Three facts that define Canada’s government
Learn the three descriptions that belong together in a complete answer, and what each one actually means.
The chapter starts with three key facts: Canada is a federal state, a parliamentary democracy and a constitutional monarchy. Learn them as a set, because a test question may list two and ask for the third. Each answers a different question: how power is divided across the country, how citizens choose who governs them, and who holds the highest office in the state.
“Federal state” means public power is split among several orders of government rather than held by one national government. Canada has federal, provincial, territorial and municipal governments. The basic division between Ottawa and the provinces comes from the British North America Act of 1867, now called the Constitution Act, 1867, and it still decides which government handles which kind of law.
“Parliamentary democracy” means voters choose representatives for the House of Commons in Ottawa and for their provincial or territorial legislature. Those representatives make laws, approve and keep watch over public spending, and hold the government to account. Citizens aged 18 or older have a right and a responsibility to take part, above all by voting at every level: federal, provincial or territorial, and municipal.
“Constitutional monarchy” means the Head of State is a Sovereign, a Queen or King, who inherits the position and reigns according to the Constitution and the rule of law. The country is run by the Head of Government, the Prime Minister. Canada keeps these roles deliberately separate: one is inherited and stays above party politics, the other belongs to the leader who has the elected House’s support.
Federal, provincial and shared responsibilities
Map the guide’s lists of public responsibilities to the right order of government, and see why Canada divides power this way.
The Constitution Act, 1867, first known as the British North America Act, divided law-making power between the federal government and the provinces. Ottawa handles matters that affect the whole country or its relations abroad. The guide lists defence, foreign policy, interprovincial trade and communications, currency, navigation, criminal law and citizenship. Your citizenship application and the coins in your pocket are both federal business.
The provinces are responsible for education, health, natural resources, property and civil rights, highways and municipal government, so it is the provinces that create cities and towns and set their rules. Agriculture and immigration are shared, letting both Ottawa and the provinces act; the Federal Elections chapter’s table adds the environment. The guide’s case for dividing power is flexibility: each province can tailor policies to its own people and try out new ideas that others may later copy.
Each province elects its own Legislative Assembly, which does the job the House of Commons does in Ottawa. The three northern territories have small populations and are not provinces, yet their governments and assemblies perform many of the same functions. Context not in the guide: provinces draw their authority from the Constitution, while territories use powers that Parliament grants them through federal law.
Watch for questions about justice and health. Criminal law is made federally, yet provinces administer much of the justice system and policing; the guide’s table lists policing as federal and municipal, and as provincial in Ontario and Quebec. Health care is principally provincial and territorial. A shortcut: “education” or “highways” points to the provinces, while “currency” or “defence” points to Ottawa.
Parliament: the Sovereign, the Senate and the House of Commons
Learn the three parts of Parliament, who is elected and who is appointed, and how provincial legislatures follow the same model.
Parliament has three parts: the Sovereign, the Senate and the House of Commons. The Prime Minister is not a separate part; the Prime Minister normally sits in the House as an elected member and leads the executive. In the guide’s diagram, the Governor General stands in for the Sovereign, senators are named on the Prime Minister’s recommendation, and voters choose the members of the House.
The House of Commons is the chamber that represents the people. Its members of Parliament (MPs) are chosen by voters, by tradition every four years, and the diagram divides them into government members and opposition members. Outside the guide, which does not mention the Speaker: the Speaker, elected by the MPs themselves through a secret ballot, chairs debate impartially. Elected members pass laws, authorize and monitor spending, and question the government.
The Senate is the appointed chamber. The Governor General appoints senators on the Prime Minister’s advice, and they may serve until age 75; nobody votes for them. The guide gives no seat count, but the Senate has 105 seats. Both chambers study and review bills, the proposals for new laws, and a bill cannot become law until each chamber has passed it and Royal Assent has been given.
The provinces use the same model on a smaller scale. A provincial legislature consists of the Lieutenant Governor together with the elected Assembly; no province has a senate. The title of an elected member varies: members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs), of the National Assembly (MNAs), of the Provincial Parliament (MPPs) or of the House of Assembly (MHAs), depending on the province or territory (outside the guide: MNAs are Quebec’s, MPPs Ontario’s, MHAs Newfoundland and Labrador’s, MLAs elsewhere).
