DossierCanada — who sits and votes in Canada's Parliament
Challenged bills
✋ Challenge a billFederal MPs
Who represents you, how they vote, how often they sit.
The federal Cabinet
Who decides what, since when, and how they vote.
Up to date. These ministers come directly from the official Cabinet page on pm.gc.ca, scraped live — not a hand-maintained list.
Federal bills
Every bill summarized in plain language. Not clear enough? Ask for an explanation.
Votes in the Commons
Every recorded vote — who voted what, and by what margin.
On the “who voted what” detail — the House of Commons publishes each member's name for every recorded (nominal) vote (Yea / Nay / paired). The by-member breakdown above (the "+" button on each row) comes directly from that official source (ourcommons.ca), not an estimate. The party shown next to each name is taken from the current House roster; people who have since left the House appear separately under "Former members".
How to read a vote
Recorded vote
Members vote one by one and each choice is entered in the public record. That is what lets us say exactly who voted what — no interpretation.
Passed is not law
A passed vote clears ONE stage. A bill must pass both chambers and then receive royal assent before it becomes law.
Paired is not absent
In the Commons, two members from opposing sides can agree not to vote: their voices cancel out. It is neither an absence nor an abstention.
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Parliament glossary — 14 terms
Parliamentary jargon, translated into everyday language.
Account and follows
Sign in to sync the ministers and MPs you follow across devices.
- Francis Scarpaleggia Inside Parliament
- Speaker of the House of CommonsPresides over Commons sittings and applies the rules. Elected by MPs on May 26, 2025; a Liberal MP for Lac-Saint-Louis, but the role demands neutrality — he only votes to break a tie, which is why his attendance figure on this site looks very low.Elected by MPs · neutral
- Raymonde Gagné Inside Parliament
- Speaker of the SenatePresides over Senate sittings. A senator from Manitoba, Speaker since May 2023.Appointed
- Louise Arbour The Crown's representative
- Governor General of Canada31st holder of the office, sworn in on June 8, 2026. A former justice of the Supreme Court of Canada and UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. She grants the royal assent cited on every bill card on this site.Ceremonial + royal assent
- Karen Hogan Officers of Parliament
- Auditor General of CanadaAudits federal spending and management, and reports to Parliament.Officer of Parliament
- Stéphane Perrault Officers of Parliament
- Chief Electoral OfficerHeads Elections Canada: oversees federal elections and electoral boundaries. In office since 2018.Officer of Parliament
- Konrad von Finckenstein Officers of Parliament
- Conflict of Interest and Ethics CommissionerAdvises and investigates parliamentarians on conflict-of-interest and ethics matters.Officer of Parliament
- Nancy Bélanger Officers of Parliament
- Commissioner of LobbyingAdministers the lobbyist registry and the Lobbyists' Code of Conduct — the direct link to the "Lobbyist registry" block below.Officer of Parliament
- Kelly Burke Officers of Parliament
- Commissioner of Official LanguagesOversees compliance with the Official Languages Act. 8th commissioner, in office since March 30, 2026.Officer of Parliament
- Philippe Dufresne Officers of Parliament
- Privacy CommissionerProtects citizens' personal information from government and business. In office since 2022.Officer of Parliament
- Caroline Maynard Officers of Parliament
- Information CommissionerResolves complaints about access to information held by the federal government.Officer of Parliament
- Annette Ryan Officers of Parliament
- Parliamentary Budget OfficerIndependently costs bills and government measures. Appointed April 22, 2026.Officer of Parliament
- Parliamentary committees Other roles and institutions
- Small groups of parliamentarians that study bills clause by clause between 2nd and 3rd reading, hear witnesses and propose amendments.Bill study
- House leaders and whips Other roles and institutions
- In each party, the House leader negotiates the flow of business and the whip ensures MPs vote the party line — which is why "who voted what" almost always follows party lines.Vote discipline
- The public service and departments Other roles and institutions
- The civil servants who implement laws, under the ministers' direction. The Privy Council Office directly supports the Prime Minister and Cabinet.Implements laws
- The Supreme Court of Canada Other roles and institutions
- The country's highest court: it can strike down a law that violates the Constitution (including the Charter), and the government can ask it for an opinion on a question (a "reference").Judicial branch
- The Usher of the Black Rod and the Sergeant-at-Arms Other roles and institutions
- Ceremonial figures: the Usher of the Black Rod (Senate) knocks on the Commons' door to summon MPs to royal assent; the Sergeant-at-Arms carries the mace, symbol of the House's authority.Ceremonial
- Bill (C- / S-) Procedure
- A proposed text that must clear both chambers and then receive royal assent to become law. Bills numbered C- start in the House of Commons, S- in the Senate. Numbers below 200 are government bills; from C-200 / S-200 on, they are private members' or senators' bills.
