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Fair Vote Canada is a national citizens’ campaign for
proportional representation (PR).

Picture of horses racing, says What is first-past-the-post?
Picture of two matching pie charts, says What is proportional representation?
Photo of people mingling in a room, says "What is a Citizens' Assembly?"

Campaign actions, election results and important campaign topics

BC electoral reform committee recommends citizens assembly on electoral reform

BC all-party committee recommends a Citizens’ Assembly on Electoral Reform! New polling shows BC voters support proportional representation

BC’s Democratic and Electoral Reform Committee has just released its report recommending a BC Citizens’ Assembly on Electoral Reform. November 2025 polling from EKOS shows strong support for proportional representation in British Columbia.

EKOS poll Nov 2025 support for proportional representation in BC

Polling by EKOS shows 75% of BC voters support proportional representation

Polling shows that a strong majority of BC voters support proportional representation – the principle that seats should match the popular vote and every vote should count. Polling also showed that people do not want to move towards a two-party systems and think legislators should do what they can to improve democracy so it is less divisive.

Mark Carney and Pierre Poilievre picture for election night press release

First-past-the-post delivers us closer to a two-party system

The results of this election demonstrate, once again, that Canada’s archaic voting system is failing voters. Canadians on the left and right flocked to the two big parties, with many motivated to block the other side from winning a majority.
The outcome brings us closer a two-party system. This minority government is an opportunity for parties to work together on proportional representation. 

EKOS poll 2025 federal pie chart showing 68% support for proportional representation

National poll shows strong support for proportional representation

 68% of Canadians support moving to proportional representation, with only 19% opposed and 13% unsure

When asked if they would like the future Prime Minister to support proportional representation, 62% said yes, 16% no, and 22% were unsure. 

Ontario election 2025 pie chart showing vote shares and seat shares

PCs form a “majority” government with  43% of the vote: Ontario voters cheated again by first-past-the-post

Only 43% of Ontario voters supported the PCs, yet the voting system has handed Doug Ford’s PCs 64.5 % of the seats and 100% of the power. 

Quote by volunteer "Working for an electoral system where every vote counts"

Proportional representation: our stories

Read the stories of Fair Vote Canada volunteers. Why does proportional representation matter to them, and how did they get involved?

List of OECD countries that got proportional representation by multi-party agreement

How did other democracies get proportional representation?

The political moment that opens the door to PR is unique in each country. The “how” PR happens done boils down to one thing: Multi-party agreement.

In almost every country with proportional representation, parties were willing to compromise and hammer out an agreement.

Winner-take-all ranked ballots are no solution, links to page on winner-take-all ranked ballots

Winner-take-all ranked ballots are no solution

When people hear the term “ranked ballot” they often think of the system that Justin Trudeau was pushing. This system, properly called Alternative Vote, just pastes a ranked ballot onto our current system, and delivers results as bad (or even worse!) than first-past-the-post. You can learn about why ranked ballots in single member ridings are no solution here

 

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Read all , including the most recent, blogs and press releases

Picture of people counting the ballots on election night in Ireland


Ireland’s 2024 election shows that proportional representation works

 Ireland’s system of proportional representation has produced fair, cooperative politics and has helped the country avoid political polarization.  Read more about how proportional representation worked in Ireland’s 2024 election.

 

Pie chart of vote shares and seat shares UK election 2024 - majority with 33.7%


UK 2024 election:
First-past-the-post hands Labour all the power with 33.7% of the vote

First-past-the-post delivered the most disproportional results in the UK since 1918.

 

CDU's Mertz and SPD-Co-Chairman-Lars Klingbeil


Germany and Ontario: A sharp contrast in what democracy can be

In Germany, 82.5% of the electorate turned out to vote. In Ontario, a mere 45% showed up. In Germany, with proportional representation, the seats in the Bundestag (Parliament) fairly reflected what voters said with their ballots.  In Ontario, with first-past-the-post, 43% of the vote gave Doug Ford’s PCs 65% of the seats and 100% of the power.

 

hands in the air waving Canada flags


Research shows proportional representation reduces partisan hostility

Many Canadians are deeply concerned with creeping political polarization in Canada. Research shows that cooperative governance produced by proportional representation reduces partisan hostility and polarization among the public. 

 

Chart showing two families of voting systems: winner-take-all and proportional


Which voting systems promote collaborative politics?

Most Canadians intuitively know that long-term solutions will not be achieved by a single party in any four-year term and will require serious and ongoing cooperation between parties of all stripes at all levels of government. Which voting systems promote more cooperation?

V-Dem Democracy Index rankings showing top five countries all use proportional


If there’s anything we can learn from the Americans, it’s that Canada doesn’t need a two-party system

The United States has become a flashing billboard for what can happen when a winner-take-all voting system has reduced a country’s politics to two warring camps, and way too much power is concentrated with one person. If our political leaders care about the future of Canada, they cannot afford to ignore these lessonsThe top-ranked democracies in the world use proportional representation.

 

Picture of Parliament, words 100 years of broken promises (on proportional voting)


Canadians were first promised proportional representation in 1921

Once in power, politicians like the system that elected them. Learn about 100 years of inaction and broken promises on proportion representation.

 

Picture showing extremists can take over a big party with first past the post


First-past-the-post empowers leaders with extreme political views

The voting system system impacts how much influence over government policy politicians with extreme views may have. A proportional system tends to moderate the impact of extremist politicians.

 

Special topics

Electoral systems and climate change
Electoral Reform Referendums - a tool for informed decision-making?
Lesson plans for teachers

Organizations that support Fair Vote Canada in our mission to achieve Proportional Representation: