Constitutional Structures: United States vs. Canada Compared

Introduction: Two Federal Systems

One of the main differences between the United States and Canada is that while both countries have a federalist system, Canada has a parliament while the U.S. does not. Canadian elections can be called every four to five years, in either winter or spring, while in the U.S. the terms of office are absolutely fixed by the Constitution — two years for the House of Representatives, four for the president, and six for the Senate. American elections are always held on the first Tuesday in November and cannot be changed or delayed, not even during wartime. Even during the Civil War, when eleven Southern states had left the Union, these elections were still held as scheduled.

In Canada, the Prime Minister is always the leader of the largest party in the House of Commons, while there is no guarantee in the U.S. that the president will hold a majority in the House and Senate. Sometimes the opposition party in the U.S. will control one or both legislative chambers, which would not be possible in a parliamentary system. In addition, a government that loses the majority in the House of Commons or suffers a vote of no confidence is required to step down and call new elections. There is no such provision in the U.S. Constitution, although Congress does have the power to impeach and remove presidents or justices of the Supreme Court. In practice, this has almost never happened; only two presidents have been impeached since 1789, while one resigned before Congress could impeach him.

Members of the Canadian House of Commons (305) and the U.S. House of Representatives (435) are elected from single-member constituencies, and almost always they are from the two major political parties — Liberals and Conservatives in Canada, or Republicans and Democrats in the United States.

Legislative and Executive Differences

Both the U.S. and Canada have Senates, but their roles and functions could not be more different. In Canada, the Senate has 105 members compared to 100 in the U.S., but it plays only a ceremonial role, similar to the House of Lords in Great Britain. Its members are appointed on the advice of the Prime Minister and can serve until age 75, while U.S. senators are elected every six years. Originally, U.S. senators were appointed by state legislatures — two for each state — but the Constitution was amended to provide for their direct election.

Unlike Canada, where the House of Commons alone passes laws and budgets, in the U.S. both the Senate and the House of Representatives must concur on legislation, and the final form of a bill is often determined in a conference committee between the two chambers. Moreover, the president must approve all legislation, and if he vetoes a bill, Congress can override it by a two-thirds vote. All treaties with foreign powers must be approved by a two-thirds vote of the Senate, which also votes to confirm Supreme Court justices as well as ambassadors, Cabinet officers, and sub-cabinet officers.

In Canada, all Cabinet members are politicians elected to the House of Commons and appointed by the Prime Minister. By contrast, there is no law or custom in the U.S. requiring federal officers to be members of Congress or even members of the president's own party. Canada also has a British governor-general, a mostly ceremonial position, although theoretically this official does have the power to dissolve parliament and call new elections under certain circumstances. No such office has existed in the United States since the Revolution of 1776, nor is the British monarch the ceremonial head of state.

The Role of the Senate and the Courts

Compared to Canada, Britain, or any other parliamentary system, the U.S. Supreme Court and lower federal courts are considered a separate and coequal branch of government. Since the early nineteenth century, they have had the power to judicially review and overturn both state and federal laws, although in the past the policy of judicial self-restraint prevented them from using this power very frequently.

There is some evidence that the original Framers of the U.S. Constitution intended for Congress to be the superior branch of government rather than one of three equal branches; they spent far more space enumerating the powers and duties of the legislature and relatively little on the courts and the executive. They did intend for the president to be head of the executive branch and commander-in-chief of the armed forces — powers that monarchs once held — but only Congress had the power to declare war.

As in Canada, one of the original functions of the Supreme Court was to resolve disputes between the states (or provinces in Canada) and between lower levels of government and the federal level. In addition, the U.S. Supreme Court considers cases involving the Bill of Rights, which originally comprised ten amendments in 1789 but has been expanded since. In contrast, Canada did not have a formal Charter of Rights and Freedoms until 1982, although in both countries the role of the courts in protecting individual and minority rights expanded greatly in the twentieth century. In the U.S., the Bill of Rights has been largely federalized compared to the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, and these rights have been applied to all citizens. In both countries, the rights of women, indigenous peoples, and racial, religious, and ethnic minorities have expanded greatly in the last hundred years, and the courts have often played a more important role in these changes than the legislatures.