The Prime Minister, Cabinet and the confidence of the House
Understand who directs the government and why Cabinet must keep the support of the elected House to stay in office.
The executive branch is the Prime Minister and Cabinet. The Prime Minister picks the members of Cabinet and answers for how the government operates and what policies it follows; the guide stresses that the Prime Minister, not the Sovereign, really runs the government. Ministers usually come from Parliament, mostly the House of Commons, and run government departments. The public service delivers programs under their direction but is non-partisan.
Ministers answer to the elected representatives, so the government must keep the “confidence of the House”: a majority of MPs must be willing to back it on key votes. If it is defeated in a non-confidence vote, the ministers have to resign. This is the modern meaning of responsible government, the principle that ministers need the elected assembly’s support, which the colonies won in the 1840s.
Some votes carry confidence automatically. The Federal Elections chapter gives the budget as the example: if most MPs vote down a major government decision such as the budget, the party in power is defeated. Usually the Prime Minister then asks the Governor General, acting for the Sovereign, to call an election, and the voters, not the parties in the House, decide who governs next.
Here is how it plays out. Suppose a minority government presents a budget and the opposition parties together hold more seats than the governing party. If they all vote against it, the budget fails and the government has lost the House’s confidence; it cannot simply carry on. Under a majority government this is far less likely, because the governing party’s own MPs can carry the vote.
The Sovereign, Governor General, Lieutenant Governors and Commissioners
Learn what the Sovereign’s role is, and separate the Crown’s national and provincial representatives from the territorial Commissioners.
The Head of State is a hereditary Sovereign who reigns under the Constitution. The Sovereign is part of Parliament (a photo in the chapter shows Queen Elizabeth II opening the 23rd Parliament in 1957) but stays out of party politics. The Sovereign is the focus of Canadians’ allegiance and shared citizenship, seen most clearly on royal visits, and new citizens pledge loyalty to the Sovereign in the Oath of Citizenship.
The guide gives the Sovereign three symbolic roles: standing for Canada’s sovereignty, guarding the freedoms the Constitution protects, and reflecting the country’s history. The Royal Family’s lifelong service to the community is held up as an example that encourages citizens to give their best. The Sovereign is also Head of the Commonwealth, which connects Canada with 53 other nations working for social, economic and cultural progress (it has since grown to 56 members).
Other constitutional monarchies named in the guide are Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Australia, New Zealand, the Netherlands, Spain, Thailand, Japan, Jordan and Morocco. What matters for the test is Canada’s clear line between the Sovereign as Head of State and the Prime Minister as Head of Government. A question about who directs the government wants the Prime Minister; a question about who reigns, or who is Head of State, wants the Sovereign.
The Sovereign has representatives in Canada. The Sovereign appoints the Governor General, acting on the Prime Minister’s advice, usually for five years. Each of the ten provinces has a Lieutenant Governor, chosen by the Governor General on the Prime Minister’s advice and also normally serving five years. These non-partisan offices carry constitutional and ceremonial duties; for example, the Governor General grants Royal Assent to federal bills.
Provincial roles mirror federal ones: the Premier leads a province much as the Prime Minister leads the country, and the Lieutenant Governor’s role resembles the Governor General’s. The three territories, Yukon, the Northwest Territories and Nunavut, are different. Each has a Premier, but its Commissioner is the federal government’s representative, with a ceremonial role, and is not the Sovereign’s representative in the way a Lieutenant Governor is.
Three branches and how a bill becomes law
See how the executive, legislative and judicial branches check one another, then follow a federal bill through all seven stages in the guide.
The guide describes three branches of government. The executive, meaning the Prime Minister and Cabinet, runs the government. The legislative branch, made up of the Sovereign, the Senate and the House of Commons, makes the laws. The judicial branch is the courts, led by the Supreme Court of Canada, whose nine judges are appointed by the Governor General; the diagram ranks the Federal Court of Canada and the provincial courts beneath it.
