View source for Senate of Canada

{{short description|Upper house of the Parliament of Canada}}
{{use Canadian English|date=October 2016}}
{{use mdy dates|date=February 2019}}
{{Infobox legislature
 | background_color   = #A2070F
 | name               = Senate of Canada
 | native_name        = {{nobold|{{lang|fr|Sénat du Canada}}}}
 | transcription_name =
 | legislature        = [[45th Canadian Parliament|45th Parliament]]
 | logo_pic           = Senate of Canada badge.png
 | logo_res           = 75px
 | house_type         = Upper house
 | body               = Parliament of Canada
 | jurisdiction       = 
 | term_limits        = 
 | foundation         = {{Start date|1867}}
 | new_session        = 
 | leader1_type       = [[Speaker of the Senate of Canada|Speaker]]
 | leader1            = [[Raymonde Gagné]]
 | party1             = [[Independent politician#Canada|Non-affiliated]]
 | election1          = May 16, 2023
 | leader2_type       = [[Speaker pro tempore of the Senate of Canada|Speaker Pro Tempore]]
 | leader2            = [[René Cormier]]
 | party2             = [[Independent Senators Group]]
 | election2          = June 5, 2025
 | leader3_type       = [[Representative of the Government in the Senate|Representative of the Government]]
 | leader3            = [[Pierre Moreau]]
 | party3             = [[Independent politician#Canada|Non-affiliated]]
 | election3          = July 18, 2025
 | leader4_type       = [[Leader of the Opposition in the Senate (Canada)|Senate Opposition Leader]]
 | leader4            = [[Leo Housakos]]
 | party4             = [[Conservative Party of Canada|Conservative]]
 | election4          = May 14, 2025
 | leader5_type       = Facilitator of the [[Independent Senators Group|ISG]]
 | leader5            = [[Raymonde Saint-Germain]] 
 | election5          = January 1, 2022
 | leader6_type       = Leader of the [[Canadian Senators Group|CSG]]
 | leader6           = [[Scott Tannas]] 
 | election6         = November 4, 2019
 | leader7_type      = Leader of the [[Progressive Senate Group|PSG]]
 | leader7           = [[Pierre Dalphond]]
 | election7         = February 27, 2024
 | members           = 105
 | structure1        = File:Senate of Canada - Seating Plan (45th Parliament).svg
 | structure1_res    = 250px
 | structure1_alt    = Current Structure of the Senate
 | political_groups1 = {{unbulleted list
|{{legend|{{Canadian party colour|CA|ISG}}|[[Independent Senators Group]] (42)}}
|{{legend|{{Canadian party colour|CA|Canadian Senators Group}}|[[Canadian Senators Group]] (19)}}
|{{legend|{{Canadian party colour|CA|Progressive Senate Group}}|[[Progressive Senate Group]] (16)}}
|{{nowrap|{{legend|{{Canadian party colour|CA|Conservative}}|[[Conservative Party of Canada|Conservative Party]] (13)}}}}
|{{nowrap|{{legend|{{Canadian party colour|CA|Senate GRO}}|Government Representative’s Office (5)}}}}
|{{legend|{{Canadian party colour|CA|Non-affiliated}}|Non-affiliated (3)}}
|{{legend|{{Canadian party colour|CA|Vacant}}|Vacant (7)}}
}}
 | salary             = {{CAD}}184,800 (sessional indemnity effective April 1, 2025)<ref>{{cite web |title=Indemnities, Salaries and Allowances |url=https://lop.parl.ca/sites/ParlInfo/default/en_CA/People/Salaries |website=Parlinfo |publisher=Parliament of Canada |access-date=February 12, 2025}}</ref>
 | voting_system1     = Appointment by the [[Monarchy of Canada|King]] or [[Governor General of Canada|governor general]] on [[Advice (constitutional)|advice]] of the [[Prime Minister of Canada|prime minister]]
 | last_election1     =
 | session_room       = Senate of Canada temporary chamber, 2019.jpg
 | session_res        = 250px
 | session_alt        = The Senate of Canada sits in the Senate of Canada Building in Ottawa
 | meeting_place      = Senate Chamber<br>[[Senate of Canada Building]]<br>2 Rideau Street<br>[[Ottawa]], Ontario<br>Canada
 | website            = {{URL|sencanada.ca/}}
 | rules              = [https://sencanada.ca/media/135117/rules-senate-reglement-senat.pdf Rules of the Senate] (English, French)
}}
The '''Senate of Canada''' ({{langx|fr|Sénat du Canada}}) is the [[upper house]] of the [[Parliament of Canada]]. Together with the [[Monarchy of Canada#Parliament (King-in-Parliament)|Crown]] and the [[House of Commons of Canada|House of Commons]], they compose the [[Bicameralism|bicameral]] legislature of Canada.

The Senate is modelled after the British [[House of Lords]], with its members appointed by the [[Governor General of Canada|governor general]] on the [[Advice (constitutional)|advice]] of the [[Prime Minister of Canada|prime minister]].<ref name="Franco">{{cite book |last1=Guida |first1=Franco |title=Canadian Almanac & Directory |date=2006 |isbn=1-895021-90-1 |pages=3–42 |publisher=Scobie & Balfour |edition=159th}}</ref> 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.<ref name=":0">{{cite web |last1=Foot |first1=Richard |title=Senate of Canada |url=https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/senate |website=The Canadian Encyclopedia |publisher=Historica Canada |access-date=17 December 2021}}</ref><ref name = SPaP>{{cite book |url=https://sencanada.ca/media/93509/spip-psep-full-complet-e.pdf |author=Senate of Canada |title=Senate Procedure and Practice |date=June 2015 |page=9}}</ref>

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 [[Canadian order of precedence|order of precedence]] for the purposes of protocol. As a matter of practice and custom, the opposite is true, with the House of Commons being the dominant chamber. The prime minister and [[Cabinet of Canada|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 "[[King-in-Parliament|Crown-in-Parliament]]" (i.e. the [[Monarchy of Canada|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 [[bill (proposed law)|bills]] passed by the House of Commons.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://sencanada.ca/en/about/|title=About the Senate |date=January 25, 2019 |publisher=Senate of Canada|access-date=September 29, 2021}}</ref> In practice, this power has rarely been invoked throughout Canadian history.<ref name=":0" /> 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|Sir John A. Macdonald]], Canada's first prime minister).<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.parl.gc.ca/about/senate/faqjuniorversion/brochure-e.htm |year=2015 |title=FAQs about the Senate of Canada |publisher=Government of Canada |access-date=December 7, 2015}}</ref>

Notable examples of the Senate failing to approve a bill passed by the Commons include its rejection of the ''[[Naval Aid Bill]]'' in 1912; its refusal to allow a vote on legislation enabling the 1988 [[Canada–United States Free Trade Agreement]], thus precipitating the [[1988 Canadian federal election|1988 federal election]];<ref>{{cite web |last1=Lynch-Staunton |first1=John |title=The Role of the Senate in the Legislative Process |url=http://www.revparl.ca/english/issue.asp?param=75&art=171 |publisher=Canadian Parliamentary Review}}</ref> and the 1991 defeat on a tie vote of a bill that would have criminalized abortion.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/abortion | title=Abortion in Canada }}</ref>

