Disparity in voter numbers across federal ridings raises questions about fair representation

Canada’s federal ridings show a striking disparity in the number of voters, with some constituencies holding more than five times as many electors as others, according to new data from Chief Electoral Officer Stéphane Perrault.

Blacklock's Reporter says the figures, released under the Electoral Boundaries Readjustment Act, reveal that while efforts are made to ensure votes carry equal weight, vast differences remain, particularly between urban and remote ridings.

“I have determined the number of names appearing on the revised lists of electors for each electoral district,” Perrault stated in a legal notice. The smallest riding, Labrador, has just 19,893 registered voters, while the largest, Niagara South, Ontario, boasts 112,960.

Federal law mandates the redrawing of electoral boundaries every 10 years, aiming for ridings to fall between 80,000 and 115,000 voters.

However, exceptions are allowed for remote or geographically large districts with sparse populations. The five ridings with the fewest voters include Nunavut (21,316), Desnethé-Missinippi-Churchill River, Saskatchewan (24,072), Charlottetown (27,662), and Northwest Territories (29,943).

On the opposite end of the spectrum, heavily populated constituencies such as North Island–Powell River, B.C. (108,653), Essex, Ontario (109,373), Courtenay–Alberni, B.C. (107,295), and Kingston and the Islands, Ontario (106,661) are approaching or exceeding the upper limit.

A 1989 Royal Commission on Electoral Reform acknowledged longstanding demands from various groups for a new electoral framework.

“Indigenous groups want their own electoral districts. Environmentalists believe constituencies should be drawn on ecological lines,” the report stated.

The commission also noted a historical trend toward overrepresenting rural areas, justifying this by the increased difficulty MPs face in serving constituents spread across vast and often inaccessible regions.

Still, representatives from crowded urban ridings have voiced frustration.

“British Columbia and Alberta, especially, and Ontario do not live up to the principle of representation by population,” said Conservative MP Brad Vis in 2022.

Voters are set to elect 343 members to the House of Commons on Monday — the largest number in Canadian history.

The distribution includes 122 seats in Ontario, 78 in Québec, 43 in British Columbia, 37 in Alberta, 14 each in Saskatchewan and Manitoba, 11 in Nova Scotia, 10 in New Brunswick, seven in Newfoundland and Labrador, four in Prince Edward Island, and one each in Yukon, Northwest Territories, and Nunavut.