Additional information about gender quotas

The 2015 elections meant a 1,1 % increase of women compared to the last elections in 2011. NDP, the Green Party and the Liberal Party increased their numbers of female candidates, however the Conservative Party and Bloc Québéqoise dropped by 20 % and 28 % respectively. The political parties vary in their policies on women's representation, where the NDP, the Liberal Party and the Green Party have structures in place to promote and support women's participation, and the Conservative Party lacks any such policies (OSCE/ODIHR Election Misson Assessment Final Report 2015).

In 1997 a proposal on electoral gender parity went to referendum in Nunavut, a self-governing region in the Northwest Territories. Voters were asked to vote "yes" or "no" to the question: "Should the first Nunavut Legislative Assembly have equal numbers of men and women MLAs, with one man and one woman elected to represent each electoral district?" The proposal, however, was rejected by 57% of Nunavut voters.

If the proposal had passed, one woman from a women's list and one man from a men's list would be elected from each of the 10 or 11 electoral districts. Each voter would then mark two boxes: one from the women's list and one from the men's list.

The percentage of women is calculated from the current number of seats occupied in the parliament and senate. The Canadian Senate has 105 statutory seats.