Composition of the House
Canada is divided into 301 electoral districts, each of which sends one Member to the House of Commons. [3]
An electoral district can be defined as any place or territorial area in Canada entitled to return a person
to serve in the House of Commons. The boundaries of an electoral district are determined by an electoral
boundaries commission following each decennial census when the number of seats to be apportioned among the
provinces is decided. These districts or constituencies are grouped by province and territory, and the
population serves as the main basis for assigning the seat total to each.
The composition of the House has expanded greatly since 1867. At the time of Confederation, representation
was based on Quebec having the same number of seats that it had in the Legislature of the Province of Canada,
with the other provinces being granted representation in proportion to that number. At the opening of the
First Parliament, 181 Members sat in the House of Commons, representing the following provinces: 82 for
Ontario, 65 for Quebec, 19 for Nova Scotia, and 15 for New Brunswick. [4]
Soon after, new provinces began to seek admittance to Confederation; representation in Parliament was
considered negotiable and often did not reflect representation by population. [5]
When Manitoba joined Canada in 1870, four Members were added to the membership of the House. [6]
British Columbia and Prince Edward Island each got six Members upon joining Confederation in 1871 and in
1873 respectively. [7]
In 1886, the Northwest Territories received four seats and in 1902, the Yukon Territory was granted one seat. [8]
When Saskatchewan and Alberta were established out of the Northwest Territories in 1905, they were allotted
10 and seven Members respectively. [9]
The Northwest Territories no longer had a seat in the House. Newfoundland joined Confederation in 1949 and
was granted seven seats. [10]
In 1952, the Mackenzie district of the Northwest Territories was granted one seat and, in 1962, the
Representation Act was amended to give the entire Northwest Territories one seat. [11]
In 1975, the number of seats in the Northwest Territories grew to two. On April 1, 1999, the Nunavut
Territory was established out of the eastern portion of the Northwest Territories and was given one of the
two seats. [12]
Today, there are 301 Members from 10 provinces and three territories: 34 for British Columbia, 26 for Alberta,
14 forSaskatchewan, 14 for Manitoba, 103 for Ontario, 75 for Quebec, 10 for New Brunswick, 11 for Nova
Scotia, four for Prince Edward Island, seven for Newfoundland, and one each for the Yukon Territory, the
Northwest Territories, and Nunavut. (See Figure 4.1 for changes in representation from 1867 to the present.)
Representation
The Fathers of Confederation adopted the principle of representation by population. Each province was
allotted a number of seats on the basis of its share of the total population in relation to that in the
province of Quebec, which had been guaranteed 65 seats, the same number it had in the Province of Canada
legislature. [13]
On the basis of this principle, a formula was derived to calculate the number of seats each province would
be allocated in the House of Commons. The Constitution Act, 1867 stipulated that in order for the
population of each province to be accurately represented in the House of Commons, the number of seats for
each province was to be recalculated after each decennial census, starting with the census of 1871. [14]
The total number of seats was to be calculated by dividing the population of each province by a fixed
number referred to as the “electoral quota” or “quotient”. This quotient was
determined by dividing the population of the province of Quebec by 65. There was one exception to this
formula, the one-twentieth rule as it was known, whereby no province could lose seats unless its share of
the national population had decreased by at least 5% (one-twentieth) between the last two censuses.
Because of the growing population of the country, the one-twentieth clause caused no problems for the first
25 years of Confederation. In 1872, representation in the House increased after the decennial census of 1871:
Ontario received six additional Members, Nova Scotia two, and New Brunswick one. With the readjustment of
representation in 1882, Ontario received four extra seats and Manitoba one, bringing the total to 211
Members. However, in 1892, the three Maritime provinces lost four seats in total, causing some concern,
particularly in Prince Edward Island. Although the population was growing in the Maritime provinces, it was
becoming relatively smaller in proportion to the national total. In 1903, the readjustment of representation
saw the number of seats in Prince Edward Island reduced. In arguments before the Supreme Court, Prince
Edward Island claimed that it should be entitled to the six seats it was allocated when it joined
Confederation. The Supreme Court subsequently upheld that representation must be based on the total
population of Canada and that no exception could be made for Prince Edward Island. [15]
Despite the Supreme Court ruling, there was dissension among some of the provinces whose population was
declining. A constitutional amendment was proposed in 1914 and adopted the following year. Still in effect
today, the “senatorial clause”, as it is referred to, guarantees that no province can have fewer
seats in the House of Commons than it has in the Senate and was added to the Constitution to protect the
smallest provinces from losing any more seats because of a declining population. [16]
Following the census of 1941, a constitutional amendment was adopted to postpone the redistribution process
until the first session of Parliament after the end of the war. [17]
This constitutional amendment came about because the Western provinces were concerned that the dislocation
of population caused by the war would affect their representation. There was also widespread dissatisfaction
among the provinces with the rules for redistribution, which would have seen four of the nine provinces
being allocated representation in accordance with their population; the other five provinces would have been
guaranteed extra seats either because of the senatorial clause or the one-twentieth formula. [18]
The demand for representation by population, in particular by Quebec, led to the repeal of the one-twentieth
clause in 1946. [19]
The total number of seats was fixed at 255, one for the Yukon and the other 254 divided among the provinces
on the basis of their share of the country’s total population, rather than on the average population
per electoral district in Quebec. [20]
However, under this new formula, it was soon discovered that with provincial populations not increasing at
the same rate, representation in some provinces declined. With Nova Scotia, Manitoba and Saskatchewan all
scheduled to lose seats after the 1951 census, the Constitution Act, 1867 was amended again to
prevent a rapid decline in the number of seats of some provinces. [21]
In this instance, the amendment stipulated that no province could lose more than 15% of the number of seats
it was entitled to under the last readjustment, nor could a province have fewer seats than a province with
a smaller population. Nonetheless, after the 1961 census, these same three provinces as well as Quebec lost
seats, and following the 1971 census, Newfoundland was added to the list of provinces scheduled to lose
seats.
