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List of current senators of Canada

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Senate Chamber, located in the Centre Block of Parliament Hill

This is a list of current members of the Senate of Canada (French: Le Sénat du Canada), the upper house of the Parliament of Canada. Unlike the members of Parliament in the House of Commons, the 105 senators are appointed by the governor general on the advice of the prime minister.[1] Senators originally held their seats for life; however, under the British North America Act, 1965, members may not sit in the Senate after reaching the age of 75.

Seats are allocated on a regional basis: each of the four major regions receives 24 seats, with 9 remaining seats assigned to jurisdictions outside those regions. The four major regions are Ontario, Quebec, the Maritime provinces (New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island), and the Western provinces (Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba and Saskatchewan). The seats for Newfoundland and Labrador (6), the Northwest Territories (1), Yukon (1), and Nunavut (1) are assigned apart from these regional divisions.[2] The province of Quebec has 24 Senate divisions that are constitutionally mandated. In all other provinces, a Senate division is strictly an optional designation of the senator's own choosing, and has no real constitutional or legal standing. A senator who does not choose a special senate division is considered a senator for the province at large.[2]

As of March 7, 2025, there are 105 sitting senators. Of the sitting senators: 41 are members of the Independent Senators Group, 18 are members of the Canadian Senators Group, 15 are members of the Progressive Senate Group, 12 are members of the senate caucus of the Conservative Party of Canada, and 19 are non-affiliated. There are no vacancies.[3]

Active senators have been appointed on the advice of three different prime ministers: Justin Trudeau, Stephen Harper, and Jean Chrétien. Pierrette Ringuette is the longest-serving current senator; she was appointed on the advice of Jean Chrétien in 2002.

Current senators

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Standings

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Members of the Senate of Canada may sit[6] as representatives of a political party if agreed by themselves and their party.
The current party standings in the Senate of Canada are as follows:

Seating plan of the Canadian Senate
Party BC AB SK MB ON QC NB NS PE NL YT NT NU Total
Independent Senators Group   3 2 1 14 10 5 3 1 1 1 41
Non-affiliated   2 1 4 3 4 2 1 1 1 19
Canadian Senators Group   1 2 1 4 3 2 3 2 18
Progressive Senate Group   2 2 2 4 2 1 1 1 15
Conservative   1 1 1 1 3 1 1 3 12
Total 6 6 6 6 24 24 10 10 4 6 1 1 1 105


Vacancies

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There are no vacancies as of March 7, 2025

Membership changes since the last election

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Standings changes since the last election

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Number of members
per group by date
2021 2022 2023
Sep 20 Sep 27 Oct 6 Oct 7 Oct 8 Oct 18 Oct 31 Nov 20 Jan 3 Feb 4 Mar 14 Mar 18 May 6 Jun 3 Jun 27 Aug 4 Sep 26 Oct 2 Oct 24 Nov 10 Nov 21 Jan 10 Jan 12 Jan 24 Jan 31 Feb 9 Feb 21 Feb 23 Feb 28 May 3 May 12 May 15 Jul 6 Jul 11 Aug 9 Sep 7 Sep 15 Sep 19
Independent Senators Group 40 41 42 43 44 43 42 41 40 39 40 39 38 37 38 39
Conservative 18 17 16 15
Progressive Senate Group 14 13 14 13 12 13 12 11
  Canadian Senators Group 13 12 13 12 13 12 11 12 13 14 15
Non-affiliated 9 8 7 6 5 6 7 9 10 11 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 10 9 11 12 11 10
  Total members 94 93 92 91 90 89 88 90 89 90 93 91 90 89 91 90 89 91 90
Vacant 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 15 16 15 12 14 15 16 14 15 16 14 15
Number of members
per group by date
2023 2024
Oct 25 Oct 31 Nov 8 Nov 22 Dec 14 Dec 15 Dec 20 Dec 27 Dec 30 Jan 10 Jan 15 Jan 17 Jan 22 Jan 28 Jan 30 Feb 6 Feb 12 Feb 13 Apr 10 Apr 14 Apr 18 May 2 May 13 May 28 Jun 3 Jun 4 Jun 10 Jun 28 Aug 17 Aug 20 Aug 30 Aug 31 Sep 10 Sep 25 Oct 13 Oct 16 Oct 21 Oct 22
Independent Senators Group 39 39 40 41 40 39 40 41 42 43 42 41 42 41
  Canadian Senators Group 15 16 15 16 17 16 17 18
Conservative 15 15 14 13 12
Progressive Senate Group 11 12 13 14 13 14
Non-affiliated 9 14 13 12 11 10 13 12 11 10 11 12 11 12 13 12 11 10 11 10 9 8 9 11 12 14 15 16 15 14
  Total members 89 94 94 97 96 95 96 97 96 97 96 95 96 98 97 99 100 101 100 99
Vacant 16 11 8 9 10 9 8 9 8 9 10 9 7 8 6 5 4 5 6
Number of members
per group by date
2024 2025
Oct 25 Nov 1 Nov 5 Nov 18 Nov 20 Nov 21 Nov 27 Dec 8 Dec 18 Dec 19 Feb 1 Feb 2 Feb 7 Feb 12 Feb 14 Feb 28 Mar 4 Mar 7
Independent Senators Group 42 41 42 41 40 41
  Canadian Senators Group 18 19 18 17 18
Progressive Senate Group 14 13 12 13 14 15
Non-affiliated 13 12 11 10 12 15 14 15 14 19
Conservative 12
  Total members 99 98 97 96 95 97 96 95 98 99 100 105
Vacant 6 7 8 9 10 8 9 10 7 6 5 0


