Electoral district (Canada)

An electoral district is a geographically-based constituency upon which Canada's representative democracy is based. An electoral district is often also known as a "constituency", or a "riding" in the Canadian English political jargon. It is officially known in Canadian French as a circonscription, but frequently called a "comté" (county).

Related Topics:
Constituency - Canada - Riding - Canadian English - Jargon - Canadian French

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Federal electoral districts return one Member of Parliament (MP) to the Canadian House of Commons; provincial or territorial electoral districts return one Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA), Member of the National Assembly (MNA), Member of Provincial Parliament (MPP) or Member of the House of Assembly (MHA) to the provincial or territorial legislature.

Related Topics:
Member of Parliament - Canadian House of Commons - Provincial or territorial - Member of the Legislative Assembly - Member of the National Assembly - Member of Provincial Parliament - Member of the House of Assembly

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While electoral districts in Canada are now exclusively single-member districts, in the past, multiple-member districts were used at both the federal and provincial levels. Alberta had a few districts in its history that returned from two up to seven members: see Calgary, Edmonton and Medicine Hat.

Related Topics:
Calgary - Edmonton - Medicine Hat

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As of June 28, 2004, there were 308 electoral districts across Canada. Since 1999, Ontario uses the federal ridings in its elections for the provincial legislature. Other provinces have completely different federal and provincial ridings. Ontario also had separate provincial ridings prior to 1999.

Related Topics:
June 28 - 2004 - 1999 - Ontario

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The term riding is derived from the English local government term, which was widely used in Canada in the 19th century. Most Canadian counties never had sufficient population to justify administrative sub-divisions. Nonetheless, it was common, especially in Ontario to divide counties with sufficient population to multiple electoral divisions, which thus became known as "ridings" in official documents. Soon after Confederation, the urban population grew (and more importantly, most city dwellers gained the franchise after property ownership was no longer required to gain the vote). Rural constituencies therefore became geographically larger through the 20th century and generally encompassed one or more counties each, and the word "riding" was then used to refer to any electoral division. A political party's local association is therefore generally known as a riding association.

Related Topics:
English - 19th century - Ontario - 20th century - Riding association

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Electoral district names are usually geographic in nature, and chosen to represent the community or region within the electoral district boundaries. Where a federal district's name includes more than one geographic designation, it is properly denoted with an em-dash (?) between each distinct geographic name, for example Toronto?Danforth and Ancaster?Dundas?Flamborough?Westdale (but Cape Breton?Canso, not Cape?Breton?Canso.) Where a single geographic name contains a hyphen, that is also not replaced by an em-dash (e.g., Saint-Hyacinthe?Bagot, not Saint?Hyacinthe?Bagot; Saint-Lambert, not Saint?Lambert.)

Related Topics:
Toronto?Danforth - Ancaster?Dundas?Flamborough?Westdale - Cape Breton?Canso - Saint-Hyacinthe?Bagot - Saint-Lambert

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Some electoral districts in Quebec are named for historical figures rather than geography (e.g., Louis-Hébert, Honoré-Mercier); these contain hyphens between the words, not em-dashes. This practice is no longer employed in the other provinces and territories.

Related Topics:
Louis-Hébert - Honoré-Mercier

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Depending on local convention, however, provincial electoral districts may use a hyphen instead of an em-dash in this context.

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