The Canadian Government
Information for the Registered Nurse
Planning on Becoming a Nurse in Canada
The Canadian government must be understood by the foreign trained registered
nurse planning on becoming a nurse in Canada.
The laws that regulate the Canadian health care system and
the Canadian values upon which those laws are based, provide the context for the nursing profession in Canada.
Without an understanding of the Canadian context, questions on the
Canadian Registered Nurse Exam might not be
understood correctly.
Government Structure in Canada
The Canadian Government is a representative democracy based on the British Parliamentary system.
The federal government consists of three branches:
- Executive (the Crown)
- Legislative (Parliament)
- Judicial
Any power not given to the federal government by the Canadian constitution is left to the governments of
the ten provinces and 3 territories.
The Executive (The Crown)
At the top of the executive is the British Sovereign, currently Queen Elizabeth II. However, as the
Queen spends most of her time in Britain, not Canada, she appoints a Governor General as her royal
representative in Canada. She appoints the Governor General on the advice of the Canadian Prime Minister.
Since the British Monarch has not disregarded the Prime Minister's advice in the last 100 years, this
advice could be regarded as binding. Under the Governor General is the Cabinet, containing the heads of
the various Ministries, or government departments.
The Legislative (Parliament)
The Canadian government is a parliamentary system and is composed of two houses, the Senate and the
House of Commons. The upper house of Parliament, the Senate, consists of 105 members appointed by
the Governor General on the advice of the Prime Minister.
Seats in the Senate are divided among the
Canadian provinces and territories, with 24 seats going to the four major regions (Ontario, Quebec,
the Maritime Provinces, and the Western Provinces). The remainder of available seats are divided among
the smaller regions.
The lower house, the House of Commons, consists of at 308 members elected from all over Canada.
The seats in the House of Commons are divided among the different electoral districts know as "ridings".
Every ten years, when a national census is taken, a committee redistributes the seats of the House,
based on population, population density, geography, and social and economic factors.
Should the population of Canada grow, more seats can be added to the House.
National elections are held every four years or sooner if the Prime Minister calls an election.
Each candidate in a riding can run for election as an Independent, or with the backing of a political party.
At the 2000 election,
there were 11 registered political parties in Canada. However, four big parties dominate the House of Commons:
the Conservative Party, the Liberal Party,
the New Democratic Party, and the Bloc Québécois (who represent mainly French Canadians).
After an election, the political party that won the most seats in the House of Commons becomes the
Majority Party, and their leader becomes the Prime Minister of Canada.
The Judiciary
Federal criminal law is standardized across Canada and based on English common law (except in French Quebec,
where it is based on French civil code). Non-criminal law may vary among the Canadian provinces.
A hierarchy of municipal, provincial, and federal courts administer justice in Canada. At the very top is
the Supreme Court of Canada, consisting of nine justices and led by the Chief Justice of Canada.
The Supreme Court hears appeals to court decisions made in the provincial courts. Justices are
appointed by the Governor General.
Provincial Governments
All powers not specified in the Canadian Constitution revert to the provincial governments.
This includes, among other things, issues like:
Canadian government at the provincial level is very similar in structure of the national government.
The Executive is the Lieutenant Governor, who is appointed by the Governor General on the advice of the
Prime Minister. The Lieutenant Governor is advised by a provincial cabinet and the Premier. The Premier,
like the Prime Minister, is the leader of the Majority Party who has the most seats in the provincial
Parliament (called the Legislative Assembly).
Unlike the national government, provincial Legislative Assemblies have only one House.
Go from this description of the
Canadian government to a short
article on the federal police force called the RCMP
Read about the
Canadian cultural values