==History==
The Senate came into existence in 1867, when the [[Parliament of the United Kingdom]] passed the ''British North America Act 1867'' (now entitled the ''[[Constitution Act, 1867]]''), uniting the [[Province of Canada]] (as two separate provinces, [[Quebec]] and [[Ontario]]), [[Nova Scotia]] and [[New Brunswick]] into a single federal [[Dominion]]. The Canadian parliament was based on the [[Westminster system]] (that is, the model of the Parliament of the United Kingdom). Canada's first prime minister, Sir John A. Macdonald, described the Senate as a body of "sober second thought" that would curb the "democratic excesses" of the elected House of Commons and provide regional representation.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.parl.gc.ca/information/about/process/senate/legisfocus/focus-e.htm |title=The Canadian Senate in Focus |publisher=Parl.gc.ca |access-date=July 1, 2010}}</ref> He believed that if the House of Commons properly represented the population, the upper chamber should represent the regions.<ref>{{Cite news|title = How to legitimize Canada's Senate|url = https://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-debate/editorials/how-to-legitimize-canadas-senate/article8979559/|access-date = August 19, 2015}}</ref> It was not meant to be more than a revising body or a brake on the House of Commons. Therefore, it was deliberately made an appointed house, since an elected Senate might prove too popular and too powerful and be able to block the will of the House of Commons.{{citation needed|date=November 2023}}

In 2008 the [[Canadian Heraldic Authority]] granted the Senate, as an institution, a [[coat of arms]] composed of a depiction of the chamber's mace (representing the monarch's authority in the upper chamber) behind the [[Escutcheon (heraldry)|escutcheon]] of the [[Arms of Canada]].<ref>{{cite web| url=http://archive.gg.ca/heraldry/pub-reg/project-pic.asp?lang=e&ProjectID=1283&ProjectElementID=4485| last=Canadian Heraldic Authority| author-link=Canadian Heraldic Authority| title=Public Register of Arms, Flags and Badges of Canada > Senate of Canada| publisher=Queen's Printer for Canada| access-date=August 8, 2010}}</ref>

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:right;"
|+ Change in number of senators over time
|-
!rowspan="2"|Modifying act!!rowspan="2"|Date enacted!!rowspan="2"|Normal total!!rowspan="2"|s.&nbsp;26 total!!rowspan="2"|Ont.!!rowspan="2"|Que.!!colspan="3"|Maritime Provinces!!colspan="4"|Western Provinces!!rowspan="2"|N.L.!!rowspan="2"|N.W.T.!!rowspan="2"|Y.T.!!rowspan="2"|Nu.
|-
!N.S.!!N.B.!!P.E.I.!!Man.!!B.C.!!Sask.!!Alta.
|-
|style="text-align:left;"|''[[Constitution Act, 1867]]''||{{Start date|1867|07|01}}||72||78||24||24||12||12
|style="background: #ececec" rowspan=3| ||style="background: #ececec"| ||style="background: #ececec" rowspan=2| ||style="background: #ececec" rowspan=8| ||style="background: #ececec" rowspan=8| ||style="background: #ececec" rowspan=10| ||style="background: #ececec" rowspan=5| ||style="background: #ececec" rowspan=11| ||style="background: #ececec" rowspan=12|
|-
|style="text-align:left;"|''[[Manitoba Act, 1870]]''||{{Start date|1870|07|15}}||74||80||24||24||12||12||2
|-
|style="text-align:left;"|[[British Columbia Terms of Union]]||{{Start date|1871|07|20}}||77||83||24||24||12||12||2||3
|-
|style="text-align:left;"|Prince Edward Island Terms of Union (as set out in section 147 of the ''Constitution Act, 1867)''||{{Start date|1873|07|01}}||77||83||24||24||10||10||4||2||3
|-
|style="text-align:left;"|''[[Manitoba Act, 1870]]''||{{Start date|1882}}||78||84||24||24||10||10||4||3||3
|-
|style="text-align:left;"| ||{{Start date|1888}}||80||86||24||24||10||10||4||3||3||2
|-
|style="text-align:left;"|''[[Manitoba Act, 1870]]''||{{Start date|1892}}||81||87||24||24||10||10||4||4||3||2
|-
|style="text-align:left;"| ||{{Start date|1903}}||83||89||24||24||10||10||4||4||3||4
|-
|style="text-align:left;"|''[[Alberta Act]]'' and ''[[Saskatchewan Act]]''||{{Start date|1905|09|01}}||87||93||24||24||10||10||4||4||3||4||4||style="background: #ececec" rowspan=3|
|-
|style="text-align:left;"|''[[Constitution Act, 1915]]''||{{Start date|1915|05|19}}||96||104||24||24||10||10||4||6||6||6||6
|-
|style="text-align:left;"|''[[Newfoundland Act]]'' as set out in s. 1(1)(vii) of the ''Constitution Act, 1915''||{{Start date|1949|03|31}}||102||110||24||24||10||10||4||6||6||6||6||6
|-
|style="text-align:left;"|[[Constitution Act (No. 2), 1975|''Constitution Act'' (No. 2), 1975]]||{{Start date|1975|06|19}}||104||112||24||24||10||10||4||6||6||6||6||6||1||1
|-
|style="text-align:left;"|[[Constitution Act, 1999 (Nunavut)|''Constitution Act, 1999'' (Nunavut)]]||{{Start date|1999|04|01}}||105||113||24||24||10||10||4||6||6||6||6||6||1||1||1
|}

==Senate reform==
Discussion of Senate reform dates back to at least 1874,<ref name=stillborn>{{cite web |author=Jack Stillborn |title=Senate Reform Proposals in Comparative Perspective |publisher=Library of Parliament |date=November 1992 |url=http://www.parl.gc.ca/information/library/PRBpubs/bp316-e.pdf |access-date=March 18, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070630192503/http://www.parl.gc.ca/information/library/PRBpubs/bp316-e.pdf |archive-date=June 30, 2007 |url-status=dead  }}</ref> but there was little meaningful change until the Independent Advisory Board for Senate Appointments was created in 2016 by Prime Minister [[Justin Trudeau]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=Gilmore |first1=Scott |title=Kill the Senate |url=https://www.macleans.ca/politics/ottawa/kill-the-senate/ |website=www.macleans.ca |access-date=3 February 2020 |date=22 March 2018}}</ref>

In 1927, [[The Famous Five (Canada)|The Famous Five]] Canadian women asked the Supreme Court to determine whether women were eligible to become senators. In the [[Persons Case]], the court unanimously held that women could not become senators since they were not "qualified persons". On appeal, the [[Judicial Committee of the Privy Council]] ruled that women were qualified, and four months later, [[Cairine Wilson]] was appointed to the senate.

In the 1960s, discussion of reform appeared along with the [[Quiet Revolution]] and the rise of [[Western alienation]]. The first change to the Senate was in 1965, when a mandatory retirement age of 75 years was set. Appointments made before then were for life.<ref name = SPaP/>

In the 1970s, the emphasis was on increased provincial involvement in the senators' appointments.<ref name=stillborn/> Since the 1970s, there have been several proposals for constitutional Senate reform, all of which have failed,<ref name="Joyal" /> including the 1987 [[Meech Lake Accord]], and the 1992 [[Charlottetown Accord]].

Starting in the 1980s, proposals were put forward to elect senators. After Parliament enacted the [[National Energy Program]] Western Canadians called for a [[Triple-E Senate|Triple-E]] (elected, equal, and effective) senate.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.mapleleafweb.com/features/senate-reform-canada |title=Senate Reform in Canada |author=Makarenko, Jay |date=October 1, 2006 |access-date=November 24, 2008 |publisher=MapleLeafWeb}}</ref> In 1982 the Senate was given a qualified veto over certain constitutional amendments.<ref name=Joyal>{{Cite book| url=https://archive.org/details/protectingcanadi0000unse| title=Protecting Canadian Democracy: The Senate You Never Knew| last=Joyal| first=Serge| publisher=[[McGill-Queen's University Press]]| date=July 2003| isbn=978-0-7735-2619-8| df=mdy-all| url-access=registration}}</ref> In 1987 Alberta legislated for the [[Alberta Senate nominee elections]]. Results of the [[1989 Alberta Senate nominee election]] were non-binding.

