Appointment by the governor general on advice of the prime minister
Meeting place
Senate Chamber Senate of Canada Building 2 Rideau Street Ottawa, Ontario Canada
Website
sencanada.ca
Rules
Rules of the Senate (English, French)
The Senate of Canada (French: Sénat du Canada) is the upper house of the Parliament of Canada. Together with the Crown and the House of Commons, they compose the bicameral legislature of Canada.
The Senate is modelled after the British House of Lords with members appointed by the governor general on the advice of the prime minister.[1] The appointment is made primarily by four divisions, each having twenty-four senators: the Maritime division, the Quebec division, the Ontario division, and the Western division. Newfoundland and Labrador is not part of any division, and has six senators. Each of the three territories has one senator, bringing the total to 105 senators. Senate appointments were originally for life; since 1965, they have been subject to a mandatory retirement age of 75.[2][3]
Although the Senate is the upper house of parliament and the House of Commons is the lower house, this does not imply the former is more powerful than the latter. It merely entails that its members and officers outrank the members and officers of the Commons in the order of precedence for the purposes of protocol. In fact, the opposite is true; as a matter of practice and custom, the House of Commons is the dominant chamber. The prime minister and Cabinet are responsible solely to the House of Commons and remain in office only so long as they retain the confidence of that chamber. Parliament is composed of the two houses together with the "Crown-in-Parliament" (i.e. the monarch, represented by the governor general as viceroy).
The approval of both houses is necessary for legislation to become law, and thus the Senate can reject bills passed by the House of Commons. Between 1867 and 1987, the Senate rejected fewer than two bills per year, but this has increased in more recent years.[4] Although legislation can normally be introduced in either chamber, the majority of government bills originate in the House of Commons, with the Senate acting as the chamber of "sober second thought" (as it was called by John A. Macdonald, Canada's first prime minister).[5]
^Guida, Franco (2006). Canadian almanac & directory (159th ed.). pp. 3–42. ISBN 1-895021-90-1.
^Foot, Richard. "Senate of Canada". The Canadian Encyclopedia. Historica Canada. Retrieved December 17, 2021.
^Senate of Canada: Senate Procedure and Practice, June 2015, p. 9.
^"About the Senate". Senate of Canada. January 25, 2019. Retrieved September 29, 2021.
^"FAQs about the Senate of Canada". Government of Canada. 2015. Retrieved December 7, 2015.
The SenateofCanada Building (French: édifice du Sénat du Canada) is a government building and former railway station that serves as the temporary seat...
advice and consent of the Senate and House of Commons ofCanada, enacts as follows ..." and, as such, the Crown is immune from acts of Parliament unless...
speaker of the SenateofCanada (French: président du Sénat du Canada) is the presiding officer of the SenateofCanada. The speaker represents the Senate at...
list of current members of the SenateofCanada (French: Le Sénat du Canada), the upper house of the Parliament ofCanada. Unlike the members of Parliament...
representative of the Government in the Senate (French: représentant du gouvernement au Sénat) is the member of the SenateofCanada who is responsible...
of Commons ofCanada (French: Chambre des communes du Canada) is the lower house of the Parliament ofCanada. Together with the Crown and the Senate of...
Progressive Senate Group (French: Groupe progressiste du sénat) is a parliamentary group in the SenateofCanada. It was formed on November 14, 2019, out of the...
C-45) was passed by the House of Commons ofCanada on 27 November 2017; it passed second reading in the SenateofCanada on 22 March 2018. On 18 June 2018...
The CanadianSenate expenses scandal, also known as Duffygate, was a political scandal concerning the expense claims of certain Canadian senators which...
The Speaker of the SenateofCanada presides over the SenateofCanada. Kenya's Senate is also presided over by a Speaker. The U.S. Senate has no speaker...
Alliance), and Québec debout (2018; split from Bloc Québécois). The SenateofCanada is Canada's unelected upper chamber. It currently has three non-party parliamentary...
ofCanada (French: Constitution du Canada) is the supreme law in Canada. It outlines Canada's system of government and the civil and human rights of those...
regions at the federal level for purposes such as representation in the SenateofCanada. However regional municipalities (or regional districts in British...
Marineland ofCanada Inc.), is a themed zoo and amusement park in Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada. The park has performing marine animal shows, exhibits of marine...
Government ofCanada, Public Services and Procurement Canada (31 July 2015). "Restoring and modernizing the SenateofCanada Building - Canada.ca". www...
House of Commons, and the Senate. While Canada inherited the British concept of parliamentary supremacy, this was later, with the enactment of the Constitution...
group". Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 13 October 2017. Canada, Senateof. "SenateofCanada – Special Senate Committee on Senate Modernization"...
Tribunal Canadian Human Rights Commission Canadian Human Rights Tribunal Speaker of the Senate Clerk of the Senate and Clerk of the Parliaments Usher of the...