In 1974, legislation was introduced to remedy this problem. A new formula, the amalgam formula, was proposed
in the Representation Act, 1974 to ensure that no province lost any seats. [22]
As in the original representation formula, Quebec was allocated a set number of seats, 75, and its average
constituency population was used to calculate the number of seats in the other provinces. In each subsequent
readjustment, there would be an automatic increase of four seats for Quebec to compensate for population
growth and decrease the average constituency population in Quebec, the basis on which the allocation of
seats among the other provinces would be calculated. In addition, three categories of provinces were
created: large provinces (population of 2.5 million or more); intermediate provinces (population between 1.5
and 2.5 million); and small provinces (population under 1.5 million). Only the large provinces would be
allocated seats in strict proportion to Quebec; separate rules for calculating the number of seats were
established for the small and intermediate provinces. [23]
The amalgam formula was applied only once, in 1976, establishing 282 seats in the House.
Following the 1981 census, calculations revealed that there would be substantial increases in the
representation in the House both immediately and after subsequent censuses. Indeed, it was projected that,
by the year 2001, there would be 396 Members in the House. The Standing Committee on Privileges and
Elections was mandated to study the issue of representation in both the Thirty-Second (1980-84) and
Thirty-Third (1984-88) Parliaments [24] ,
and new representation legislation was passed in 1986. The Representation Act, 1985 [25]
set down a new formula for calculating representation, starting with 282 seats, the number of Members
resulting from the previous distribution (see Figure 4.2):
- One seat each is allocated to the Northwest Territories, Nunavut [26]
and the Yukon.
- The total population of the 10 provinces is divided by 279 to obtain the electoral quotient.
- The number of seats to be allocated to each province is calculated by dividing the total population
of the province by the electoral quotient. If the result leaves a remainder higher than 0.50, the number
of seats is rounded off to the next whole number.
- Once the number of seats per province is obtained, adjustments are made by applying the senatorial and
grandfather clauses. The senatorial clause guarantees that no province has fewer Members than it has
Senators, while the grandfather clause ensures that no province has fewer seats than it had in 1986 when
this legislation came into force. [27]
As a result of this new formula, the House grew to 295 seats after the 1988 federal election and to 301
seats following the 1997 election.
Readjustment of Boundaries
While Section 51 of the Constitution Act, 1867, sets out the formula for the allocation of seats
in the House of Commons among the provinces after each decennial census, the Electoral Boundaries
Readjustment Act provides for the drawing of the constituency or electoral district boundaries within
each province. The boundaries of electoral districts need to be adjusted whenever a province’s
representation changes or when there have been significant population fluctuations within a province, such
as movement from rural to urban areas. The readjustment of boundaries is a federal matter controlled by
Parliament.
In the early years of Confederation, the government would introduce a bill describing the boundaries of
each electoral district and then have the bill adopted like any other piece of legislation. This was
subject to criticism as being a highly biased task focussed on maximizing the governing party’s
electoral successes, often referred to as “gerrymandering”. [28]
In 1903, this legislative process was altered by Sir Wilfrid Laurier when the readjustment of constituency
boundaries was placed in the hands of a special committee of the House of Commons on which Members from all
parties were represented. [29]
Each time a redistribution was to occur, as provided for by the Constitution Act, 1867 and the
latest census, the government brought in a bill which would not contain any details on individual ridings.