Following the [[Canadian Senate expenses scandal]] Prime Minister [[Stephen Harper]] declared a moratorium on further appointments. Harper had advocated for an elected Senate for decades, but his proposals were blocked by a 2014 Supreme Court ruling<ref name="macfarlane">{{cite web |last1=Macfarlane |first1=Emmett |title=Did the Supreme Court just kill Senate reform? - Macleans.ca |url=https://www.macleans.ca/politics/did-the-supreme-court-just-kill-senate-reform/ |website=Maclean's |date=April 25, 2014 |access-date=3 February 2020}}</ref> that requires a constitutional amendment approved by a minimum of seven provinces, whose populations together accounted for at least half of the national population.<ref name="fekete">{{cite web |last1=Fekete |first1=Jason |title=How to solve a problem like the Senate |url=https://ottawacitizen.com/news/politics/how-to-solve-a-problem-like-the-senate |website=Ottawa Citizen |access-date=3 February 2020 |language=en |date=19 June 2015}}</ref>

===Independent Advisory Board for Senate Appointments===

In 2014, Liberal leader [[Justin Trudeau]] expelled all senators from the Liberal caucus and, as prime minister in 2015, announced a new appointment process overseen by a new Independent Advisory Board for Senate Appointments,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/senate-advisory-board-non-partisan-leblanc-monsef-1.3348531|title=Liberal plan to pick 'non-partisan' senators draws quick criticism|last=Harris|first=Kathleen|date=December 3, 2015 |publisher=CBC News |access-date=December 4, 2015}}</ref> both of which were attempts to make the Senate less partisan without requiring constitutional change.<ref name="macfarlane"/>

The Independent Advisory Board was constituted in 2016. Members of the board include members from each jurisdiction where there is a vacancy.<ref name="members">{{cite web |last1=Office |first1=Privy Council |title=Independent Advisory Board for Senate Appointments: Mandate and members |url=https://www.canada.ca/en/campaign/independent-advisory-board-for-senate-appointments/members.html |publisher=Government of Canada |access-date=3 February 2020 |date=7 July 2016}}</ref> The board provides a short list of recommended candidates to the prime minister, who is not bound to accept them.<ref>{{cite news |date=January 19, 2016 |author=The Canadian Press |work=CTV News |title=Two Manitoba MPs appointed to senate advisory committee |url=https://www.ctvnews.ca/winnipeg/article/two-manitoba-mps-appointed-to-senate-advisory-committee/}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/liberal-senate-advisory-board-1.3410090 |title=Senate advisory board named, 1st appointments expected within weeks |last=Tasker |first=John Paul |date=January 19, 2016 |publisher=CBC News |access-date=January 19, 2016}}</ref> Some provinces refused to participate, stating that it would make the situation worse by lending the Senate some legitimacy.<ref name="christyclark">{{cite web |title=Christy Clark says Trudeau legitimizing unaccountable Senate, B.C. under-representation |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/clark-trudeau-senate-reform-1.3353128 |website=CBC |access-date=3 February 2020}}</ref> 

From the beginning of the new appointments process in 2016 until April 2025, 100 new senators, all selected under this procedure, were appointed to fill vacancies. All Canadians may now apply directly for a Senate appointment at any time, or nominate someone they believe meets the merit criteria.<ref>{{cite news|title=Chantal Peticlerc, Murray Sinclair among 7 new Trudeau-appointed senators|url=http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/senate-appointments-1.3496977|access-date=March 18, 2016|publisher=CBC News|date=March 18, 2016}}</ref>

==Chamber and offices==
[[File:Government Conference Centre Ottawa.jpg|thumb|left|Temporary Senate building|alt=Temporary Senate building]]
The original Senate chamber was lost to the fire that consumed the Parliament Buildings in 1916. The Senate then sat in the mineral room of what is today the [[Canadian Museum of Nature]] until 1922, when it relocated to [[Parliament Hill]]. With the Centre Block undergoing renovations, temporary chambers have been constructed in the [[Senate of Canada Building]] (formerly Ottawa Union Station), where the Senate began meeting in 2019.<ref name=building>{{cite web |last1=Canada |first1=Senate of |title=The Senate of Canada Building |url=https://sencanada.ca/en/about/scb |website=Senate of Canada |access-date=2 February 2020 |language=en |date=8 February 2019}}</ref>

There are chairs and desks on both sides of the chamber, divided by a centre aisle. A public gallery is above the chamber. The [[dais]] of the [[Speaker of the Senate of Canada|speaker]] is at one end of the chamber, and includes the two [[Thrones of Canada|royal thrones]] built in 2017, made in part from [[Juglans regia|English walnut]] from [[Windsor Great Park]]. Outside of Parliament Hill, most senators have offices in the [[Victoria Building (Ottawa)|Victoria Building]] across Wellington Street.

==Composition==
===Qualifications===
[[File:20161003 51 Parliament Senate Chamber (25863079118).jpg|right|thumb|The Senate Chamber of [[Parliament Hill]] in [[Ottawa]].]]
{{Canadian politics}}
Senators are appointed by the governor general via the recommendation of the prime minister. Traditionally, members of the prime minister's party were chosen. The constitution requires that a person be a [[Canadian citizen|subject of the King]], between 30 and 75 years of age and a resident of the province or territory for which they are appointed, to become a senator. Senators must also own property worth at least $4,000 above their debts and liabilities,<ref name=Franco/> a rule introduced to ensure senators were not beholden to economic vagaries and turmoil. There is a mandatory retirement age of 75. A sitting senator is disqualified from holding office if they:

*fail to attend two consecutive sessions of the Senate;
*become a subject or citizen of a foreign power;
*file for [[bankruptcy]];
*are convicted of [[treason]] or an [[indictable offence]]; or
*cease to be qualified in respect of property or of residence (except where required to stay in Ottawa because they hold a government office).

===Representation===
Each province and territory is entitled to its number of Senate seats specified in section 22. That section divides most of the provinces of Canada geographically among four regions, with one province and all three territories remaining outside any division. The divisions have equal representation of 24 senators each: [[Western Canada]], Ontario, Quebec, and the [[Canadian Maritimes|Maritimes]]. The Western division comprises British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba, each having 6 seats. The Maritimes division comprises New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, who each have 10 seats, and Prince Edward Island, which has 4 seats. [[Newfoundland and Labrador]] is represented by six senators. The [[Northwest Territories]], [[Yukon]] and [[Nunavut]] have one senator each.

Quebec senators are the only ones to be assigned to specific [[Canadian Senate divisions|districts within their province]]. This rule was adopted to ensure that both French- and English-speakers from Quebec were represented appropriately in the Senate.{{Citation needed|date=March 2022}}

[[File:Canada population per senator map.svg|thumb|206x206px|Population per senator in each region. A redder hue indicates that the region is overrepresented, and a greener hue indicates that the region is underrepresented.]]

