Federal Government

Canada's federal government is based in Ottawa, Ontario. Similar to the U.S. federal government, the Parliament of Canada has two legislative bodies through which proposed bills must pass before becoming law — the House of Commons, which has elected representatives, and the Senate, which is comprised of appointees.

The Members of Parliament (MPs) are elected representatives from over 300 "ridings" or regions across Canada who sit in the House of Commons. The federal government itself is headed by a Prime Minister, who is usually the leader of the ruling political party in the House of Commons. The Prime Minister chooses members of the federal Cabinet from the elected Parliamentarians and these "Ministers" are responsible for overseeing individual federal departments.

Canada has four principal political parties — Liberal Party of Canada, Conservative Party of Canada, Bloc Québécois and New Democratic Party of Canada. The political party that controls the most seats in the House forms the ruling government of the day. The Official Opposition is the party that holds the second highest number of seats.

Canada's House of Commons is the only constitutionally authorized body to introduce legislation to raise or spend funds. Once a new law or amendments to existing laws are voted on and approved by the House of Commons, the proposed legislation must then be debated and voted upon by the Senate.

This Upper House of Parliament is made up of over 100 Senators appointed by the Governor General, on the advice of the Prime Minister. Senators, theoretically, provide a check against potential excesses of the governing party. If the Senate approves a law or its amendments, the bill is ready for royal assent. The timing of the royal assent ceremony is chosen by the ruling government and, unless the bill fixes a date on which it is to come into force, it comes into force on the date of royal assent. This time period can be mere days or many months, depending on the political timetable.