Quebec will lose a seat in the new federal electoral map

Posted On: December 8, 2023

The number of seats in the House of Commons will increase from 338 to 342 by 2024 to reflect changes in Canada’s population. Ontario, Alberta and British Columbia will see their seat numbers increase; Quebec is the only province to lose one in this redistribution.

Canada’s Chief Electoral Officer Stéphane Perrault made the announcement via press release on Friday afternoon.

Under Elections Canada’s proposed new seat allocation, British Columbia would have 43; Alberta, 37; Saskatchewan, 14; Manitoba, 14; Ontario, 122; Quebec, 77; New Brunswick, 10; Nova Scotia, 11; Prince Edward Island, 4; Newfoundland and Labrador, 7; Yukon, 1; the Northwest Territories, 1; and Nunavut, 1.

So it’s one more seat for Ontario, which goes from 121 to 122 seats, and for British Columbia, which goes from 42 to 43 seats. Alberta is entitled to three more seats (from 34 to 37). Quebec, which currently has 78 seats, will lose one seat. The number of seats in Atlantic and the territories remains unchanged.

Under the Canadian Constitution, ridings must be reviewed every ten years after a census to reflect changes in the population. Provinces with increasing populations are granted additional seats. Quebec’s growth is lower than the average for other provinces.

The Chief Electoral Officer makes the calculation based on population estimates from the Chief Statistician of Canada and a formula provided for in the Constitutionwe can read in the press release from Elections Canada.

This is the first time since 1966 that a province has lost a seat when the electoral map is redrawn.

A redistribution of the boundaries of federal constituencies across the country is also expected. This process, expected to begin in February 2022, will be led by independent, non-partisan commissions in each of the ten provinces. They will be tasked with re-creating the electoral maps taking into account, among other things, the average population in each constituency.

In the past, the proposed changes have been sharply criticized by political parties fearful of losing seats or dividing their communities through redistricting. Others argued that some sessions were too large and that MPs had to travel for hours to meet their constituents.

The new electoral map is expected to be completed in October 2023, but will not come into force immediately. Elections Canada claims the changes will not take effect until April 2024 at the earliest, possibly after the next election.