Like most other upper houses worldwide, the Canadian formula does not use representation by population as a primary criterion for member selection, since this is already done for the House of Commons. Rather, the intent when the formula was struck was to achieve a balance of regional interests and to provide a house of "sober second thought" to check the power of the lower house when necessary. Therefore, the most populous province (Ontario) and two western provinces that were low-population at their accession to the federation and that are within a region are under-represented, while the Maritimes are over-represented. For example, British Columbia, with a population of about six million, sends six senators to Ottawa, whereas Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, both with populations under one million, are entitled to 10 senators each. Only Quebec has a share of senators approximate to its share of the total population.{{Citation needed|date=March 2022}}

Senators must possess land worth at least $4,000 and have residency in the province or territory for which they are appointed.<ref name=Franco/> In the past, the residency requirement has often been interpreted liberally, with virtually any holding that met the property qualification, including primary residences, second residences, summer homes, investment properties, and undeveloped lots, having been deemed to meet the residency requirement;<ref name=wallin>{{cite web |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatchewan/senator-says-she-won-t-talk-more-about-sask-residency-1.837918?ref=rss |title=Senator says she won't talk more about Sask. residency |publisher=[[CBC News]] |date=February 17, 2009}}</ref> as long as the senator listed a qualifying property as a residence, no further efforts have typically been undertaken to verify whether they actually resided there in any meaningful way.<ref name=wallin/>

Residency has come under increased scrutiny, particularly as several senators have faced allegations of irregularities in their housing expense claims. In 2013, the Senate's internal economy committee required all senators to provide documents proving their residency in the provinces.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://ottawacitizen.com/business/Senators+ordered+provide+concrete+proof+primary+residence/7901612/story.html |title=Senators ordered to provide concrete proof of primary residence |work=[[Ottawa Citizen]] |date=January 31, 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130204072103/http://www.ottawacitizen.com/business/Senators+ordered+provide+concrete+proof+primary+residence/7901612/story.html |archive-date=February 4, 2013  }}</ref>

{| class="wikitable sortable"
!Province or territory
!Senate division!!Senators!!Population per senator<br />(2021)
!Total population<br />(2021)!!% of senators!!% of population!!{{abbr|No.|Number}} of seats,<br />House of Commons!!% of seats,<br />Commons
|-
|{{flag|Ontario}}||Ontario
|24
|592,664
|14,223,942
|22.9%
|38.5%
|122
|35.6%
|-
|{{flag|Quebec}}||Quebec
|24
|354,243
|8,501,833
|22.9%
|23.0%
|78
|22.7%
|-
|{{flag|British Columbia}}
| rowspan="4"|[[Western Canada]]
|6
|833,480
|5,000,879
|5.7%
|13.5%
|43
|12.5%
|-
|{{flag|Alberta}}
|6
|710,439
|4,262,635
|5.7%
|11.5%
|37
|10.8%
|-
|{{flag|Manitoba}}
|6
|223,692
|1,342,153
|5.7%
|3.6%
|14
|4.1%
|-
|{{flag|Saskatchewan}}
|6
|188,751
|1,132,505
|5.7%
|3.1%
|14
|4.1%
|-
|{{flag|Nova Scotia}}
| rowspan="3" |[[Maritimes]]
|10
|96,938
|969,383
|9.5%
|2.6%
|11
|3.2%
|-
|{{flag|New Brunswick}}
|10
|77,561
|775,610
|9.5%
|2.1%
|10
|2.9%
|-
|{{flag|Prince Edward Island}}
|4
|38,583
|154,331
|3.8%
|0.4%
|4
|1.2%
|-
|{{flag|Newfoundland and Labrador}}
| rowspan="4" {{n/a}}
|6
|85,092
|510,550
|5.7%
|1.4%
|7
|2.0%
|-
|{{flag|Northwest Territories}}
|1
|41,070
|41,070
|0.9%
|0.1%
|1
|0.3%
|-
|{{flag|Yukon}}
|1
|40,232
|40,232
|0.9%
|0.1%
|1
|0.3%
|-
|{{flag|Nunavut}}
|1
|36,858
|36,858
|0.9%
|0.1%
|1
|0.3%
|- class="sortbottom"
| colspan="2"|Total/average, {{flag|Canada}}
|105
|352,305
|36,991,981
|100%
|100%
|343
|100%
|-
| colspan="9" |'''Note:''' Population data based on the latest official '''[[2021 Canadian census]]''', conducted and published by [[Statistics Canada]].<ref>{{Cite web|last=Government of Canada|first=Statistics Canada|date=2018-03-27|title=Population and dwelling counts: Canada, provinces and territories|url=https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=9810000101|access-date=2023-01-21|website=www150.statcan.gc.ca}}</ref>
|}

Since 1989, the voters of Alberta [[Alberta senate nominee elections|have elected "senators-in-waiting"]], or nominees for the province's Senate seats. These elections, however, are not held pursuant to any federal constitutional or legal provision; thus, the prime minister is not required to recommend the nominees for appointment. Five senators-in-waiting have been appointed to the Senate: the first was [[Stan Waters]], who was appointed in 1990 on the recommendation of Brian Mulroney; the second was [[Bert Brown]], elected a senator-in-waiting in 1998 and 2004, and appointed to the Senate in 2007 on the recommendation of Prime Minister [[Stephen Harper]]; the third was [[Betty Unger]], elected in 2004 and appointed in 2012; the fourth and fifth, [[Doug Black]] and [[Scott Tannas]], were both elected in 2012 and appointed in 2013.<ref name=7new>{{cite news|title=Harper appoints 7 new senators|date=January 6, 2012|url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/harper-appoints-7-new-senators-1.1140276|publisher=CBC News}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |agency=The Canadian Press |date=2013-03-25 |title=Harper appoints Scott Tannas to Senate to fill Alberta vacancy |url=https://www.ctvnews.ca/politics/article/harper-appoints-scott-tannas-to-senate-to-fill-alberta-vacancy/ |access-date=2025-02-13 |website=CTVNews |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Alberta Senator Doug Black Retires |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/alberta-senator-doug-black-retire-1.6137309}}</ref> None of the senators-in-waiting elected in 2021 have been appointed to the senate.

The base annual salary of a senator was $184,800 in 2025,<ref>
{{cite web |url=https://lop.parl.ca/sites/ParlInfo/default/en_CA/People/Salaries |title=Indemnities, Salaries and Allowances |website=Parliament of Canada |publisher=Library of Parliament |access-date=July 27, 2015}}</ref> although members may receive additional salaries in right of other offices they hold (for instance, the title of Speaker). Most senators rank immediately above [[Member of Parliament (Canada)|Members of Parliament]] in the [[Canadian order of precedence|order of precedence]], although the speaker is ranked just above the [[Speaker of the House of Commons (Canada)|speaker of the House of Commons]] and both are a few ranks higher than the remaining senators.{{Citation needed|date=March 2022}}

=== Extraordinary appointment of additional senators ===
Under section 26 of the ''Constitution Act, 1867'' the sovereign may approve the appointment of four or eight extra senators, equally divided among the four regions. Approval is given by the monarch on the advice of the prime minister, and the governor general is instructed to issue the necessary letters patent. 

This provision has been used only once: in 1990, when Prime Minister [[Brian Mulroney]] requested extra senators  to ensure the passage of a bill creating the [[Goods and Services Tax (Canada)|goods and services tax]] (GST). The appointment of eight additional senators created a slight majority for the [[Progressive Conservative Party of Canada|Progressive Conservative Party]] in the Senate.<ref>[https://www.cbc.ca/archives/when-brian-mulroney-upsized-the-senate-to-pass-the-gst-1.4839649 "When Brian Mulroney upsized the Senate to pass the GST"], ''CBC Archives'', September 27, 2018; updated September 27, 2022.</ref> 

An unsuccessful attempt to use section 26 by Prime Minister [[Alexander Mackenzie (politician)|Alexander Mackenzie]] in 1874 was denied by [[Queen Victoria]], on the advice of the British Cabinet.<ref>W.H. McConnell, Commentary on the ''British North America Act'' (Toronto:  McMillan & Co., 1977), pp. 72–73.</ref> 

The clause does not result in a permanent increase in the number of Senate seats. Instead, senators leaving office are not replaced until after their Senate region has returned to twenty-four seats.

