Proportional representation in Canada refers to the ongoing debate over whether and how to adopt proportional representation (PR), usually mixed-member proportional or single transferable vote, to provincial and/or federal elections in Canada. Cities in Manitoba and Alberta elected representatives to their legislatures in various cities using proportional representation between the 1920s and 1950s. Federal adoption of PR has been historically supported by the New Democratic Party and the Liberal Party with varying levels of support over time. In the 2010s, there was a brief all-party support for PR following the 2015 Canadian federal election.
Members of the House of Commons of Canada (lower house) are elected by first-past-the-post (the candidate with the most votes wins) in single-member districts called "ridings." The prime minister of Canada is chosen by the parliament, typically by a party with a majority of seats.
The Proportional Representation League was founded in 1893 as an international (United States and Canada) association of PR advocates. The group put out a quarterly PR Review in the first decades of the 1900s.
In late 1915, the Canadian P.R. Society was formed.
The first city in Canada to use proportional representation was in Calgary in 1916.
Following the 1919 Winnipeg general strike, a royal commission "appointed to inquire into the reasons for industrial unrest" suggested proportional representation as a way to appease laborers. The 1920 Manitoba general election was the first election in Manitoba to use proportional representation (single transferable vote) in Winnipeg. Multiple cities in Alberta also adopted PR following its use in Winnipeg.
In May 1921, the House of Commons 1921 Special Committee on Proportional Representation and the Subject of the Single Transferable or Preferential Vote was formed. The report found that single-member ridings only served the "intended function" when two candidates competed for the seat. While the report did not explicitly propose single transferable vote (STV) for the upcoming election, it did recommend holding a referendum on STV and implementing the alternative vote (instant-runoff voting) in ridings with more than two candidates.
William Lyon Mackenzie King was a member of the Proportional Representation Society of Canada (P.R. Society). He later was elected on a platform that included PR in December 1921. King again expressed support for proportional representation in 1933 ahead of the 1935 election: Another committee (The Special Committee on Elections and Franchise Acts) was formed in 1935 to look at whether STV or the alternative vote (AV) would be "conducive to good government." The 2016 file characterized this 1936 report as "more reserved" than the 1921 report.
By the 1950s, after decades of gerrymandering and apportionment issues (cities had fewer representatives than their proportion of the total population), preferential voting and proportional representation fell out of favour in Manitoba. Additionally, due to mixed electoral systems in the province, candidates were perceived to focus disproportionately on rural regions.
Three more government reports discussed proportional representation during the latter half of the 20th century.
During the 2000s, a series of provincial electoral reform ballot initiatives failed.
In December 2014, the New Democratic Party (NDP) put forward a motion in the Commons to promise that the 2015 Canadian federal election "should be the last conducted under the current first-past-the-post electoral system" and the last "under any other winner-take-all electoral system." The party supported a move toward mixed-member proportional (MMP). Conservative party spokesman Jason MacDonald argued Canadians did not want electoral reform and that "the NDP should respect democratic will of Canadians."
In 2015, Justin Trudeau vowed to make the 2015 election the last election to use first past the post (FPTP) and "make every vote count." In the Liberal Party's 2015 manifesto, the Liberal Party stated, "Within 18 months of forming government, we will introduce legislation to enact electoral reform." In the months after winning an outright majority in Parliament with less than 40% of the vote, the Liberals were accused of stalling on electoral reform. In 2016, the Canadian House of Commons Special Committee on Electoral Reform was formed to research and propose changes to Canada's electoral system. The file was released in December 2016. After Maryam Monsef, the Minister of Democratic Institutions, criticized the process and results of the file, she was replaced with Karina Gould, and the Liberal Party formally abandoned electoral reform efforts. Elections Canada had set a deadline in mid-2017 for changes ahead of the 2019 election.
Held during the national conversation over PR, Prince Edward Island voters ranked (using instant-runoff voting) MMP as their preferred electoral system for the Legislative Assembly of Prince Edward Island in a nonbinding referendum. The election's 36.46% turnout was criticized for being abnormally low.
A third referendum to change BC's electoral system occurred on December 7, 2018. The referendum was put forward by a confidence and supply arrangement from the NDP and Greens. The change was defeated by 22.6 percentage points.
A referendum in Prince Edward Island on whether to switch from FPTP to MMP was narrowly defeated by 3.48%, although the result is technically "nonbinding" as neither the Yes or No options received a majority of the vote in 60% or more of the province's electoral districts (the threshold).
A Business in Vancouver exit poll after 2025 Canadian federal election found 58% of voters supported PR for federal elections, 17% were opposed, and 25% were unsure.
A Research Co. poll in early 2026 found majority support for party-list proportional representation (55%) but not majority support for STV (48%) or MMP (46%). Support for party-list PR was significantly higher among Canadians aged 18-34 (65%) than 55+ Canadians (45%). The poll also found that two-thirds of voters were satisfied with FPTP.
Fair Vote Canada advocates for proportional representation for the Parliament of Canada. The group lists multiple systems as options, including open-list PR, single transferable vote (proportional ranked-choice voting), MMP, and regional proportional representation.
The nationwide New Democratic Party supports proportional representation. NDP leadership in Ontario is in support of PR, particularly MMP.
The Liberal Party supported PR following the 2011 election when came third in seat share. The party has not supported PR since 2017.
Most contemporary PR referenda have failed in Canada.
In late 2025, Premier David Eby (NDP) stated he had no interest in pursuing PR in British Columbia.