Canada | The Global State of Democracy (2024)

Canada is a stable, high-performing democracy. After undergoing a major constitutional revision in 1982, Canada has had very strong constitutional protections of fundamental rights, and an embrace of multiculturalism as one of the guiding values of its legal and political systems. The country is also one of the world’s most advanced economies and has been a member of the Group of Seven (G7) since 1976. However, in the last five years there have been declines – albeit from a high starting point – in a number of indicators of the Global State of Democracy Indices (GSoDI), most notably Effective Parliament and Predictable Enforcement.

Canada’s embrace of multiculturalism is one of its national strengths, but its centrality also highlights some of the enduring fault lines in the country’s political system. The nineteenth and much of the twentieth centuries were partly characterized by successive governments’ failure to address the negative treatment of Indigenous peoples at the federal and provincial levels. This has included violations of First Nations’ treaty rights, exclusion from political participation, and even acts that may amount to cultural genocide. A further lasting division from the colonial period is between Anglophone and Francophone Canadians. The Francophone province of Quebec has been recognized as a nation within Canada (a declaration without legal effects), but the appropriate legal measures to accommodate this difference have never been settled. A third cleavage in Canadian politics is between the western provinces (in particular the Prairie provinces) and the centre of the country. This has become even more politically salient in recent years as the federal government has sought to address climate change, while the western province of Alberta’s economy relies to a large extent on the extraction and sale of fossil fuels. These divisions are likely to continue to drive Canadian politics in the coming years.

The fundamentals of democracy are quite sound in Canada. Nonetheless, the trends in Effective Parliament and Predictable Enforcement should be tracked in the coming years. These declines reflect tensions in Canada’s political institutions, highlighted by controversies in recent years around the independence of the Attorney General from political pressure and apparent political vetting of judicial candidates. The decline in Predictable Enforcement alongside a slight drop in Access to Justice reflects an increasing backlog of criminal and civil cases in provincial and federal courts.

Despite the declines, minority governments have been increasingly common in the Canadian parliament (five of the last ten parliaments), and generally offer opposition parties more power to hold the government to account. Additionally, the increased public attention to the judicial appointments process and the efficiency of the justice system provides an opportunity for reform in this important area of rights protection.

March 2024

Supreme Court of Canada rules on collective rights of Indigenous Peoples

The Supreme Court of Canada issued a ruling about collective rights of Indigenous Peoples. The ruling upheld the requirement that individuals who wish to be elected to the Vuntut Giwtchin First Nation of Yukon’s Council must reside on traditional lands. The case was brought by a member of the community who lives outside of traditional lands. The Court determined that the collective rights of Indigenous Peoples, protected by Section 25 of Canada’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms, prevail in certain circ*mstances over individual rights. That is, when a collision of irreconcilable rights occurs, those that are indispensable to the preservation of cultural differences and self-government should prevail. Dissenting judges, including Michelle O’Bonsawin, an Odenak First Nation Member, considered that Section 25 was applicable to cases brought by non-Indigenous people, and not to cases in which an Indigenous person alleges a transgression to her rights in her own Nation. The Court’s decision was hailed by the Vuntut Gwitchin First Nation as a recognition of Indigenous self-government.

Sources: The Globe and Mail , Supreme Court of Canada

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Supreme Court Indigenous Rights SDG16 SDG10

January 2024

Court rules against government regarding use of Emergencies Act

A ruling by a federal court has stated that the government’s use of the Emergencies Act to respond to the “Freedom Convoy” protests in 2022 was unreasonable and contrary to protesters’ rights. According to the federal judge’s decision, in a case brought by the Canadian Civil Liberties Association, the Canadian Constitution Foundation, and two interested parties who had their bank accounts frozen on the basis of the Act, no national emergency justified its use.

The ruling contradicts the findings of the Rouleau Commission, a public inquiry mandated to investigate the use of the Emergencies Act, which concluded in February 2023 that the threshold needed for that effect had been met. The government has stated it will appeal the federal court’s decision.

Sources: Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, The Guardian, International IDEA

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Justin Trudeau Protests

November 2023

Amid a rise in hate crimes, a synagogue and Jewish community centre are targeted

An increase in hate crimes in Canada has been recorded since the October escalation of violence between Hamas and Israel. In Montreal, Molotov co*cktails were set alight outside a synagogue and a Jewish community centre, and gunfire was reportedly directed against two empty Jewish schools.

According to Montreal Police, since 7 October and as of early November, 48 hate incidents targeting the Jewish community had been recorded, as well as 17 hate incidents targeting the Arab-Muslim community. This constitutes a significant increase, given that during all last year, 238 incidents were recorded in total.

Clashes and tension between pro-Palestinian and pro-Israel protesters have also been reported, including in Montreal’s Concordia University, where a student was injured, and another charged with assault.

Sources:Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, The Globe and Mail (1), The Globe and Mail (2)

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Hate Crime Police SDG16 SDG10

June 2023

Online News Act becomes law

On 22 June the Online News Act became law. According to the government, the Act aims to ensure a fair distribution of revenue between news sites and social media and online platforms (the latter would have to pay news organizations when their content is accessed on online platforms). As explained by the government, journalism lost major revenue streams from advertising to online platforms. It further claims that the Act will also facilitate the relationship between news media outlets and social media platforms, as well as strengthen media freedom. Because of the financial implications to their operations, Meta and Google have announced that they will cease providing Canadian news content on their websites. This reaction has been criticised, given the proportion of Canadians who access news through social media (social media comes in third after the internet and television).

In response, the Canadian government said it would stop advertising on Facebook and Instagram.

Sources: Government of Canada, The Conversation, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation

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Social Media

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GSoD Indices Data 2013-2022

Representation

Rights

Rule of Law

Participation

Learn about our Global State of Democracy Framework

Basic Information

Population

38 246 110

System of government

Parliamentary system

Head of government

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau (since 2015)

Head of government party

Liberal Party

Electoral system for lower or single chamber

First Past the Post

Women in lower or single chamber

30.5%

Women in upper chamber

48.9%

Last legislative election

2021

Effective number of political parties

3.79

Head of state

King Charles III

Selection process for head of state

Hereditary or election by hereditary state rulers

Latest Universal Periodic Review (UPR) date

11/05/2018

Latest Universal Periodic Review (UPR) percentage of recommendations supported

74.55%

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Human Rights Treaties

State party

Signatory

No action

United Nations Human Right Treaties

International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights

International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights

International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination

Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women

Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment or Punishment

Convention on the Rights of the Child

International Convention on Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families

International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance

International Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities

International Labour Organisation Treaties

Forced Labour Convention

Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention

Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention

Equal Remuneration Convention

Abolition of Forced Labour Convention

Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention

Convention concerning Minimum Age for Admission to Employment

Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention

Regional Treaties

American Convention on Human Rights

Additional Protocol to the American Convention on Human Rights in the Area of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights

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Performance by category over the last 6 months

Representation

Dec 2023

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Rights

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Rule of law

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Participation

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Global State of Democracy Indices

Hover over the trend lines to see the exact data points across the years

Explore the indices

Representation >

high 0.7-1.0

mid 0.4-0.7

low 0.0-0.4

Rights >

high 0.7-1.0

mid 0.4-0.7

low 0.0-0.4

Rule of Law >

high 0.7-1.0

mid 0.4-0.7

low 0.0-0.4

Participation >

high 0.7-1.0

mid 0.4-0.7

low 0.0-0.4

Factors of Democratic Performance Over Time

Use the slider below to see how democratic performance has changed over time

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