===Current composition===
{{Main|List of current senators of Canada}}

====Parliamentary groups====
Senators are organized into one of four recognized [[parliamentary group]]s (or caucuses), or are described as [[independent (politics)|non-affiliated]] if they are members of none. Three of the parliamentary groups have weak to nonexistent patterns of [[party discipline]] and in lieu of a [[Whip (politics)|whip]] designate an individual to serve as a liaison; they have accordingly been compared to [[technical group]]s or [[crossbenchers]] in other jurisdictions. By contrast, the Conservative group remains affiliated with the [[Conservative Party of Canada|federal party]] with its members attending caucus meetings with its members of the House of Commons; they follow the party whip as a condition of continued affiliation.[[File:SenatorsByProvince Canada Aug25.svg|thumb|Canadian Senate Seat allocations in each province and territory, as of August 2025]]{{Table alignment}}
{| class="wikitable col3right"
! colspan="2" | Caucus
! Senators<ref>{{Cite web |title=Senators |url=https://sencanada.ca/en/senators/ |access-date=2025-05-26 |website=Senate of Canada |language=en}}</ref>
|-
| {{Canadian party colour|CA|ISG|background}} | &nbsp;
| [[Independent Senators Group]]
| 42
|-
| {{Canadian party colour|CA|Canadian Senators Group|background}} | &nbsp;
| [[Canadian Senators Group]]
| 19
|-
| {{Canadian party colour|CA|Progressive Senate Group|background}} | &nbsp;
| [[Progressive Senate Group]]
| 16
|-
| {{Canadian party colour|CA|Conservative|background}} | &nbsp;
| [[Conservative Party of Canada#Senate Caucus|Conservative]]
| 13
|-
| {{Canadian party colour|CA|Independent|background}} | &nbsp;
| [[Independent (politician)|Non-affiliated]]{{efn|name=NA|The non-affiliated senators include the Speaker of the Senate and the three members of the Government Representative Office.<ref name="senatorslist">{{cite web |url=https://sencanada.ca/en/senators/ |title=Senators |date=April 11, 2016 |publisher=Senate of Canada |access-date=29 April 2025}}</ref><ref name=gro>{{cite web |url=https://senate-gro.ca/about/ |title=About the Government Representative Office (GRO) |publisher=Government Representative Office |access-date=28 July 2020 |quote=Although the three senators represent the Government to the Senate, they do not sit in a partisan caucus and do not comprise a caucus of their own.}}</ref>}}
| 8
|-
| {{Canadian party colour|CA|vacant|background}} | &nbsp;
| Vacant
| 7
|-
| colspan="2"| &nbsp;'''Total'''
| '''105'''
|}

While for much of the Senate's history, most senators were affiliated with the same federal political parties that seek seats in elections to the House of Commons, this has changed in the 21st century and the large majority of current senators have no formal partisan affiliations. From 1867 to 2015, prime ministers normally chose members of their own parties to be senators, though they sometimes nominated non-affiliated senators or members of opposing parties. Since November 4, 2015, all newly appointed Senators have not been affiliated with a political party and there has been no government caucus in the Senate.{{efn|name=SenLiberals|The [[Senate Liberal Caucus]], which existed from 2014 until 2019, was not affiliated with the governing [[Liberal Party of Canada]]}} On December 6, 2016, for the first time in Canadian history the number of senators without a partisan affiliation exceeded that of the largest parliamentary group of senators with a partisan affiliation, and on October 17, 2017, the largest parliamentary group became one composed of senators unaffiliated with a political party. By the end of the [[43rd Canadian Parliament|43rd Parliament]] in 2021, only 20 per cent of senators were affiliated with a political party, all members of the Conservative caucus.

====Gender====
A majority of sitting senators are women. {{As of|2025|04|28|df=US}}, there are 57 women in the Senate out of 104 sitting members (54.8%).<ref>{{cite web |url=https://lop.parl.ca/sites/ParlInfo/default/en_CA/People/parliamentarians?expression=&refiners=4-1,&permalink=1240Create |title=Women in the Senate |access-date=May 26, 2025 |publisher=Parliament of Canada |archive-date=January 23, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100123101022/http://www.parl.gc.ca/common/senmemb/Senate/isenator.asp?sortord=W&Language=E |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.pm.gc.ca/en/news/news-releases/2023/10/31/prime-minister-announces-appointment-senators | title=Prime Minister announces the appointment of senators | date=October 30, 2023 }}</ref>

The Senate has generally had a higher level of female representation than the House of Commons throughout history.<ref name="hillnotes-women">{{cite web|url=https://hillnotes.ca/2021/12/01/women-in-the-parliament-of-canada-100-years-of-representation/|title=Women in the Parliament of Canada: 100 Years of Representation |date=December 2021 |publisher=Library of Parliament}}</ref> The number of female senators equalled males for the first time ever on November 11, 2020,{{efn|name=GenderParity|Following the mandatory retirement of [[Norman Doyle]], there were 47 male and 47 female senators.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://theconversation.com/the-canadian-senate-briefly-reached-gender-parity-heres-why-it-matters-153525 |title=The Canadian Senate briefly reached gender parity — here's why it matters|date=March 3, 2021 }}</ref>}} and surpassed males for the first time on October 2, 2022.{{efn|name=MoreWomen|Following the resignation of [[Vernon White (politician)|Vernon White]], there were 45 female and 44 male senators.}}

;Notes
{{notelist}}

===Vacancies===
There is some debate as to whether there is any requirement for the prime minister to advise the governor general to appoint new senators to fill vacancies as they arise. In 2013, amidst the [[Canadian Senate expenses scandal]], Prime Minister [[Stephen Harper]] recommended the final Senate appointments of his tenure and incrementally the membership of the Senate began to shrink via attrition. 

The following year, then-[[Leader of the Official Opposition (Canada)|Leader of the Opposition]] [[Tom Mulcair]] argued that there is no constitutional requirement to fill vacancies, but Constitutional scholar [[Peter Hogg]] commented that the courts "might be tempted to grant a remedy" if the refusal to recommend appointments caused the Senate to be diminished to such a degree that it could not do its work or serve its constitutional function.<ref>–{{cite news|title=Stephen Harper obliged to fill empty Senate seats?|url=http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/is-stephen-harper-obliged-to-fill-empty-senate-seats-1.2701619|access-date=December 10, 2014|publisher=CBC News|date=July 10, 2014}}</ref> Vancouver lawyer Aniz Alani filed an application for judicial review of Harper's apparent refusal to advise the appointment of senators to fill existing vacancies in 2014, arguing that the failure to do so violates the ''Constitution Act, 1867''.<ref>–{{cite news|title=Stephen Harper's unappointed Senate seats unconstitutional, Vancouver lawyer says|url=http://www.cbc.ca/m/news/canada/british-columbia/stephen-harper-s-unappointed-senate-seats-unconstitutional-vancouver-lawyer-says-1.2873629 |access-date=December 18, 2014|publisher=CBC News|date=December 15, 2014}}</ref>