After the bill was read a second time, it would be referred to a special committee instructed to
“prepare schedules to contain and describe the several electoral divisions entitled to return Members
to this House”. [30]
This process remained highly partisan and was lacking guidelines to instruct Members on how to base their
decisions. [31]
This system remained in place until 1964 when non-partisan electoral boundaries commissions were established
to draw and readjust the boundaries of electoral constituencies.
Even before Confederation, suggestions had been made to place the drawing of electoral boundaries into the
hands of an impartial body, and not with Members. [32]
This continued to be a concern after Confederation and, on a number of occasions, it was recommended that the
process be moved away from Members into the hands of judges. [33]
In 1963, the decision was taken to assign the drawing of electoral boundaries to non-partisan commissions
operating under specified general principles and, in 1964, the Electoral Boundaries Readjustment Act
as passed. [34]
Today, there is an electoral boundaries commission appointed for each province. No commission is appointed
for the Yukon Territory, the Northwest Territories or Nunavut. Each commission consists of a chairman,
normally a provincial court judge, who is appointed by the chief justice of the province, [35]
and two other individuals appointed by the Speaker of the House of Commons “from among such persons
resident in that province as the Speaker deems suitable”. [36]
No sitting member of the Senate or of the House of Commons or of a provincial or territorial legislature
can be appointed to a commission. [37]
As soon as possible after the completion of each decennial census, the Chief Statistician provides the Chief
Electoral Officer, an officer of Parliament who is responsible for the administration of federal elections,
with the population figures. [38]
The Chief Electoral Officer then calculates the total number of House of Commons seats and their
distribution among the provinces and territories. [39]
This information is published in the Canada Gazette [40]
and then the process begins to appoint the chairman and members of each commission. When the electoral
boundaries commissions have been established, the Chief Electoral Officer provides the chairman of each
electoral boundaries commission with the population figures. The commission has up to one year from that
date to recommend constituency boundaries. [41]
Each commission is required to draw constituency boundaries in such a way that the population of each
constituency is as close as possible to the quotient obtained by dividing the provincial population by the
number of seats allocated to the province. No constituency is permitted to have a population smaller than
75% of this figure or greater than 125%, although in extraordinary circumstances a commission may exceed
this limit. Commissions may vary the size of constituencies within this range on the basis of special
geographic considerations, such as density of population in various regions of the province, and the
accessibility, size and shape of such regions. Because accessibility, transportation and communications are
often seen as obstacles both to effective representation and to ease of campaigning, electoral boundaries
commissions generally draw boundaries so that there are fewer voters in rural constituencies than in urban
constituencies. Variations may also occur on the basis of a special community of interest or the historical
background of a particular district. [42]
Before writing its report, each commission publishes in the Canada Gazette, as well as in
newspapers in the province, a map or drawing showing the proposed electoral boundaries for the province and
invites electors and Members of Parliament to public meetings held in locations that will encourage the
attendance of as many interested people as possible. The commission’s proposals must be published at
least 60 days before the date of the first hearing. Interested persons wishing to make a representation
must submit their notice in writing to the commission within 53 days after the date of publication of the
commission’s advertisement. [43]
Following the hearings, each commission reviews its proposals, prepares a report and forwards it to the
Chief Electoral Officer before the end of its one-year mandate, unless the Chief Electoral Officer has
granted an extension of not more than six months. [44]
The Chief Electoral Officer transmits a copy of each report to the Speaker of the House of Commons who
tables them in the House and ensures that they are referred to a committee designated to deal with electoral
matters. [45]
If reports are received between sessions, the Speaker of the House will have the reports published in the
Canada Gazette, and a copy of that Canada Gazette will be sent to the Members representing
the electoral districts inthat province. [46]
Members of Parliament have 30 days following the tabling or publication to file objections in writing with
the clerk of the committee designated to deal with electoral matters. Members must specify the provisions
objected to in the reports and the reason for the objection. These representations are made in the form of
a motion signed by at least 10 Members. [47]
Following the filing deadline, the committee has 30 sitting days to review the Members’ representations, [48]
unless the committee asks the House for an extension. [49]
At the conclusion of its consideration of the reports and the objections thereto, the committee returns the
reports to the House along with a copy of the objections and its minutes of proceedings. The reports and
attached documents are then sent by the Speaker to the Chief Electoral Officer for distribution to the
various electoral boundaries commissions. [50]
No discussion of the reports or the objections thereto takes place in the House. [51]
The commissions must consider the objections but they are not compelled to make any changes as a result
of the objections. Each commission then submits a final report, with or without amendment, to the Chief
Electoral Officer who forwards it to the Speaker of the House. [52]
Tabled in the House by the Speaker, [53]
the commission’s decision is final and without appeal.