The branches cooperate but sometimes pull against one another, and the guide credits this creative tension with helping to protect Canadians’ rights and freedoms. Judges are independent of Cabinet, for instance, so a court can rule against the government. Making a law shows the system at work: a bill, meaning a proposed law, must pass through seven stages, the first five of them in the House of Commons.
At First Reading the bill is deemed read once and is printed. At Second Reading members debate its principle, the basic idea behind it. At Committee Stage a committee examines it clause by clause. At Report Stage members can make further amendments. At Third Reading members debate the final version and vote on it. Sixth, the Senate takes the bill through a similar process of readings, committee study and votes.
Seventh and last comes Royal Assent, which the Governor General grants on the Sovereign’s behalf once both chambers have passed the bill; it is then an Act of Parliament. Picture a bill on interprovincial trade: a committee rewrites one clause, the House accepts the change at Report Stage and passes it at Third Reading, and senators then review it. If either chamber rejects it, it never becomes law.
Key facts to remember
- Canada is a federal state, a parliamentary democracy and a constitutional monarchy.
- The Sovereign is head of state and is represented federally by the Governor General. The Prime Minister is head of government and selects the Cabinet.
- Government has executive, legislative and judicial branches. They create, administer and interpret the law through distinct institutions.
- Parliament consists of the Sovereign, the appointed Senate and the elected House of Commons.
- Federal responsibilities include national defence, foreign policy, criminal law, citizenship and currency. Provinces and territories administer areas such as education and health.
- Municipal governments handle local services under provincial or territorial authority; First Nations governance has its own elected leadership and responsibilities.
Check yourself
- What is the difference between the head of state and head of government?
- The Sovereign is head of state; the Prime Minister is head of government.
- What are the three branches of government?
- Executive, legislative and judicial.
- Can you give two responsibilities for each level of government?
- Examples: federal—defence and currency; provincial—education and health; municipal—local roads and water services.
Practice questions
Eight questions shaped like the official test: one right answer out of four, with the reason it is right. The timed twenty-question exams are in the app.
Canada is a federal state, a parliamentary democracy and what else?
- A presidential republic
- A constitutional monarchy
- A direct democracy
- A unitary state
Answer: A constitutional monarchy. These are the three central features of Canada’s system of government.
Which responsibility mainly belongs to provincial governments?
- National defence
- Currency
- Education
- Citizenship
Answer: Education. Education, health care and highways are among provincial responsibilities.
Which three parts make up Parliament?
- The Sovereign, Senate and House of Commons
- Prime Minister, premiers and mayors
- Police, courts and Cabinet
- House of Commons, courts and municipalities
Answer: The Sovereign, Senate and House of Commons. Parliament consists of the Sovereign, the Senate and the House of Commons.
What does responsible government mean?
- The military selects Cabinet
- Ministers must retain the confidence of the elected assembly
- Judges write the budget
- The Sovereign campaigns for a party
Answer: Ministers must retain the confidence of the elected assembly. The government must maintain the confidence of the House of Commons to govern.
Who is Canada’s head of government?
- The Sovereign
- The Governor General
- The Prime Minister
- The Chief Justice
Answer: The Prime Minister. The Sovereign is head of state; the Prime Minister is head of government.
How do senators enter the Senate?
- They win local elections
- They are appointed by the Governor General on the Prime Minister’s advice
- They inherit their seats
- Premiers appoint them directly
Answer: They are appointed by the Governor General on the Prime Minister’s advice. Senators are appointed, while members of the House of Commons are elected.
What are the three branches of government?
- Federal, provincial and municipal
- Executive, legislative and judicial
- Crown, police and media
- Cabinet, opposition and voters
Answer: Executive, legislative and judicial. The executive, legislative and judicial branches have different roles.
What must happen before a bill becomes law?
- It wins a referendum in every province
- It is passed by both chambers and receives Royal Assent
- It is approved by every mayor
- It is signed by the Chief Justice
Answer: It is passed by both chambers and receives Royal Assent. A federal bill must pass the House of Commons and Senate and receive Royal Assent.