Canada flag Canada: Economic and Political Overview

The political framework of Canada

Political Outline

Current Political Leaders
Governor General: Mary Simon (since 26 July 2021)
Prime Minister: Justin Trudeau (since 4 November 2015) - Liberal Party - resigned on 6 January 2025, currently on a caretaker status
King Charles III is officially the Chief of State of Canada (since 8 September 2022).
Next Election Dates
House of Commons: October 2025
Current Political Context

On January 6, 2025, Justin Trudeau declared his resignation from the post of Leader of the Liberal Party and the Prime Minister of Canada. His decision came on the heels of party dissent as well as dwindling public support. Trudeau will remain in office until the Liberal Party elects a new leader, with the leadership election scheduled for March 9, 2025. The Liberal Party is gearing up for a competition to determine who will succeed him with contenders such as former Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland and former Bank of Canada Governor Mark Carney. The Conservative Party led by Pierre Poilievre has gained traction throughout the Liberal Party's crisis and is currently considered the front-runner for the position of Prime Minister reflecting the current trend of declining influence by left-leaning parties around the world.
On the external relations front, Donald Trump's election brings considerable uncertainty to U.S.-Canada relations. Given the closer ideological distance, it can be supposed that it will be somewhat less frictional should the Conservatives come back to power; while trade issues will continue to have frictions. Furthermore, relations with China and India changed significantly. An investigation is ongoing into allegations of election interference by China, and in mid-2024, Canada imposed tariffs on EVs, steel, and aluminium, also following the U.S. Lastly, government allegations that India was behind the assassination of a Sikh leader in British Columbia, which India has denied, have dented the bilateral relationship and could jeopardise efforts to deepen diplomatic and economic ties between the two countries.

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.
 

Indicator of Freedom of the Press

Definition:

The world rankings, published annually, measures violations of press freedom worldwide. It reflects the degree of freedom enjoyed by journalists, the media and digital citizens of each country and the means used by states to respect and uphold this freedom. Finally, a note and a position are assigned to each country. To compile this index, Reporters Without Borders (RWB) prepared a questionnaire incorporating the main criteria (44 in total) to assess the situation of press freedom in a given country. This questionnaire was sent to partner organisations,150 RWB correspondents, journalists, researchers, jurists and human rights activists. It includes every kind of direct attacks against journalists and digital citizens (murders, imprisonment, assault, threats, etc.) or against the media (censorship, confiscation, searches and harassment etc.).

World Rank:
14/180
 

Indicator of Political Freedom

Definition:

The Indicator of Political Freedom provides an annual evaluation of the state of freedom in a country as experienced by individuals. The survey measures freedom according to two broad categories: political rights and civil liberties. The ratings process is based on a checklist of 10 political rights questions (on Electoral Process, Political Pluralism and Participation, Functioning of Government) and 15 civil liberties questions (on Freedom of Expression, Belief, Associational and Organizational Rights, Rule of Law, Personal Autonomy and Individual Rights). Scores are awarded to each of these questions on a scale of 0 to 4, where a score of 0 represents the smallest degree and 4 the greatest degree of rights or liberties present. The total score awarded to the political rights and civil liberties checklist determines the political rights and civil liberties rating. Each rating of 1 through 7, with 1 representing the highest and 7 the lowest level of freedom, corresponds to a range of total scores.

Ranking:
Free
Political Freedom:
1/7

Political freedom in the world (interactive map)
Source: Freedom in the World Report, Freedom House

 

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Latest Update: February 2025