After each commission has submitted its final report, the Chief Electoral Officer prepares a draft
representation order. The draft representation order specifies the number of Members to be elected in each
province and territory, divides each province and territory into electoral districts, describes the
boundaries of each district and specifies the population of and the name to be given to each district. [54]
Within five days after its receipt by the Minister designated by the Governor in Council as being
responsible for implementing the Electoral Boundaries Readjustment Act, the draft representation
order must be proclaimed by the Governor in Council. [55]
The new boundaries cannot be used at the time of an election unless one year has passed between the date
the representation order was proclaimed and the date that Parliament is dissolved for a general election. [56]
The Electoral Boundaries Readjustment Act also requires the Chief Electoral Officer to publish maps
showing the new electoral district boundaries resulting from the readjustment process. [57]
Suspension of the Readjustment Process
In each decade since the 1960s, Parliament has adopted legislation either to suspend or to amend the
redistribution process for one reason or another. After both the 1971 and 1981 censuses, the readjustment
process was suspended to permit amendments to Section 51 of the Constitution Act, 1867,setting out
the formula for representation in the House and to make some changes to the readjustment process itself. [58]
The redistribution process has been suspended twice since the 1991 census.
In 1992, Parliament agreed that in light of the proposed changes to the Canada Elections Act made
by the Royal Commission on Electoral Reform and Party Financing, as well as the probability that the
readjustment process could not be completed before the next federal election, the Act should be suspended. [59]
In 1994, the government believed that it was time for a full review of the Act, given the dissatisfaction
being expressed by Members about certain aspects of the process and the continual increase in the number of
seats in the House after each census. [60]
The readjustment process was subsequently suspended by the Electoral Boundaries Readjustment Suspension
Act, 1994, which provided for the suspension of the readjustment process until the earlier of the
enactment of new electoral boundaries readjustment legislation or June 22, 1995. It also temporarily
discharged the existing electoral boundaries commissions of their duties once their reports to the House of
Commons on electoral districts had been completed. [61]
In the interim, the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs was instructed to draft a bill
respecting the system of readjustin electoral boundaries. [62]
The Committee was also asked to consider a formula to cap or reduce the number of seats in the House and to
review the method of appointing members for electoral boundaries commissions, the rules surrounding their
powers and methods of proceeding, and the involvement of the public and the House of Commons in the work of
the commissions.
On November 25, 1994, the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs presented its report which
included draft legislation to repeal the existing statute and to abolish the electoral boundaries
commissions. [63]
While the Committee did not recommend a change in the manner of assigning seats among the provinces after
each decennial census nor a formula for capping the number of seats in the House, it did propose a new
method of drawing electoral boundaries. As a result, Bill C-69, Electoral Boundaries Readjustment Act,
1995, was introduced by the government on February 16, 1995. [64]
The objective of the bill was to stop the redistribution plans and to start the process all over again,
allowing the next election to be held on the basis of the 1981 boundaries. The bill would have also brought
about a redistribution every five years in provinces where the shift in population warranted it, a new
triggering mechanism for holding a decennial redistribution which would have eliminated an unnecessary
redistribution in provinces without a significant change in population, and parliamentary oversight of
appointments to electoral boundaries commissions. However, amendments subsequently proposed to the bill by
the Senate and rejected by the House prevented the bill from being passed. [65]
Since new electoral boundaries readjustment legislation had not been passed by the stipulated June 22, 1995
deadline, the Speaker tabled the reports of all the electoral boundaries commissions in the House as
required and the electoral boundaries were adjusted accordingly. [66]
The general election of 1997 was held on the basis of the post-1991 redistribution and revision of
boundaries.
Naming of Constituencies
At the time of Confederation, the electoral districts for each province were established in the
Constitution Act, 1867. [67]
The electoral districts existing at that time were named after counties, cities, parts of cities, and towns
in each province. From 1872 to 1964, the names of the ridings were provided in legislation to enact seat
redistributions and to fix electoral boundaries.
Since 1964 and the adoption of the modern process for drawing electoral boundaries, the names of electoral
districts are decided by the electoral boundaries commissions and included in their reports. The names are
set down in the representation orders giving legal effect to those reports. The alteration to the name of
an electoral district after the publication of the representation order can be effected by the passage of a
private Member’s bill. A Member usually introduces legislation to change the name of the electoral
district in response to concerns expressed by constituents that the name does not accurately describe the
boundaries of the riding. [68]
Such a bill is typically entitled “An Act to change the name of the electoral district of (electoral
district)”. Once the bill is before the House for second reading, it is dealt with quickly, typically
being read a second time, considered in a Committee of the Whole, reported without amendment, concurred in
at the report stage, read a third time and adopted in the same sitting by unanimous consent. [69]