Canada

House of Commons Senate

Senate

Political system: Parliamentary system
Structure of parliament: Bicameral
IPU membership: Yes

Data on women

Information on the current and historical representation of women in the parliament. Consult the 'Elections' tab to see how women have fared in elections or renewals.

Current representation

Women's representation in the current parliament or chamber

Current number of members: 97
Women: 51
Percentage of women: 52.6%

Speaker

Speaker: Raymonde Gagné (Female)
Date of birth: 1956
Additional information: Appointed on 12 May 2023.
As the Speaker of the Senate serves at the pleasure of the Prime Minister, there is no set term.

Secretary general

Secretary General: Shaila Anwar (Female)

Chairs of specialized bodies

Specialized body	Theme	Name	Sex	Age
Senate Standing Committee on Human Rights	Human rights	Salma Ataullahjan	Female	71

Data on age at the start of the legislature

Number of members, by age (2021-11)

Breakdown of members by age and gender
	18 - 20	21 - 30	31 - 40	41 - 45	46 - 50	51 - 60	61 - 70	71 - 80	81 - 90	91 and over	Totals per gender
Male	0	0	0	0	1	8	23	15	0	0	47
Female	0	0	0	1	1	9	22	12	0	0	45
Totals per age interval	0	0	0	1	2	17	45	27	0	0	92
	Total <= 45: 1				Total >= 46: 91

Percentage of members, by age
Age at the last election or renewal	Overall	Male	Female
Percentage of MPs 30 years of age or younger	0.0%	0.0%	0.0%
Percentage of MPs 40 years of age or younger	0.0%	0%	0.0%
Percentage of MPs 45 years of age or younger	1.1%	0%	1.1%

Women’s suffrage

Women’s right to vote: 1917
Restricted or universal suffrage: Restricted
Detail of restrictions: 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: 1918
Restricted or universal suffrage: Restricted
Detail of restrictions: All women except for Indians

Women’s right to vote: 1950
Restricted or universal suffrage: Restricted
Detail of restrictions: 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: 1960
Restricted or universal suffrage: Universal

Notes: 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: 1919
Restricted or universal: Restricted

Women's right to stand for election: 1929
Restricted or universal: Restricted

Women's right to stand for election: 1950
Restricted or universal: Restricted

Women's right to stand for election: 1960
Restricted or universal: Universal

Notes: Right to stand for election without any restriction

Women's caucus

Women's caucuses or parliamentary groups that bring together women parliamentarians to strengthen cooperation and amplify their voices. For other parliamentary bodies or committees that have a specific mandate to address gender equality matters, see the ‘Specialized body – Gender equality’ tab.

The All-Party Parliamentary Women’s Caucus (APWC) December 2015 - October 2019

Updated at	Current number of members
2024-11	97
2024-11	98
2024-10	99
2024-09	100
2024-09	101
2024-09	100
2024-08	98
2023-12	97
2023-10	94
2023-09	90
2023-07	91
2023-05	89
2022-11	93
2022-09	90
2021-11	92
2021-09	94
2021-07	95
2021-01	91
2020-12	93
2020-05	96
2019-12	99
2018-11	105
2017-12	94
2016-12	100
2016-11	102
2016-01	88
2015-08	83
2015-05	85
2014-12	88
2014-01	96
2011-06	103
2008-01	100
2007-01	93
2006-01	89
2005-01	93
2004-01	90
2001-01	93
2000-01	105
1999-01	104
1998-03	100
1992-01	104
1991-01	107
1990-01	111
1989-01	104
1988-01	98
1987-01	100
1985-01	102
1984-01	101
1983-01	92
1982-01	89
1981-01	92
1980-01	97
1979-01	103
1977-01	96
1976-01	93
1975-01	91
1974-01	93
1973-01	95
1972-01	96
1971-01	89
1970-01	91
1969-01	89
1968-01	93
1967-01	94
1966-01	95
1965-01	97
1964-01	99
1963-01	100
1962-01	99
1961-01	96
1960-01	102
1959-01	95
1958-01	93
1957-01	94
1956-01	84
1955-01	91
1954-01	82
1953-01	88
1952-01	83
1951-01	87
1950-01	88
1949-01	91
1948-01	82
1947-01	86
1946-01	95
1945-01	80

Updated at	Women
2024-11	51
2024-11	52
2024-10	53
2024-09	55
2024-08	55
2024-01	54
2023-12	53
2023-10	51
2023-07	49
2022-11	48
2021-11	45
2021-09	46
2021-07	47
2021-01	45
2020-12	46
2019-12	48
2018-11	49
2016-11	43
2016-01	34
2015-08	31
2015-05	33
2014-12	34
2014-01	38
2011-06	37
2008-01	35
2007-01	32
2001-01	33
2000-01	34
1999-01	32
1998-03	29
1998-01	19
1997-01	24
1994-01	19
1993-01	16
1991-01	15
1990-01	17
1989-01	11
1987-01	13
1986-01	15
1985-01	12
1984-01	13
1981-01	9
1980-01	10
1979-01	11
1978-01	8
1975-01	6
1973-01	7
1972-01	8
1970-01	6
1967-01	5
1966-01	4
1965-01	5
1963-01	6
1960-01	7
1957-01	5
1955-01	6
1953-01	5
1945-01	2

Canada

Senate

Data on women

Current representation

Speaker

Secretary general

Chairs of specialized bodies

Data on age at the start of the legislature

Number of members, by age (2021-11)

Reserved seats and quotas

First woman in parliament

First woman speaker

Women’s suffrage

Women's caucus

Historical data for IPU membership

Historical data for IPU membership

Historical data for Current number of members

Historical data for Women

Historical data for IPU membership
Updated at	IPU membership
1960-01	Yes
1933-01	No
1912-01	Yes