Parliament of the Province of Canada

Parliament of the Province of Canada
Parlement de la Province du Canada
Type
Type
Bicameral
Houses Legislative Council
Legislative Assembly
History
Founded February 10, 1841
Disbanded July 1, 1867
Preceded by Parliament of Lower Canada
Parliament of Upper Canada
Succeeded by Parliament of Canada (federally)
Parliament of Ontario
Legislature of Quebec

The Parliament of the Province of Canada was the legislature for the United Province of Canada, made up the two regions of Canada West (formerly Upper Canada, later Ontario) and Canada East (formerly Lower Canada, later Quebec). It was established by the Act of Union 1840 and replaced the two separate legislatures of Upper and Lower Canada, following the Rebellions of 1837 and Lord Durham's 1839 Report to the British Government recommending a legislative union between the two colonies.

As in other Westminster-style legislatures, it consisted of three components:

This legislature was convened eight times in its history:

Following the Province of Canada's entry into Canadian Confederation on 1 July 1867, the Parliament of the Province of Canada ceased to exist. Because the new country of Canada was a federation, the Parliament's powers were divided between levels of government. Its section 91 powers were assigned to the current Parliament of Canada, while its section 92 powers were assigned to the current Parliament of Ontario (for Canada West) and the Legislature of Quebec (for Canada East).