For teachers

Write to your MP: a class activity

Students find their Member of Parliament by postal code, pick an issue they care about, and write a real letter. It fits one or two class periods, works from about Grade 5 up, and costs nothing: letters to MPs need no stamp.

Time
1–2 periods
Grades
5 and up
You need
A browser, the handout
Cost
Free, no sign-up
Printable student handout One page: find your MP, plan the letter, send it.

How it runs

  1. 1

    Find your MP

    Each student enters their home postal code at mymp.ca/find-my-mp and notes their riding, MP and party. A few postal codes in every hundred cross a riding line; MyMP says so when it happens and offers Elections Canada's street-address check.

  2. 2

    Get to know them

    On the MP's page, students find one recent vote, speech or bill. It gives the letter something specific to respond to, and shows what an MP actually does all week.

  3. 3

    Pick an issue, and the right government

    Students choose something they care about and check who is responsible for it. Schools and most health care are provincial; transit and parks are often local. If it isn't federal, they write to their MLA or council instead (MyMP often lists them under the MP). Our levels of government guide helps.

  4. 4

    Write the letter

    Under their MP, “Write to” gives a starter letter on the topic they pick, with one line left for a reason in their own words. Or they write it by hand from the handout. A personal reason gets far more attention from an MP's office than a form letter.

  5. 5

    Send it

    By mail, no stamp needed: [MP's name], House of Commons, Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0A6. Or by email from a student's or family's own account. Replies can take a few weeks; reading them together makes a good follow-up lesson.

Try it first with your school’s postal code

See exactly what students will see: their MP, how to reach them, and the letter builder.

Teacher notes

  • Nothing is sent through MyMP. “Write to” opens the student's own email (Gmail, Outlook.com or their email app) or copies the letter. MyMP never sends or stores a letter.
  • No student data is collected. There are no accounts and no sign-up. A postal code goes to Elections Canada and to Represent (by Open North) only to find the riding; MyMP doesn't keep it, and it never appears in a page address or in our analytics. Names and letters stay in the student's browser. Visits and clicks are counted with Google Analytics, which gets none of those. See the privacy policy.
  • On shared computers. The browser remembers the MP (not the postal code) so the homepage can show it next time. “Not your MP?” on the homepage clears it.
  • The weekly email is optional. After a letter, MyMP offers a free Monday email about that MP. Students can skip it; it's not part of the activity.
  • Replies and privacy. MP offices answer constituents first, so a letter should include an address for the reply. The school's address works and keeps home addresses private. Students too young for their own email can write by hand and mail the letters as a class.
  • Every view is welcome. MyMP is non-partisan. Let students pick their own issue and their own side; the lesson is how to be heard, not what to say.
  • No ads. This page and the handout carry no ads, and neither do the postal lookup and its result.

Curriculum connections

Checked against each ministry's published curriculum in October 2026. The activity also fits any unit on levels of government, elections or citizenship.

British Columbia

Social Studies 5

Content includes “levels of government (First Peoples, federal, provincial, and municipal), their main functions, and sources of funding” and “participation and representation in Canada’s system of government.”

BC curriculum

Alberta

Social Studies 6 (new K–6 curriculum, required from September 2026)

Grade 6, “Democracy: History, principles, and operation,” covers provincial and federal governments in Canada and formal and informal civic participation.

Alberta Education overview

Saskatchewan

Social Studies 8, Power and Authority

PA8.3: “Present the evolution of a piece of legislation, from its first conception to its implementation.” PA8.4: “Assess the impact of citizens’ willingness and ability to actively engage in the Canadian political processes.”

Saskatchewan curriculum

Manitoba

Grade 9 Social Studies, Cluster 2: Democracy and Governance in Canada

KC-009: “Identify contemporary political leaders in Canada.” KP-046: “Give examples of ways in which people can individually and collectively influence Canada’s political and social systems.”

Manitoba Education

Ontario

Grade 5 Social Studies (2018), Strand B: The Role of Government and Responsible Citizenship

B1.2 and B1.3 ask students to create a plan of action on a social or environmental issue, “specifying the actions to be taken by the appropriate government or governments… as well as by citizens.” B3.2: the jurisdiction of each level of government. Also fits Grade 10 Civics and Citizenship (CHV2O, revised 2022).

Ontario curriculum

Background reading for students

Levels of government in Canada

Who is responsible for what

What does an MP do?

House, committee and riding work

How to contact your MP

Email, phone, offices, and free mail

How bills become law

First reading to royal assent