Canada
Data on women
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Basic information > About parliament
Speaker
Speaker
Anthony
Rota
(Male)
Year of birth
1961
Additional information
Elected on 5 Dec. 2019, re-elected on 22 Nov. 2021.
Secretary general
Secretary General
Eric
Janse
Notes
Additional information about the Secretary General, in particular regarding their term.
Feb. 2023 -
Members
Current number of members, by sex
Men
The number of male parliamentarians who currently hold seats in parliament.
Women
The number of female parliamentarians who currently hold seats in parliament.
Percentage of women
Calculated by dividing the current number of women by the current number of members.
Age
Average age of all members
Age at the time of the last election or renewal.
Youngest member (years)
Age at the time of the last election or renewal.
Youngest member
Eric Melillo (Male)
Oldest member (years)
Age at the time of the last election or renewal.
80
Oldest member
Hedy Fry (Female)
Members for whom no data is available
IPU does not contain age and gender data for all chambers of parliament.
30
Total number of MPs, 45 years of age or younger
Total number of MPs, 46 years of age or older
Total per sex
Total of male
Total of female
Total per age interval
31-40
41-45
46-50
51-60
61-70
71-80
91 and over
Number of members, by age
| 18 - 20 | 21 - 30 | 31 - 40 | 41 - 45 | 46 - 50 | 51 - 60 | 61 - 70 | 71 - 80 | 81 - 90 | 91 and over | Totals per gender | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Totals per age interval | 0 | 8 | 44 | 41 | 43 | 107 | 50 | 15 | 0 | 0 | |
| Total <= 45: 93 | Total >= 46: 215 | ||||||||||
| Male | 0 | 5 | 29 | 27 | 27 | 80 | 35 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 215 |
| Female | 0 | 3 | 15 | 14 | 16 | 27 | 15 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 93 |
Reserved seats and quotas
Electoral quota for women
Quotas to promote the representation of women in parliament.
Notes
Voluntary political party quotas.
Elections > Election results
Candidates
Total number of candidates
Total number of people who registered as candidates for election. Does not include people who stood as candidates to become "substitute members".
2,010
Notes
Elections Canada (EC) does not collect information on candidates’ gender (candidates do not need to provide this information to fill out their nomination paper).
The gender-breakdown of the candidates below was taken from “Women Candidates in General Elections – Overview” on the Library of Parliament website offered by Parliament of Canada: https://lop.parl.ca/sites/ParlInfo/default/en_CA/ElectionsRidings/womenCandidatesOverview.
The gender-breakdown of the candidates below was taken from “Women Candidates in General Elections – Overview” on the Library of Parliament website offered by Parliament of Canada: https://lop.parl.ca/sites/ParlInfo/default/en_CA/ElectionsRidings/womenCandidatesOverview.
Number of female candidates
Number of female candidates
762
Percentage of women candidates
The percentage is calculated by dividing the number of women candidates by the total number of candidates.
37.91%
Number of candidates, by sex
Number of female candidates
Number of female candidates
762
Percentage of women candidates
The percentage is calculated by dividing the number of women candidates by the total number of candidates.
37.91%
Results
Members elected, by sex
Number of men elected
235
Number of women elected
103
Percentage of women elected
The percentage is calculated by dividing the number of women elected in the election and the number of seats at stake at the election.
30.47%
Number of women after election or renewal, by mode of designation
Women Directly Elected
103
New legislature
Total number of men after the election
The total number of male parliamentarians in this parliament/chamber following the election or renewal, regardless of their modes of designation.
235
Total number of women after the election
The total number of female parliamentarians in this parliament/chamber following the election or renewal, regardless of their modes of designation.
103
First Speaker of the new legislature
First Speaker of the new legislature
First name of the Speaker of the new legislature following the election or renewal.
