The ''Fair Representation Act'' was an act of the

Parliament of Canada The Parliament of Canada (french: Parlement du Canada) is the federal legislature of Canada, seated at Parliament Hill in Ottawa, and is composed of three parts: the King, the Senate, and the House of Commons. By constitutional convention, the ...

and was passed by the

41st Canadian Parliament The 41st Canadian Parliament was in session from June 2, 2011 to August 2, 2015, with the membership of its House of Commons having been determined by the results of the 2011 federal election held on May 2, 2011. Parliament convened on June 2, 2 ...

in 2011. The Act was introduced as Bill C-20 with the long title ''An Act to amend the Constitution Act, 1867, the Electoral Boundaries Readjustment Act and the Canada Elections Act''. The legislation amended the ''Constitution Act, 1867'' and modified the redistricting process contained within it. Amendments affecting proportionate representation between the provinces, require support of seven provinces representing at least 50% of the population of Canada. Because the ''Fair Representation Act'' did not affect the proportionate representation of the provinces, it was passed without approval of the provinces. The legislation could be passed by the

alone, under section 44 of the Constitution Act, 1982. In 2012, the federal electoral redistribution was conducted using the amended formula introduced by the ''Fair Representation Act''. It increased the number of MPs in the most populous provinces:

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

gained three,

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

gained 15,

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

gained six and

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

gained six. The 2022 federal electoral redistribution began under the formula created by the Act, but in March 2022 the House of Commons rejected the allocation it produced. As a result, the government introduced the Preserving Provincial Representation in the House of Commons Act. The Act received royal assent on June 23, 2022, repealing the constitutional amendments made by the Fair Representation Act.

References

{{Canada-law-stub Constitution of Canada Canadian federal legislation 2012 in Canadian law