List of elections in the Province of Canada

The Province of Canada was the union of Canada West (formerly Upper Canada and later Ontario) and Canada East (formerly Lower Canada and later Quebec).

The Province of Canada held 8 unique elections from 1841 to 1863 before Confederation. While party lines were somewhat blurred, there were political parties.

There are many examples of groups of MPs going against the party line, or splitting a party into two. A good example of this is when a number of Liberal MPs supported John A. Macdonald, a Conservative, and his idea for Canadian Confederation, many other Liberal Party members were opposed to Confederation.

After the establishment of the double majority principle, any bill, in order to be passed, needed a majority of MPs from both Canada West and Canada East. This sometimes led to coalitions between Ontario Liberals and Quebec Tories, or vice versa. The elections listed below are divided into "Left" or "Reformer" camps, and "Right" or "Conservative" camps.

Four major parties contested the 1841 election. The Reformers from Canada West were a group of pro-democracy, radical Reformers who wanted to change the government. The Family Compact from Canada West was a group of rich Tories interested in the status quo.
Canada East had two similar groups. Les Patriotes, a reformist group consisting almost exclusively of French Canadians, and the Tories, a mostly English group.

By 1844, the Family Compact had started calling itself Tories as well. This election also saw the creation of the Liberal Party, made up of pro-Patriot members from Canada East, who spoke English.

By 1848, the Reformers were popular once more in Canada West.

Due to the problems of the last parliament, the Governor General was ordered to sign everything that came from this legislature, marking the birth of responsible government in Canada. This was the celebrated Ministry of Louis-Hippolyte Lafontaine and Robert Baldwin.

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