House of Commons of Canada

The **House of Commons** (French: _Chambre des communes_) is the lower house of the Parliament of Canada. The House of Commons is an elected body, of 343 members, who are known as _Members of Parliament_ (MPs).  Members are elected for a maximum of four years at a time. Each member is elected by one of the country's federal electoral districts which are usually called _ridings_.

The House of Commons was established in 1867, when the British North America Act 1867  created the Dominion of Canada, and was modelled on the British House of Commons. The House of Commons is sometimes called the "lower house", even though it has more power than the "upper house", the Senate. Both Houses is must agree to new laws but the Senate very rarely rejects bills passed by the Commons (though the Senate does occasionally amend bills). The Government of Canada is responsible only to the House of Commons. The Prime Minister stays in office only as long as he or she has the support of the Lower House.

The Canadian House of Commons is  in the Centre Block of the Parliament Buildings on  Parliament Hill, in Ottawa, Ontario.

Unlike the Parliament of the United Kingdom, the powers of the Parliament of Canada are limited, because provincial legislatures have the sole right to pass laws about some things.

Until 1982 only the Parliament of the United Kingdom had the power to change the British North America Act, this was to protect the rights and powers of the provincial legislatures.  This was changed by the Canada Act.  In Canada the British North America Act is now called the Constitution Act.

A lot of the work of the House of Commons is done by committees which can spend more time investigating a subject than the whole House of Commons could

## Seat distribution

The table below shows how many seats each political party has in the Parliament. Many of the MPs were elected in the 2025 election.
|colspan="2"|Party|Seats|Vote share (%)||||||||||||
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|Liberal|**169**|**43.8**|Conservative|144|41.3|Bloc Québécois|22|6.3|New Democratic|7|6.3|Green|2|1.2|
|colspan="2"|**Total**|**343**|**100%**||||||||||||
- Notes

## List of committees

- Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development
- Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics
- Agriculture and Agri-Food
- Canadian Heritage
- Citizenship and Immigration
- Environment and Sustainable Development
- Finance
- Fisheries and Oceans
- Foreign Affairs and International Development
- Government Operations and Estimates
- Health
- Human Resources, Social Development and the Status of Persons with Disabilities
- Industry, Science and Technology
- International Trade
- Justice and Human Rights
- Liaison Committee
- National Defence
- Natural Resources
- Official Languages
- Procedure and House Affairs
- Public Accounts
- Public Safety and National Security
- Status of Women
- Transport, Infrastructure and Communities
- Veterans Affairs

## Infobox (legislature)

- **background color**: #006030
- **name**: House of Commons of Canada
- **native name**: <small></small>
- **legislature**: 45th Canadian Parliament, 45th Parliament
- **house type**: Lower house
- **body**: Parliament of Canada
- **leader1 type**: Speaker of the House of Commons of Canada, Speaker
- **leader1**: Francis Scarpaleggia
- **party1**: Liberal Party of Canada, Liberal
- **election1**: 26 May 2025
- **leader2 type**: Prime Minister of Canada, Prime Minister
- **leader2**: Mark Carney
- **party2**: Liberal
- **election2**: 14 March 2025
- **leader3 type**: Leader of the Official Opposition (Canada), Leader of the Official Opposition
- **leader3**: Andrew Scheer
- **party3**: Conservative Party of Canada, Conservative
- **election3**: 6 May 2025
- **salary**: Canadian dollars, CA$182,600.00 (sessional indemnity effective April 1, 2020)
- **members**: 343
- **structure1**: 45th Canadian Parliament.svg
- **structure1 res**: 300px
- **political groups1**: **Government of Canada,  His Majesty's Government**
* Liberal Party of Canada, Liberal (169)

* Conservative Party of Canada, Conservative (143)
**Official party status, Parties with official status**
* Bloc Québécois (22)
**Parties without official status**
* New Democratic Party, New Democratic (7)
* Green Party of Canada, Green (1)
* Independent (politician), Vacant (1)
- **voting system1**: First-past-the-post voting, First-past-the-post
- **last election1**: 44th Canadian federal election, September 20, 2021
- **next election1**: 45th Canadian federal election, April 28, 2025
- **session room**: West Block Test 1-2019.jpg
- **session res**: 260px
- **session alt**: The House of Commons sits in the West Block in Ottawa
- **meeting place**: House of Commons Chamber
West Block - Parliament Hill
 Ottawa, Ontario
Canada
- **leader4**: Steven MacKinnon
- **leader4 type**: Leader of the Government in the House of Commons, Government House Leader
- **party4**: Liberal
- **leader5**: Andrew Scheer
- **leader5 type**: Leader of the Opposition in the House of Commons (Canada), Opposition House Leader
- **party5**: Conservative
- **election4**: 13 May 2025
- **election5**: 13 September 2022