matter in need of regulation has a “singleness, distinctiveness, and indivisibility” that clearly distinguishes it from a matter that is in provincial jurisdiction. Another way to determine if a matter is one of “national concern” is to consider whether the failure of one province to act, such as by regulating an activity, would have an adverse effect on interests beyond the province, in other words, if the non-participation of one province in a scheme that relied on interprovincial coordination would lead to the failure of the scheme.”

Source: Briefing: COVID-19 and the Challenge of Intergovernmental Coordination in Responding to a Crisis. by Ian Peach 

Lieutenant-Governors of provinces could refuse bills.  Ask Feds to decide.

After Confederation in 1867 the federal and the various provincial governments set upon governing the new dominion.  Under the British North America Act’s section 90, Lieutenant-Governors of provinces may refuse bills (proposed laws) passed by provincial assemblies, or can reserve them for a decision to the federal government.  In the first three decades of the Canadian Dominion, both of these powers were often used.  Between 1867 and 1896, 68 bills were disallowed and 57 were reserved for decision by the federal government.  Of these, eleven were from Quebec and 10 from Ontario.  

The Provinces were upset by what they considered interference by the federal government in their affairs.  Under the federal system of government in Canada, provinces are guaranteed exclusive power to the areas under their jurisdiction.  John A. Macdonald, one of the principal architects of the British North America Act wanted; however, to ensure that the Federal government always had the final say.  It should be unsurprising therefore, that under his terms in office these powers were used the most often.