Appointment breakdown

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Prime Minister Term ISG N-A CSG PSG Cons. Total
  Jean Chrétien 1993–2003 2 0 1 0 0 3
  Stephen Harper 2006–2015 0 1 4 0 12 17
  Justin Trudeau 2015–2025 39 18 13 15 0 85
Total 41 19 18 15 12 105

Upcoming retirements

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Fourteen current senators are scheduled to retire before the end of 2026:

  1. Don Plett, May 14, 2025, Conservative (Harper) - Manitoba (Landmark)
  2. Marc Gold, June 30, 2025, non-affiliated (J. Trudeau) - Quebec (Stadacona)
  3. Judith Seidman, September 1, 2025, Conservative (Harper) - Québec (De la Durantaye)
  4. Marie-Françoise Mégie, September 21, 2025, Independent Senators Group (J. Trudeau) - Quebec (Rougemont)
  5. David Adams Richards, October 17, 2025, Canadian Senators Group (J. Trudeau) - New Brunswick
  6. Larry Smith, April 28, 2026, Canadian Senators Group (Harper) - Quebec (Saurel)
  7. Marilou McPhedran, July 22, 2026, non-affiliated (Trudeau) - Manitoba
  8. Mohammad Al Zaibak, August 9, 2026, non-affiliated (J. Trudeau) - Ontario
  9. Donna Dasko, August 19, 2026, Independent Senators Group (J. Trudeau) - Ontario
  10. Bev Busson, August 23, 2026, Independent Senators Group (J. Trudeau) - British Columbia
  11. Elizabeth Marshall, September 7, 2026, Conservative (Harper) - Newfoundland and Labrador
  12. Paul Massicotte, September 10, 2026, Independent Senators Group (Chrétien) - Quebec (De Lanaudière)
  13. Raymonde Saint-Germain, October 7, 2026, Independent Senators Group (J. Trudeau) - Quebec (De la Vallière)
  14. Stan Kutcher, December 16, 2026, Independent Senators Group (J. Trudeau) - Nova Scotia

Longevity

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Furthest year of retirement of existing senators, by prime minister

  • Pierrette Ringuette, appointed by Jean Chrétien, is due to retire on December 31, 2030
  • Kristopher Wells, appointed by Justin Trudeau, is due to retire on October 7, 2046
  • Patrick Brazeau, appointed by Stephen Harper, is due to retire on November 11, 2049

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ Quebec is the only province with Senate divisions that are constitutionally mandated. In all other provinces, a Senate division is strictly an optional designation of the senator's own choosing, and has no real constitutional or legal standing. A senator who does not choose a special senate division is considered a senator for the province at large.
  2. ^ former speaker
  3. ^ former representative of the Government and former opposition leader
  4. ^ former opposition leader
  5. ^ former representative of the Government in the Senate
  6. ^ former facilitator of the [[ISG]]

References

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  1. ^ Makarenko, Jay (June 1, 2007). "The Canadian Senate: Role, Powers & Operation". MapleLeafWeb. Archived from the original on December 19, 2008. Retrieved November 24, 2008.
  2. ^ a b "A Legislative and Historical Overview of the Senate of Canada". Parliament of Canada. May 2001. Archived from the original on March 1, 2021. Retrieved November 24, 2008.
  3. ^ "Senators". Archived from the original on January 22, 2017. Retrieved July 11, 2023.
  4. ^ "Senators". Parliament of Canada. Retrieved July 14, 2023.
  5. ^ a b "Current Senators". Senate of Canada. Retrieved April 8, 2022.
  6. ^ The Senate Chamber (PDF). Senate of Canada. February 19, 2019. pp. 1–2. Archived (PDF) from the original on November 6, 2019. Retrieved November 18, 2019.