House of Commons Seat Allocation by Province

Summary#

This Gazette entry records two parliamentary items. It notes that on June 23, 2022 several bills received Royal Assent, and that on June 27, 2022 the Office of the Chief Electoral Officer published the number of members of the House of Commons to be assigned to each province under the Preserving Provincial Representation in the House of Commons Act.

What it does#

• Lists the bills that received Royal Assent on June 23, 2022, including:
  • An Act to amend the Constitution Act, 1867 (electoral representation) (Bill C-14)
  • An Act for granting to Her Majesty certain sums of money for the federal public administration for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2023 (Bill C-24)
  • An Act for granting to Her Majesty certain sums of money for the federal public administration for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2023 (Bill C-25)
  • An Act to give effect to the Anishinabek Nation Governance Agreement, to amend the Sechelt Indian Band Self-Government Act and the Yukon First Nations Self-Government Act and to make related and consequential amendments to other Acts (Bill S-10)
  • An Act to implement certain provisions of the budget tabled in Parliament on April 7, 2022 and other measures (Bill C-19)
  • An Act to amend the Criminal Code (self-induced extreme intoxication) (Bill C-28)
• Publishes the official count of House of Commons members by province, under the Preserving Provincial Representation in the House of Commons Act:
  • British Columbia — 43
  • Alberta — 37
  • Saskatchewan — 14
  • Manitoba — 14
  • Ontario — 122
  • Quebec — 78
  • New Brunswick — 10
  • Nova Scotia — 11
  • Prince Edward Island — 4
  • Newfoundland and Labrador — 7

Who's affected#

• Residents and voters in each province, because these numbers determine how many MPs represent their province in the House of Commons.
• Political parties, candidates, and provincial governments, who use seat counts for planning and campaigning.
• Office of the Chief Electoral Officer staff and Elections Canada processes that manage representation and boundary work.

Why it matters#

• The published numbers determine how many seats each province will have in the federal House of Commons. That shapes provincial representation in Parliament.
• Those seat counts feed into later steps (such as electoral boundary work) that can change which voters are grouped together and who represents them.
• For most readers, the practical takeaway is a concrete list of how many MPs each province will be assigned following the calculation announced by Stéphane Perrault, Chief Electoral Officer, on June 27, 2022.