What is the Speech from the Throne?
Answer
The speech delivered by the Governor General at the start of each session of Parliament, setting out the federal government's policy agenda and priorities for the session.
Explanation
The Speech from the Throne (also called the Throne Speech, in French le Discours du Trône) is the speech delivered at the start of each session of Parliament by the Governor General (or, occasionally, by the King during a royal visit) to set out the federal government's policy agenda and priorities for the session. The speech is written by the Prime Minister's Office in consultation with the Privy Council Office and Cabinet, and is read by the Governor General in the Senate Chamber to a joint session of MPs and senators.
The Throne Speech inherits from the British State Opening of Parliament tradition, in which the monarch delivers a speech written by the government to set out the legislative programme. In Canada, the speech is delivered after a federal election (to open a new Parliament) or when the Prime Minister prorogues and starts a new session of an existing Parliament. The speech describes the principal legislation the government intends to introduce, the policy themes the government will emphasise, and any major events or anniversaries the government wishes to mark.
After the Throne Speech, the House of Commons and Senate each debate an Address in Reply, a formal response to the speech that takes about a week of House of Commons time. The Address in Reply vote is a confidence vote: if the government loses the vote, it must resign or call an election. The 1925 King-Byng Affair began with a defeat on the Address in Reply, and the 2008 to 2009 prorogation crisis was provoked in part by Stephen Harper's effort to avoid a Throne Speech defeat by an opposition coalition.
Recent Throne Speeches include the May 27, 2025 speech delivered by King Charles III (his first Throne Speech as King of Canada, opening the 45th Parliament after Mark Carney's election), the December 5, 2021 speech opening the 44th Parliament, the September 23, 2020 speech (the Trudeau government's response to COVID-19), the December 5, 2019 speech opening the 43rd Parliament, and the December 4, 2015 speech of Justin Trudeau's first majority government. Provincial governments use a similar Speech from the Throne procedure to open each session of provincial Legislative Assemblies, delivered by the Lieutenant Governor.
Why this matters for your test
The Throne Speech is the government's principal policy-agenda-setting moment. Recognising its delivery by the Governor General at the start of each parliamentary session and its constitutional role as a confidence matter gives candidates two specific anchors.
Source: House of Commons Procedural Services; Privy Council Office
