Learn
Plain-language guides to how Canadian government actually works — no jargon, no partisanship, written to make the data on this site make sense.
For teachers
Write to your MP: a class activity
Students find their MP by postal code and write a real letter. Printable handout, teacher notes and curriculum links. No ads, no sign-up.
Your MP and you
What does an MP do?
The job description nobody hands out: House duties, committee work, riding work.
How much do MPs get paid?
Base salary, top-ups for cabinet and leadership roles, pension, and what expense budgets are not.
How to contact your MP
Email, phone, office visits — and the letter trick that needs no postage.
How your vote actually works
You vote for one name in one riding. Everything else follows from that.
How to vote in a federal election
Registration, ID, advance polls — the full walkthrough.
Lobbying and influence
How Parliament works
How Parliament works
The Commons, the Senate, and the Crown — the machine in one read.
How bills become law
First reading to royal assent, and where bills go to die.
What is a private member’s bill?
The long-shot bills backbench MPs get to introduce.
What is Question Period?
The daily 45 minutes everyone clips for social media.
What are parliamentary committees?
Where the real scrutiny happens — and where lobbyists testify.
How the Senate works
The unelected chamber that can still stop a bill.
The role of the opposition
Why losing the election still comes with a job.
What are cabinet ministers?
The MPs who run departments — and attract the most lobbying.
What does the Prime Minister do?
Powers, limits, and who actually picks the PM.
Elections and government
How Canadian elections work
Ridings, campaigns, and how a government forms.
What is a riding?
343 electoral districts, how boundaries are drawn, and what yours decides.
Majority vs minority government
Why 172 is the number that decides everything.
What is first-past-the-post?
The voting system, its critics, and the alternatives.
What happens during a campaign
From the writ drop to election night.
Levels of government in Canada
Federal, provincial, municipal — who is responsible for what.
Who’s your federal MP?
Enter your postal code to find your federal MP, how to reach them, and what they’ve been doing.