Anthony
Rota
(Male)
Political party
Liberal Party
Date of election
22.11.2021
Elections > Historical data on women
Women's suffrage
Women’s right to vote
Women’s right to vote
Year in which women obtained the right to vote
1917
National or local
Suffrage: National or Local
National
Restricted or unrestricted suffrage
Suffrage: Restricted or Universal
Restricted
Detail of restrictions
Suffrage: Restrictions detail
Women who served in the military or who had a close male relative serving in the military (i.e. a father, husband or son) were granted the right to vote
Women’s right to vote
Year in which women obtained the right to vote
1918
National or local
Suffrage: National or Local
National
Restricted or unrestricted suffrage
Suffrage: Restricted or Universal
Restricted
Detail of restrictions
Suffrage: Restrictions detail
All women except for Indians
Women’s right to vote
Year in which women obtained the right to vote
1950
National or local
Suffrage: National or Local
National
Restricted or unrestricted suffrage
Suffrage: Restricted or Universal
Restricted
Detail of restrictions
Suffrage: Restrictions detail
Federal franchise extended to Indians (regardless of gender) under the condition that they waive the tax exemptions given to them by the Indian Act
Women’s right to vote
Year in which women obtained the right to vote
1960
National or local
Suffrage: National or Local
National
Restricted or unrestricted suffrage
Suffrage: Restricted or Universal
Universal
Notes
Suffrage: Additional Notes on right of suffrage
Universal adult male suffrage was not achieved federally until August 1960, with the unqualified extension of voting rights to all Indians under the Act to Amend the Canada Elections Act. It was not until 1969 (1940?), when Quebec became the last province to extend franchise rights to Indians, that provincial voting was secured.
Women’s right to stand for election
Women's right to stand for election
Year in which women obtained the right to stand for election
1919
National or local
Stand for Election: National or Local
National
Restricted or unrestricted suffrage
Stand for Election : Restricted or Universal
Restricted
Notes
Stand for Election: Additional Notes on right to stand for election
Same conditions as men (age 21), only the House of Common
Women's right to stand for election
Year in which women obtained the right to stand for election
1929
National or local
Stand for Election: National or Local
National
Restricted or unrestricted suffrage
Stand for Election : Restricted or Universal
Restricted
Notes
Stand for Election: Additional Notes on right to stand for election
The right to stand for elections is extended to the Senate
Women's right to stand for election
Year in which women obtained the right to stand for election
1950
National or local
Stand for Election: National or Local
National
Restricted or unrestricted suffrage
Stand for Election : Restricted or Universal
Restricted
Notes
Stand for Election: Additional Notes on right to stand for election
Indians granted right with same restriction (men and women)
Women's right to stand for election
Year in which women obtained the right to stand for election
1960
National or local
Stand for Election: National or Local
National
Restricted or unrestricted suffrage
Stand for Election : Restricted or Universal
Universal
Notes
Stand for Election: Additional Notes on right to stand for election
Right to stand for election without any restriction
First woman in parliament
First woman in parliament
Year in which first woman entered parliament
1921
First woman speaker
Year of first woman speaker
Date at which, for the first time in the country's parliamentary history, a woman became Presiding Officer of Parliament or of one of its Houses.
1972
Specialized body - Women's caucus
The All-Party Parliamentary Women’s Caucus (APWC)
(December 2015 - October 2019)
Formal or informal
Informal
The caucus is open to male MPs
Yes
The caucus is cross-party
Yes
Notes
The APWC has existed on and off since the late 1980s and it was most recently re-constituted during the 42nd Parliament, which sat between 3 December 2015 and 11 September 2019. There is no public record for the APWC having met since the Oct 2019 federal elections.
Membership is open to Senators or Members of Parliament of all political parties.
The APWC has no written rules and works strictly on a consensus basis. Each member of the caucus executive takes responsibility for communicating events to their respective party caucus colleagues on the Hill.
Membership is open to Senators or Members of Parliament of all political parties.
The APWC has no written rules and works strictly on a consensus basis. Each member of the caucus executive takes responsibility for communicating events to their respective party caucus colleagues on the Hill.
There are rules governing the functioning of the caucus
No
Activities
Issues dealt with by the caucus
The APWC regularly hosted events during the 42nd Parliament, such as:
- an Indigenous blanket ceremony on the Hill, with Indigenous elder Barbara Dumont-Hill and Kairos Canada;
- an event with former Australian prime minister Julia Gillard;
- a reception put on with Equal Voice for the event “Daughters of the Vote”;
- a meeting with a South Sudanese women’s group;
- a reception with the Ovarian Cancer Society; and
- a meeting with female MPs from the ParlAmericas network.
- an Indigenous blanket ceremony on the Hill, with Indigenous elder Barbara Dumont-Hill and Kairos Canada;
- an event with former Australian prime minister Julia Gillard;
- a reception put on with Equal Voice for the event “Daughters of the Vote”;
- a meeting with a South Sudanese women’s group;
- a reception with the Ovarian Cancer Society; and
- a meeting with female MPs from the ParlAmericas network.
The caucus has a strategic plan or plan of action
No
The caucus has a communication plan
No