On July 24, 2015, Harper announced that he would not be advising the governor general to fill the 22 vacancies in the Senate, preferring that the provinces "come up with a plan of comprehensive reform or to conclude that the only way to deal with the status quo is abolition". He declined to say how long he would allow vacancies to accumulate.<ref name="chase">{{cite news |last1=Chase |first1=Stephen |title=Harper not planning to appoint more senatoTrs despite growing vacancies |url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/harper-no-immediate-plans-to-appoint-more-senators/article13937317/ |website=The Globe and Mail |access-date=4 February 2020 |date=2018-05-11}}</ref> Under the ''Constitution Act, 1867'', senators are appointed by the governor general on the advice of the prime minister. If no such advice is forthcoming, according to constitutional scholar [[Adam Dodek]], in "extreme cases, there is no question that the Governor General would be forced to exercise such power [of appointment] without advice".<ref>Adam Dodek, "PM's constitutional disobedience a dangerous game to play", ''The Globe and Mail'', July 28, 2015.</ref>

On December 5, 2015, shortly after replacing the Harper government, the new Trudeau government announced a [[#Independent Advisory Board for Senate Appointments|new merit-based appointment process]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/senate-advisory-board-non-partisan-leblanc-monsef-1.3348531 |title=Liberal plan to pick 'non-partisan' senators draws quick criticism B.C. Premier Christy Clark slams reforms |last=Harris|first=Kathleen |date=December 3, 2015 |publisher=CBC News |access-date=December 4, 2015}}</ref> Appointments resumed on April 12, 2016 with the number of vacant seats having [[List of senators in the 42nd Parliament of Canada#Membership changes|peaked at 24]]. By December 2018, following 25 further departures and 49 appointments, the Senate had a full complement of senators for the first time in over eight years.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/trudeau-names-four-more-senators-1.4942729 |title=Trudeau names four new senators – including a failed Liberal candidate |publisher=CBC News|date=December 12, 2018|last=Tasker |first=John Paul }}</ref>

==Officers==
{{More citations needed section|date=March 2022}}
The [[Speaker of the Senate of Canada|speaker of the Senate]] is the body's presiding officer and is appointed by the governor general on the advice of the prime minister.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://sencanada.ca/en/about/procedural-references/notes/n9 |year=2017 |title=The Speaker of the Senate: Role and Appointment |publisher=Government of Canada |access-date=March 9, 2018}}</ref> The speaker is assisted by a [[Speaker pro tempore of the Senate of Canada|speaker {{lang|la|cat=no|pro tempore}}]] ('for the time being'), who is elected by the Senate at the beginning of each parliamentary session. If the speaker is unable to attend, the speaker {{lang|la|pro tempore}} presides instead. Furthermore, the ''[[Parliament of Canada Act]]'' authorizes the speaker to appoint another senator to temporarily serve. [[Muriel McQueen Fergusson]] was the Parliament of Canada's first female speaker, holding the office from 1972 to 1974.<ref name="senfocus" />{{Failed verification|date=October 2018}}

The speaker presides over sittings of the Senate and controls debates by calling on members to speak. Senators may raise a point of order if a rule (or standing order) has been breached, on which the speaker makes a ruling. However, the speaker's decisions are subject to appeal to the whole Senate. When presiding, the speaker remains impartial, while maintaining membership in a political party. Unlike the [[Speaker of the House of Commons (Canada)|speaker of the House of Commons]], the speaker of the Senate does not hold a casting vote, but, instead, retains the right to vote in the same manner as any other. As of the [[44th Canadian Parliament|44th Parliament]], Senator [[Raymonde Gagné]] presides as Speaker of the Senate.{{Citation needed|date=March 2022}}<ref>{{cite web |title=Manitoba Sen. Raymonde Gagné named Speaker of the Senate {{!}} CBC News |date=2023-05-12 |website=[[CBC News]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230513075711/http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/raymonde-gagne-speaker-1.6842143 |archive-date=2023-05-13 |url-status=live |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/raymonde-gagne-speaker-1.6842143}}</ref>

The senator responsible for steering legislation through the Senate is the [[representative of the Government in the Senate]], who is a senator selected by the prime minister and whose role is to introduce legislation on behalf of the government. The position was created in 2016 to replace the former position of leader of the Government in the Senate. The [[Official Opposition|opposition]] equivalent is the [[Leader of the Opposition in the Senate (Canada)|leader of the Opposition in the Senate]], selected by the [[Leader of the Opposition (Canada)|leader of the Official Opposition]]. However, if the Official Opposition in the Commons is a different party than the Official Opposition in the Senate (as was the case from 2011 to 2015), then the Senate party chooses its own leader.{{Citation needed|date=March 2022}}

Officers of the Senate who are not members include the clerk, the deputy clerk, the law clerk, and several other clerks. These officers advise the speaker and members on the rules and procedure of the Senate. Another officer is the [[Usher of the Black Rod (Canada)|usher of the Black Rod]], whose duties include the maintenance of order and security within the Senate chamber. The usher of the Black Rod bears a ceremonial black [[ebony]] staff, from which the title "black rod" arises. This position is roughly analogous to that of the [[List of Sergeants-at-Arms of the Canadian House of Commons|sergeant-at-arms in the House of Commons]], but the usher's duties are more ceremonial.

== Committees ==
{{More citations needed section|date=March 2022}}{{See also|Standing committee (Canada)}}

The Parliament of Canada uses committees for a variety of purposes. Committees consider bills in detail and can make amendments. Other committees scrutinize various government agencies and ministries.

The largest of the Senate committees is the Committee of the Whole, which, as the name suggests, consists of all senators. The Committee of the Whole meets in the chamber of the Senate, but proceeds under slightly modified rules of debate. (For example, there is no limit on the number of speeches a senator may make on a particular motion.) The presiding officer is known as the chairman. The Senate may resolve itself into a Committee of the Whole for a number of purposes, including to consider legislation or to hear testimony from individuals. Nominees to be officers of Parliament often appear before Committee of the Whole to answer questions with respect to their qualifications prior to their appointment.

The Senate also has several standing committees, each of which has responsibility for a particular area of government (for example, finance or transport). These committees consider legislation and conduct special studies on issues referred to them by the Senate and may hold hearings, collect evidence, and report their findings to the Senate. Standing committees consist of between nine and fifteen members each and elect their own chairmen.

{| class=wikitable
|-
! Senate standing committees<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.parl.gc.ca/common/Committee_SenList.asp?1 |title=Senate – Committee List |publisher=Parl.gc.ca |access-date=July 1, 2010}}</ref>
|- valign=top
|
*[[Canadian Senate Standing Committee on Aboriginal Peoples|Aboriginal Peoples]]
*[[Canadian Senate Standing Committee on Agriculture and Forestry|Agriculture and Forestry]]
*[[Canadian Senate Standing Committee on Banking, Trade and Commerce|Banking, Trade, and Commerce]]
*[[Canadian Senate Standing Committee on Conflict of Interest for Senators|Conflict of Interest for Senators]]
*[[Canadian Senate Standing Committee on Energy, the Environment and Natural Resources|Energy, the Environment and Natural Resources]]
*[[Canadian Senate Standing Committee on Fisheries and Oceans|Fisheries and Oceans]]
*[[Canadian Senate Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Trade|Foreign Affairs and International Trade]]
*[[Canadian Senate Standing Committee on Human Rights|Human Rights]]
*[[Canadian Senate Standing Committee on the Internal Economy, Budgets and Administration|Internal Economy, Budgets, and Administration]]
*[[Canadian Senate Standing Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs|Legal and Constitutional Affairs]]
*[[Canadian Senate Standing Committee on National Finance|National Finance]]
*[[Canadian Senate Standing Committee on National Security and Defence|National Security and Defence]]
*[[Canadian Senate Standing Committee on Official Languages|Official Languages]]
*[[Canadian Senate Standing Committee on Rules, Procedures and the Rights of Parliament|Rules, Procedure and the Rights of Parliament]]
*[[Canadian Senate Standing Committee of Selection|Selection Committee]]
*[[Canadian Senate Standing Committee on Social Affairs, Science and Technology|Social Affairs, Science and Technology]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.parl.gc.ca/common/Committee_SenHome.asp?Language=E&Parl=40&Ses=2&comm_id=47 |title=Senate – Committee Home Page |publisher=Parl.gc.ca |access-date=July 1, 2010}}</ref>
*Subcommittee on Population Health<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.parl.gc.ca/common/Committee_SenHome.asp?Language=E&Parl=40&Ses=2&comm_id=605 |title=Senate – Committee Home Page |publisher=Parl.gc.ca |access-date=July 1, 2010}}</ref>
*Subcommittee on Cities<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.parl.gc.ca/common/Committee_SenHome.asp?Language=E&Parl=40&Ses=2&comm_id=604 |title=Senate – Committee Home Page |publisher=Parl.gc.ca |access-date=July 1, 2010}}</ref>
*[[Canadian Senate Standing Committee on Transport and Communication|Transport and Communication]]
|}

