Canadian Senate Divisions - Senate Divisions

Senate Divisions

Canadian Senate divisions have two meanings, the first refers to the four regional Senate divisions of 24 senators. The four regional divisions were created with 24 senators as an attempt to provide equality among the regions of Canada. These regions are the Western Provinces, Ontario, Quebec and the Maritimes. Newfoundland and Labrador and the Territories are separate from the four regional divisions. The four divisions can be expanded when the need arises to have an extra two senators appointed to each regional division.

The second meaning refers to districts represented by senators from the Canadian Senate. They are dissimilar to House of Commons constituencies in that they are not based upon any population measure but are either fixed in the Constitution Act 1867, in the case of Quebec, or are established upon the appointment of a senator and cease to exist when the senator leaves office.

In provinces other than Quebec, senators are appointed to represent the province as a whole and the royal proclamation makes no reference to divisions. Nonetheless, some senators are said to represent specific divisions which are sometimes announced at the time of appointment and sometimes determined later. These senate divisions have no specific geographic boundaries though their names often give a reference to a general geographic area. However a senator will sometimes create boundaries for their senate division even though it has no legal status. A senator can change his or her division in the same manner as party affiliation, simply by notifying the Clerk of the Senate. Some senators have created maps of their senate boundaries even though they hold no legal boundaries.

Changing senate division designations is relatively rare, only five of the current 75 non-Quebec senators have changed their divisions. Reasons for choosing a particular senate division designation vary widely, and there are no specific guidelines or precedents.

Although the origins and exact intentions of self-designated senate divisions are not clear, they likely originated during the October 10, 1864 Quebec City Conference. At that conference, Quebec argued to have its 24 senate divisions prescribed in law. In Quebec, the Constitution mandates that the 24 divisions be the same as those that Canada East held in the Legislative Council of Canada prior to Canadian confederation. The purpose of Senate divisions within Quebec is to protect the interests of religious and linguistic minorities inside the province.

Each of the three territories (Yukon, Northwest Territories and Nunavut) has only one senator who represents the entire territory.