News Releases and Media Advisories

New House of Commons Seat Allocation

OTTAWA, December 19, 2011 – The Chief Electoral Officer of Canada, Marc Mayrand, announced today that the number of seats allocated to the provinces and territories in the House of Commons will increase from 308 to 338 following the adoption of the Fair Representation Act on December 16, 2011. This change is expected to take effect for the general election in October 2015, once the redistribution of federal electoral districts is completed.

Under the new seat allocation, provinces and territories will be represented in the House of Commons as follows: British Columbia, 42; Alberta, 34; Saskatchewan, 14; Manitoba, 14; Ontario, 121; Quebec, 78; New Brunswick, 10; Nova Scotia, 11; Prince Edward Island, 4; Newfoundland and Labrador, 7; Yukon, 1; the Northwest Territories, 1; and Nunavut, 1.

The number of House of Commons seats is recalculated after each 10-year census to account for changes in Canada’s population. The calculation is completed by the Chief Electoral Officer using the population estimates provided by the Chief Statistician of Canada and a formula found in the Constitution. This formula recently changed with the adoption of the Fair Representation Act.

The new seat allocation serves as a basis for redrawing the federal electoral district boundaries within each province. Known as the redistribution of federal electoral districts, this process is expected to begin on February 8, 2012, with the release of the 2011 Census population numbers by Statistics Canada. The work will be led by independent and non-partisan commissions established in each of the 10 provinces.

The procedures for carrying out the redistribution of federal electoral districts are set out in the Electoral Boundaries Readjustment Act. For more information about this process, visit www.elections.ca.

Elections Canada is an independent body set up by Parliament.

Information:
Elections Canada Media Relations
1-877-877-9515
or at www.elections.ca