Special committees are appointed by the Senate on an ''ad hoc'' basis to consider a particular issue. The number of members for a special committee varies, but, the partisan composition would roughly reflect the strength of the parties in the whole Senate. These committees have been struck to study bills (e.g., the Special Senate Committee on Bill C-36 (the ''Anti-terrorism Act''), 2001) or particular issues of concern (e.g., the Special Senate Committee on Illegal Drugs).

Other committees include joint committees, which include both members of the House of Commons and senators. There are currently two joint committees: the Standing Joint Committee on the Scrutiny of Regulations, which considers delegated legislation, and the Standing Joint Committee on the Library of Parliament, which advises the two speakers on the management of the library. Parliament may also establish special joint committees on an ''ad hoc'' basis to consider issues of particular interest or importance.

==Legislative functions==
{{Multi image
|align=right |direction=vertical
|image1=The Senate of Canada 2.JPG
|image2=The Senate of Canada.JPG
|footer=Seats within the old (pre-2019) Senate chamber in the [[Centre Block]]
}}
Although legislation may be introduced in either chamber, most bills originate in the House of Commons. Because the Senate's schedule for debate is more flexible than that of the House of Commons, the government will sometimes introduce particularly complex legislation in the Senate first.

In conformity with the British model, the Senate is not permitted to originate bills imposing taxes or appropriating public funds. Unlike in Britain but similar to the United States, this restriction on the power of the Senate is not merely a matter of convention but is explicitly stated in the ''Constitution Act, 1867''. In addition, the House of Commons may, in effect, override the Senate's refusal to approve an amendment to the Canadian constitution; however, they must wait at least 180 days before exercising this override. Other than these two exceptions, the power of the two Houses of Parliament is theoretically equal; the approval of each is necessary for a bill's passage. In practice, however, the House of Commons is the dominant chamber of parliament, with the Senate very rarely exercising its powers in a manner that opposes the will of the democratically elected chamber.

The Senate tends to be less partisan and confrontational than the Commons and is more likely to come to a consensus on issues. It also often has more opportunity to study proposed bills in detail either as a whole or in committees. This careful review process is why the Senate is still today called the chamber of "sober second thought", though the term has a slightly different meaning from what it did when used by John A. Macdonald. The format of the Senate allows it to make many small improvements to legislation before its final reading.{{Citation needed|date=March 2022}}

The Senate, at times, is more active at reviewing, amending, and even rejecting legislation. In the first 60 years following Confederation, approximately 180 bills were passed by the House of Commons and sent to the Senate that subsequently did not receive Royal Assent, either because they were rejected by the Senate or were passed by the Senate with amendments that were not accepted by the Commons. In contrast, fewer than one-quarter of that number of bills were lost for similar reasons in the sixty-year period from 1928 to 1987.<ref name=senfocus>{{cite news | title=THE CANADIAN SENATE IN FOCUS 1867–2001 | date=May 2001 | publisher=The Senate of Canada | url =http://www.parl.gc.ca/information/about/process/senate/legisfocus/focus-e.htm | access-date =August 4, 2007 }}</ref>{{Failed verification|date=October 2018}} The late 1980s and early 1990s was a period of contention. During this period, the Senate opposed legislation on issues such as the [[Canada-U.S. Free Trade Agreement|1988 free trade bill]] with the US (forcing the [[1988 Canadian federal election|Canadian federal election of 1988]]) and the [[Goods and Services Tax (Canada)|Goods and Services Tax]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.fraserinstitute.ca/shared/readmore.asp?snav=pb&id=691 |title=Challenges in Senate Reform: Conflicts of Interest, Unintended Consequences, New Possibilities |access-date=August 4, 2007 |last=Gibson |first=Gordon |date=September 2004 |work=Public Policy Sources |publisher=Fraser Institute |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070609064258/http://www.fraserinstitute.ca/shared/readmore.asp?snav=pb&id=691 |archive-date=June 9, 2007  }}</ref> In the 1990s, the Senate rejected four pieces of legislation: a bill passed by the Commons restricting [[Abortion in Canada|abortion]] (C-43),<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2013/11/17/mulroneyera_cabinet_documents_reveal_struggle_to_replace_abortion_law_thrown_out_by_court.html |title=Mulroney-era cabinet documents reveal struggle to replace abortion law thrown out by court | work=Toronto Star}}</ref> a proposal to streamline federal agencies (C-93), a bill to redevelop the [[Toronto Pearson International Airport|Lester B. Pearson Airport]] (C-28), and a bill on profiting from authorship as it relates to crime (C-220). From 2000 to 2013, the Senate rejected 75 bills in total.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.parl.gc.ca/Parlinfo/compilations/houseofcommons/legislation/billsbyresults.aspx?Parliament=&BillResult=03d93c58-f843-49b3-9653-84275c23f3fb|title=House of Commons bills sent to the Senate that did not receive Royal Assent|date=November 16, 2010|publisher=parl.gc.ca|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150420151815/http://www.parl.gc.ca/Parlinfo/compilations/houseofcommons/legislation/billsbyresults.aspx?Parliament=&BillResult=03d93c58-f843-49b3-9653-84275c23f3fb|archive-date=April 20, 2015|url-status=dead|access-date=April 7, 2014|df=mdy-all}}</ref>{{Failed verification|date=October 2018}}

In December 2010, the Senate rejected [[Climate Change Accountability Act (Bill C-311)|Bill C-311]], involving [[greenhouse gas]] regulation that would have committed Canada to a 25 per cent reduction in emissions by 2020 and an 80 per cent reduction by 2050.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.davidsuzuki.org/blogs/panther-lounge/2010/11/senate-vote-to-kill-climate-act-disrespects-canadians-and-democracy/ |title=Senate vote to kill Climate Act disrespects Canadians and democracy |publisher=davidsuzuki.org |date=October 19, 2010 |access-date=May 9, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110503164126/http://www.davidsuzuki.org/blogs/panther-lounge/2010/11/senate-vote-to-kill-climate-act-disrespects-canadians-and-democracy/ |archive-date=May 3, 2011  }}</ref> The bill was passed by all the parties except the Conservatives in the House of Commons and was rejected by the majority Conservatives in the Senate on a vote of 43 to 32.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://sencanada.ca/en/Content/Sen/chamber/403/debates/065db_2010-11-16-e#43 |title=Debates of the Senate, November 16, 2010 |website=Senate of Canada}}</ref>