- Pro forma bill
- The very first bill introduced in each chamber when a session opens — C-1 in the Commons, S-1 in the Senate. It is a ritual, not legislation: before hearing the Speech from the Throne, the chamber introduces a token text to assert that it legislates of its own accord and not at the Crown's bidding. It is never printed, never debated, never voted on. Its title is traditional and unrelated to any content — there is none: railways in the Senate, oaths of office in the Commons.
- First, second, third reading Procedure
- The three main stages of a bill in each chamber. 1st: introduction (no debate). 2nd: vote on the principle. 3rd: the chamber's final vote. A bill runs this course twice — once per chamber.
- Committee / report stage Procedure
- Between 2nd and 3rd reading, a committee studies the bill clause by clause and may propose amendments; report stage brings the result (and any amendments) back before the chamber.
- Royal assent Procedure
- The final step: once passed in identical form by both chambers, the bill receives the Crown's formal agreement (the Governor General) and becomes law.
- Recorded (standing) vote Votes
- A vote where each member's name and position are recorded. It is the source of the "who voted what" detail on this site — in the Commons (yea / nay / paired) and in the Senate (yea / nay / abstention).
- Paired (Commons) Votes
- In the Commons, two MPs on opposite sides may agree to abstain together for a vote: their votes cancel out. "Paired" is therefore a recorded position, not an absence.
- Bill sponsor People & roles
- The member (minister, MP or senator) who introduces the bill and carries it through the stages.
- Senator People & roles
- A member of the Senate, the second chamber (105 seats). Senators are not elected: they are appointed by the Governor General on the Prime Minister's recommendation. Since 2016, an independent advisory board assesses applications on merit, in a non-partisan way, and recommends names to the Prime Minister. Requirements: be at least 30 years old, reside in the province or territory represented and own property there. The term runs until age 75 (there is no election and no fixed length).
- Senate parliamentary groups People & roles
- Since the 2016 reforms, the Senate is organized mostly into non-partisan groups rather than parties: ISG (Independent Senators Group), CSG (Canadian Senators Group), PSG (Progressive Senate Group). Alongside them sit the C (Conservative caucus, the only remaining party), the GRO (Government Representative Office, which steers the government's agenda) and non-affiliated senators.
- Caucus People & roles
- All the members of a given party. In the Commons: LPC (Liberal), CPC (Conservative), BQ (Bloc), NDP, GPC (Green).
- Parliament and session Procedure
- A Parliament spans the period between two general elections (the 45th began in 2025). It is divided into sessions; "45-1" means the 1st session of the 45th Parliament — the period this site covers.
- Prorogation / dissolution Procedure
- Prorogation ends a session (bills not yet passed die, unless reinstated); dissolution ends the Parliament and triggers an election.
- Cabinet People & roles
- The team of ministers, led by the Prime Minister, that directs the government and proposes most bills. Ministers are almost always MPs.
Who’s involved around Parliament
The real people around Parliament, beyond the elected members. These names live on a dozen scattered official sites, so — unlike the rest of this daily-refreshed site — they're hard to keep automatic: the two that change most often (House Speaker, Governor General) update on their own; the others are verified by hand and may lag briefly after a change.
🏢 The lobbyist registry
Anyone paid to communicate with federal public office holders about laws, policies, grants or contracts must register in a public registry, overseen by the independent Commissioner of Lobbying. Registered lobbyists must also file monthly reports of their arranged communications with designated office holders (ministers, senior officials, MPs, senators).
On each bill's page, DossierCanada shows the reported communications that name that bill — count, most active organizations, and recent meetings, each linked to its official record. Two limits we own: the Commissioner's files have no queryable API, so we refresh the archive by hand about once a month; and because bill numbers are reused from one Parliament to the next, we only count communications whose description names both the number and the bill's title. The figure shown is a floor. For everything else — a person, a company, a subject — the official tools below are the source.
Parliamentary jargon
All
Procedure (6)Votes (2)People & roles (5)