Parliament of Canada

Joined the Commonwealth: 19 November 1926

CPA Branch formed: 1 January 1912

Unicameral/Bicameral: Bicameral – Senate (105); House of Commons (338)

Parliament/Legislature website: Parliament of Canada

CPA Canada Federal Branch website: click here

Number of Departmental/Ministry Oversight Committees: 14 (Senate), 23 (House of Commons)  

Senate:

Standing Committees on:- Aboriginal Peoples; Agriculture and Forestry; Banking, Trade and Commerce;  Energy, the Environment and Natural Resources; Fisheries and Oceans; Foreign Affairs and International Trade; Human Rights; Legal and Constitutional Affairs; National Finance; National Security and Defence; Official Languages; Social Affairs, Science and Technology; and, Transport and Communications   

House of Commons:

Standing Committees on:- Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics; Agriculture and Agri-Food; Canadian Heritage; Citizenship and Immigration; Environment and Sustainable Development; Finance; Fisheries and Oceans; Foreign Affairs and International Development; Government Operations and Estimates; Health; Human Resources, Skills and Social Development and the Status of Persons with Disabilities; Indigenous and Northern Affairs; Industry, Science and Technology; International Trade; Justice and Human Rights; National Defence; Natural Resources; Official Languages; Public Accounts; Public Safety and National Security; Status of Women; Transport, Infrastructure and Communities; and, Veteran Affairs  

Number of Joint Committees (if bicameral): 2 - The Standing Joint Committee on the Library of Parliament; The Standing Joint Committee for the Scrutiny of Regulations

Names of House Management (such as Privileges or Procedure) Committees:

Senate:- Committee of Selection; Rules, Procedures and the Rights of Parliament; Ethics and Conflict of Interest for Senators; Internal Economy, Budgets and Administration

House of Commons:- Procedure and House Affairs; Liaison Committee

Standing Orders:

Senate

House of Commons

Constitution of Canada: Please click here

CPA Blogs

• Being a 2SLGBTQI+ Canadian Parliamentarian: a privilege and a responsibility

Recent articles in The Parliamentarian (2015 to present)

• The Parliamentarian 2023 Issue One - Hon. Anthony Rota, MP, Speaker of the House of Commons, The Canadian experience of e-Parliaments and technology
• The Parliamentarian 2022 Issue One - Hon. Anthony Rota, MP, CPA President (2019-2022) and Speaker of the House of Commons, The House of Commons of Canada's response to COVID-19: Step-by-step 
• The Parliamentarian 2021 Issue Three - Ms Yasmin Ratansi, MP, COVID-19 and Canada's response to sustainable investment and green recovery
• The Parliamentarian 2020 Issue Four - Ms Yasmin Ratansi, MP, The Relationship Between Social Media and Parliamentary Democracy in the Commonwealth: A View from Canada 
• The Parliamentarian 2019 Issue Three - Hon. Chrystia Freeland, MP, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Defending Media Freedoms in the Commonwealth (Global Conference on Media Freedom)
• The Parliamentarian 2018 Issue Three - Ms Yasmin Ratansi, MP, 100 years of the vote for women in Canada
• The Parliamentarian 2017 Issue Three - Ms Yasmin Ratansi, MP, Celebrating 150 years of Canada's confederation and Parliament's recognition of indigenous peoples
• The Parliamentarian 2016 Issue Two - Ms Yasmin Ratansi, MP, A View of the CPA from CPA Canada
• The Parliamentarian 2015 Issue Four - Mr Russ Hiebert, MP, Reform Act of Canada
• The Parliamentarian 2015 Issue Three - Senator David Smith, Canadian Electoral Finance in the 21st century
• The Parliamentarian 2015 Issue Two - Mr Devinder Shory, MP, Immigrant Rights
• The Parliamentarian 2015 Issue Two - Senator Raynell Andreychuk, Developing an Ethics and Conflict of Interest Code in the Senate of Canada

Recent CPA Programmatic Activities/News

The CPA Canada Federal Branch has kindly offered support in the development of the CPA Parliamentary Academy, contributing to a number of video lectures including: - Regional and International Engagement, Gender Budgeting; and Overview of Committees. 

On 25 November 2020, the Hon. Anthony Rota, MP, Speaker of the House of Commons, was a panellist at the CPA Webinar for Speakers and Presiding Officers of the Commonwealth: COVID-19 and Independent Parliaments, where discussions looked at the importance of maintaining parliamentary sovereignty and legislative supremacy in the light of the ongoing COVI-19 pandemic.

Parliamentarians from the CPA Canada Branch have contributed as resource team members during CPA Post-Election Seminar, delivered for the following legislatures:

• The Anguilla House of Assembly; 
• The Dominica House of Assembly; 
• The Bermuda House of Assembly;  and, 
• The Parliament of Trinidad and Tobago. 

On 21 February 2021, Hon. Anthony Rota, MP joined the Hon. Speaker of the Nova Scotia Legislative Assembly in recording messages for International Mother Language Day. 

The CPA Canada Federal Branch supported the delivery of a suite of Virtual Commonwealth Parliamentary Workshops from 23 February - 8 March 2021. Notably a Member of the Senate of Canada spoke at the online session titled 'Promote and Respect for International Humanitarian Law - Placing Humanity First', on 25 February 2021, whereas a member of the Canadian House of Commons spoke at the session titled 'Leading the Way: How the Commonwealth can Empower Persons with Disabilities', on 4 March 2021.