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The monarchy of Canada is the core of both Canada's federalism and its Westminster-style parliamentary democracy, being the foundation of the executive, legislative, and judicial branches of the federal and each provincial government.
Queen Elizabeth II, styled Queen of Canada, reigned from 6 February 1952 until her death on 8 September 2022. She was represented in Canada by the Governor General. In Canada's provinces, the monarch in right of each is represented by a lieutenant governor. As territories fall under the federal jurisdiction, they each have a commissioner, rather than a lieutenant governor, who represents the federal Crown-in-Council directly.
The Canadian monarch, besides reigning in Canada, separately serves as monarch for for a number of other Commonwealth countries known as Commonwealth realms. This developed from the former colonial relationship of these countries to Great Britain, but they are now independent of each other and are legally distinct. |
