Canada
About parliament
Basic information such as the official name of parliament and details of its structure and leadership. Also includes the current breakdown of MPs by sex and age, and provisions for quotas and reserved seats.
Notes
Parliamentary term: Continuous (the Senate ceases to function with the dissolution of Parliament and resumes upon the summoning of Parliament following the election of a new House of Commons. Senators continue to serve until they are 75 years old.)
Parliament name
Parliament of Canada - Parlement du Canada
Chamber name
Senate (Senate)
Structure & Status of parliament
This field is to indicate lower/upper in the back end.
Upper chamber
IPU membership
Affiliation periods
from 1912 to 1933
from 1960
IPU Geopolitical Group/s
IPU Geopolitical Groups: African Group, Arab Group, Asia-Pacific Group, Eurasia Group, Group of Latin America and the Caribbean (GRULAC), Twelve Plus Group.
Asia-Pacific Group
Twelve Plus Group
Speaker
Official title
The Speaker may for example be known as the Presiding Officer, President, Chairman/Chairperson, etc.
Speaker of the Senate
Speaker
Raymonde
Gagné
(Female)
Year of birth
1956
Term
12.05.2023
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.
As the Speaker of the Senate serves at the pleasure of the Prime Minister, there is no set term.
Secretary General
Official title
This post is most commonly called Secretary General or Clerk. It may also be called Secretary, Head/Chief of the Secretariat, Director General, etc.
Interim Clerk of the Senate and Clerk of the Parliaments
Secretary General
Gerald
Lafrenière
(Male)
Notes
Additional information about the Secretary General, in particular regarding their term.
Appointed on 31 Dec. 2020.
Members
Statutory number of members
Statutory number of members, as defined in the constitution or other fundamental law.
Principal mode of designation of members
Appointed
Compare data of this field.
Appointed members
Appointed, for example, by the Head of State.
105
Note on the statutory number of members
Appointed by the Governor General on the recommendation of the Prime Minister.
Current number of members
Number of members who currently hold seats in parliament. May be lower or higher than the statutory number of members.
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.
Statutory number of members per country
As defined in the constitution or other fundamental laws. Combines the number of parliamentarians in both chambers in bicameral parliaments.
Population (in thousands)
Click for historical data
See historical data for this field.
Age
Data on the age of parliamentarians is collected at the start of the legislature, following the most recent elections. This data is not updated during the legislature, except when parliament notifies the IPU of a change in the youngest or oldest member.
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
Patrick Brazeau (Male)
Oldest member (years)
Age at the time of the last election or renewal.
74
Oldest member
Lillian Eva Dyck (Female)
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 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 16 | 45 | 28 | 0 | 0 | |
| Total <= 45: 1 | Total >= 46: 91 | ||||||||||
| Male | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 22 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 47 |
| Female | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 23 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 45 |
Members for whom data is available
Reserved seats and quotas
There are reserved seats in parliament for certain groups
Reserved seats are a means to ensure the parliamentary representation of certain groups in society.
Electoral quota for women
Quotas to promote the representation of women in parliament.
Electoral quota for youth
Quotas to promote the representation of youth in parliament.
Links to additional information
Parliamentary website
Link(s) to parliamentary web site in English, French and/or local languages.
Rules of procedure/Standing Orders
Link(s) to Rules of procedure on the parliamentary web site in English, French and/or local language.
List of members
Link(s) to list of members on the parliamentary web site.
Constitution
Official links to the Constitution in English, French and/or original language is provided. Links to unofficial translations where no other source is available.