=== Divorce and other private bills ===
Historically, before the passage of the ''[[Divorce Act (Canada)|Divorce Act]]'' in 1968, there was no divorce legislation in either [[Quebec]] or [[Newfoundland and Labrador|Newfoundland]]. The only way for couples to get divorced in these provinces was to apply to Parliament for a [[private bill]] of divorce. These bills were primarily handled by the Senate, where a special committee would undertake an investigation of a request for a divorce. If the committee found that the request had merit, the marriage would be dissolved by an [[Act of Parliament]]. A similar situation existed in [[Ontario]] before 1930. This function has not been exercised since 1968 as the ''Divorce Act'' provided a uniform statutory basis across Canada accessed through the court system.{{Citation needed|date=March 2022}}

However, though increasingly rare, private bills usually commence in the Senate and only upon petition by a private person (natural or legal). In addition to the general stages public bills must go through, private bills also require the Senate to perform some judicial functions to ensure the petitioner's request does not impair rights of other persons.{{Citation needed|date=March 2022}}

=== Investigative functions ===
The Senate also performs investigative functions. In the 1960s, the Senate authored the first Canadian reports on media concentration with the Special Senate Subcommittee on Mass Media, or the Davey Commission,<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.pch.gc.ca/progs/ac-ca/progs/esm-ms/prob4_e.cfm#davey|title=Concentration of Newspaper Ownership|access-date=November 17, 2007|publisher=[[Canadian Heritage]]}}</ref> since "appointed senators would be better insulated from editorial pressure brought by publishers"; this triggered the formation of press councils.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://thetyee.ca/Mediacheck/2007/11/13/ToriedLove/|title=Aspers and Harper, A Toried Love|last=Edge|first=Marc|date=November 13, 2007|work=[[The Tyee]]|access-date=November 17, 2007}}</ref> More recent investigations include the Kirby Commissions on health care (as opposed to the [[Royal Commission on the Future of Health Care in Canada|Romanow Commission]]) and mental health care by Senator [[Michael J. L. Kirby|Michael Kirby]] and the ''Final Report on the Canadian News Media'' in 2006.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://sencanada.ca/content/sen/committee/391/tran/rep/repfinjun06vol1-e.htm|title=Concentration of Newspaper Ownership|date=June 2006|access-date=November 17, 2007|publisher=Standing Senate Committee on Transport and Communications}}</ref>

== Relationship with the Government of Canada ==
Unlike the House of Commons, the Senate has no effect in the decision to end the term of the prime minister or of the government. Only the House of Commons may force prime ministers to tender their resignation or to recommend the dissolution of Parliament and issue election writs, by passing a motion of no-confidence or by [[Loss of Supply|withdrawing supply]]. Thus, the Senate's oversight of the government is limited.

The Senate does however, approve the appointment of certain officials and approves the removal of certain officials, in some cases only for cause, and sometimes in conjunction with the House of Commons, usually as a recommendation from the Governor in Council. Officers in this category include the [[Auditor General of Canada|auditor general of Canada]],<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://oag-bvg.gc.ca/internet/English/au_fs_e_370.html |title=Who We Are |access-date=April 1, 2019 |archive-date=April 1, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190401023733/http://oag-bvg.gc.ca/internet/English/au_fs_e_370.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> and the Senate must join in the resolution to remove the [[Chief Electoral Officer of Canada|chief electoral officer of Canada]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=Canada |title=Appointment of the Chief Electoral Officer |url=https://www.elections.ca/content.aspx?section=abo&dir=ceo/app&document=index&lang=e |website=Elections Canada |access-date=3 February 2020}}</ref>

Most Cabinet ministers are from the House of Commons. In particular, every prime minister has been a member of the House of Commons since 1896, with the exceptions of [[John Turner]], [[Mackenzie King]] (for a two month period following the [[1925 Canadian federal election]]), and [[Mark Carney]] (before the [[2025 Canadian federal election]]). Typically, the Cabinet includes only one senator: the leader of the Government in the Senate. Occasionally, when the governing party does not include any members from a particular region, senators are appointed to ministerial positions in order to maintain regional balance in the Cabinet. The most recent example of this was on February 6, 2006, when [[Stephen Harper]] advised that [[Michael Fortier]] be appointed to be both a senator representing the [[Montreal]] region, where the [[minority government]] had no elected representation, and the Cabinet position of [[Minister of Public Works and Government Services]]. Fortier resigned his Senate seat to run (unsuccessfully) for a House of Commons seat in the [[2008 Canadian federal election|2008 general election]].

==Broadcasting==
Unlike the House of Commons, proceedings of the Senate were historically not carried by [[CPAC (TV channel)|CPAC]], as the upper house long declined to allow its sessions to be televised. On April 25, 2006, Senator [[Hugh Segal]] moved that the proceedings of the Senate be televised;<ref>"Segal calls for televised Senate: Kingston politician wants body to be accountable". ''[[The Kingston Whig-Standard]]'', April 8, 2006.</ref> the motion was referred to the [[Senate Standing Committee on Rules, Procedures and the Rights of Parliament]] for consideration; although the motion was approved in principle, broadcast of Senate proceedings was not actually launched at that time apart from selected committee meetings.<ref name=ipolitics>[https://ipolitics.ca/2018/03/10/senate-expected-to-start-regular-tv-broadcasts-after-move-to-government-conference-centre/ "Senate expected to start regular TV broadcasts after move to Government Conference Centre"]. ''[[iPolitics]]'', March 10, 2018.</ref>

Full broadcast of Senate proceedings began on March 18, 2019,<ref>[https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/tasker-senate-tv-first-time-1.5060943 "Ready for their closeup: Senate begins broadcasting proceedings for first time today"]. [[CBC News]], March 18, 2019.</ref> concurrent with the Senate's temporary relocation to the [[Senate of Canada Building]].<ref name=ipolitics/>

==See also==
{{Portal|Canada|Politics}}
*[[Canadian Senate divisions]]
*[[Canadian Senate Page Program]]
*[[Joint address (Canada)|Joint address]]
*[[List of current senators of Canada]]
*[[List of Senate of Canada appointments by prime minister]]
*[[List of women appointed to the Canadian Senate]]
*[[Lists of members of the Senate of Canada]]
*[[Procedural officers and senior officials of the Parliament of Canada]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

== Further reading ==
{{Refbegin}}
* {{cite book| last = Smith| first = David E.| title = The Canadian Senate in Bicameral Perspective | publisher = [[University of Toronto Press]] | year = 2003| isbn = 9780802087881}}
* [https://data.ipu.org/parliament/ca?chamber_id=13360 About parliament – Senate], Inter-Parliamentary Union
{{refend}}

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
{{wiktionary|red chamber}}
*[https://sencanada.ca/ Senate of Canada] – official website
*[http://laws.justice.gc.ca/en/const/ Department of Justice. (2004). Constitution Acts, 1867 to 1982.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050321091505/http://laws.justice.gc.ca/en/const/ |date=March 21, 2005 }} <!--Used for constitutional provisions-->
*[http://www.parl.gc.ca/information/library/idb/forsey/index-e.asp Forsey, Eugene. (2003). "How Canadians Govern Themselves."] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090310131614/http://www.parl.gc.ca/information/library/idb/forsey/index-e.asp |date=March 10, 2009 }} <!--Used for history, general frame of government-->
*[https://www.parl.ca/ The Parliament of Canada. Official Website.] <!--Used for information not covered by other references-->
*[https://sencanada.ca/en/Content/Sen/committee/381/pub/legislative-e A Legislative and Historical Overview of the Canadian Senate]

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