Parliament of Canada

Parliament of Canada Parlement du Canada
45th Parliament
Type
Type	Bicameral
Houses	Senate House of Commons
History
Founded	1 July 1867 (1867-07-01)
Preceded by	Initially assumed some jurisdiction from: Parliament of the Province of Canada General Assembly of Nova Scotia New Brunswick Legislature Later added some jurisdiction from: Hudson's Bay Company Legislative Council of British Columbia General Assembly of Prince Edward Island General Assembly of Newfoundland (then suspended) Parliament of the United Kingdom
Leadership
Monarch	Charles III since 8 September 2022
Governor General	Mary Simon since 26 July 2021
Speaker of the Senate	Raymonde Gagné, Non-affiliated since 12 May 2023
Speaker of the House of Commons	Francis Scarpaleggia, Liberal since 26 May 2025
Prime Minister	Mark Carney, Liberal since 14 March 2025
Leader of the Official Opposition	Andrew Scheer, Conservative since 6 May 2025
Structure
Seats	448 105 senators 343 members of Parliament
Senate political groups	Independent Senators Group (45)   Canadian Senators Group (20)   Progressive Senate Group (18)   Conservative (14)   Non-affiliated (7)   Vacant (1)
House of Commons political groups	His Majesty's Government   Liberal (169) His Majesty’s Loyal Opposition   Conservative (144) Parties with official status   Bloc Québécois (22) Parties without official status   New Democratic (7)   Green (1)
Elections
Senate voting system	Appointment by the governor general on advice of the prime minister
House of Commons voting system	First-past-the-post
Last House of Commons election	28 April 2025
Meeting place
Centre Block – Parliament Hill, Ottawa, Ontario (both houses, permanent) Senate of Canada Building, 2 Rideau Street, Ottawa, Ontario (Senate only – temporary during renovations) West Block – Parliament Hill, Ottawa, Ontario (House of Commons only – temporary during renovations)
Website
parl.ca

The Parliament of Canada (French: Parlement du Canada) is the federal legislature of Canada. The Crown, along with two chambers: the Senate and the House of Commons, form the bicameral legislature.

The 343 members of the lower house, the House of Commons, are styled as Members of Parliament (MPs), and each elected to represent an electoral district (also known as a riding). The 105 members of the upper house, the Senate, are styled senators and appointed by the governor general on the advice of the prime minister. Collectively, MPs and senators are known as parliamentarians.

Bills may originate in either the House of Commons or the Senate, however, bills involving raising or spending funds must originate in the House of Commons. By constitutional convention, and following the Westminster system of government, the House of Commons is dominant, with the Senate rarely opposing its will. The Crown provides royal assent to make bills into law. The federal fiscal year runs from April 1 to March 31.^[1]

The governor general, on the advice of the prime minister, summons and calls together the House of Commons, and may prorogue or dissolve Parliament, in order to either end a parliamentary session or call a general election. The governor general also delivers the throne speech at the opening of each new Parliament (the monarch occasionally has done so instead of the governor general).

The election for the 45th Canadian Parliament was held on 28 April 2025, resulting in a Liberal minority government.