Canada: Politics and Governance

Canada is a federal parliamentary democracy and constitutional monarchy, with the British monarch as head of state represented domestically by a Governor General, while a Prime Minister and Cabinet drawn from the elected House of Commons hold executive authority. Power is divided between a federal government and ten provincial and three territorial governments under a constitutional framework set out in the Constitution Acts of 1867 and 1982.

Contemporary politics center on federal-provincial relations, healthcare and social policy administered largely at the provincial level, immigration policy, and the ongoing process of reconciliation with Indigenous peoples following the 2015 Truth and Reconciliation Commission report.