El marc polític de Canadà

Political Outline

Current Political Leaders

Governor General: Mary Simon (since 26 July 2021)
Prime Minister: Mark Carney (14 March 2025) - Liberal Party
King Charles III is officially the Chief of State of Canada (since 8 September 2022).

Next Election Dates

2029

Main Political Parties

Historically, the Canadian two-party plus system has been dominated by the centre-left Liberal Party and the centre-right Conservative Party. Since the 1980s or so Canada’s dominant third-place party has been the further-left NDP. There is also a consistently fourth-place party known as the Bloc Quebecois which is devoted to Quebec separatism.

- Liberal Party of Canada (LPC): centrist party, the oldest active federal political party in Canada
- Conservative Party of Canada (CPC): centre-right to right-wing; colloquially known as the 'Tories'
- New Democratic Party (NDP): centre-left, socialist
- Bloc Québécois: centre-left, social-democratic
- Green Party of Canada (GPC): centre-left, ecologist party.

New parties are expected to run in the 2025 elections, namely the Canadian Future Party (CFP - centrist) and the Centrist Party of Canada.

Executive Power

King Charles III is the Head of State, whose role is largely cerimonial. He appoints Canada's Governor General for a five year term. The Governor General - who was a largely ceremonial role - appoints the Prime Minister as well as the Cabinet (however, cabinet members are chosen by the Prime Minister). The Prime Minister is the head of the government and holds the executive power. The leader of the majority party or coalition in the House of Commons is automatically chosen to be Prime Minister. The Prime Minister and his Cabinet stay in power as long as they have the support of the majority in the House of Commons.

Legislative Power

The legislative power in Canada is bicameral. The federal parliament made up of: the Senate (upper house), whose 105 members are appointed by the Governor General on the advice of the Prime Minister; and the House of Commons (lower house), whose 338 members are elected by universal suffrage, with each member representing a single electoral district (also known as a "riding"). The Governor General calls a general election when the Prime Minister advises him to do so. Most legislative practices are derived from the British Parliament.