Canada And Commonwealth

Commonwealth Day is tomorrow (March 9^th.)

(The Canadian Throne in the Senate Chamber of the Federal Canadian Parliament Building in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.)

The Commonwealth of Nations is an Organization of 56 Member Countries with a combined Population of 2.7 Billion People across the World.

The Commonwealth of Nations was founded in 1926 under the name the British Commonwealth of Nations.

The Head of the Commonwealth of Nations is King Charles III.

The Chief Institutions of the Commonwealth of Nations are the: The Commonwealth Secretariat, focusing on Intergovernmental Relations, and the Commonwealth Foundation, focusing on Non-Governmental Relations between Member Nations.

The Commonwealth Charter defines their shared values of Democracy, Human Rights, and the Rule of Law.

There are no Embassies between one Commonwealth Country and another Commonwealth Country.

There are High Commissions instead (that function basically the same as Embassies.)

Every Citizen of the 56 Member Countries of the Commonwealth of Nations is also known as a Commonwealth Citizen.

Of the 56 Member Countries of the Commonwealth of Nations, 15 of them are Commonwealth Realms.

The 15 Commonwealth Realms are: Antigua and Barbuda, Australia, The Bahamas, Belize, Canada, Grenada, Jamaica, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, and the United Kingdom.

Every Citizen of a Commonwealth Realm is also known as a Commonwealth Citizen and have Special Rights and Privileges when visiting any of the 56 Commonwealth of Nations Member Countries.

Each Commonwealth Realm has their own separate Monarchy.

For example:

Canada has the Canadian Monarchy (also know as the Maple Crown) which has King Charles III as the King of Canada (French: Roi du Canada.)

Technically it should be King Charles I since there was no Canadian King before him.

The first Canadian Monarch and first Queen was Queen Elizabeth II in 1952 (when the Canadian Monarchy was created so technically it should be Queen Elizabeth I since there was no Queen before her.

The Canadian Monarch only draws from Canadian Funds for support in the performance of their duties when in Canada or acting as King or Queen of Canada Abroad.

Canadians do not pay any money to the King or Queen or any other Member of the Royal Family, either towards Personal Income or to support Royal Residences outside of Canada.

That means that the Canadian Taxpayer does not pay for the King of the United Kingdom or the King of Australia.

The Canadian Monarch’s Line of Succession was updated last by the 2011 Perth Agreement when all the Commonwealth Realms (there were 16 at the time) agreed to end the Male Preference (meaning it now depended on who was born first: a Boy or a Girl and not just the first born Boy), ended the Rule that the Monarch could not marry a Catholic and kept the Rule that the Monarch had to be a Protestant of the Church of England.

The current Canadian Crown (French: Couronne royale) often called the Maple Crown (French: Couronne d’érable) was created in 2025 by the King of Canada, Charles III.

It replaced the Crosses and the Fleurs-de-Lis on the previous Canadian Crown used by the Queen of Canada, Queen Elizabeth II, who wore it from 1952-2022 with Maple Leaves.

The Canadian Monarch can only wear the Canadian Crown when they are representing Canada and not when they are the Monarch of another Commonwealth Realm (like the King of the United Kingdom or the King of the Bahamas.)

There is also a Federal Canadian Throne (French: Trône fédéral canadien) that the Canadian Monarch can only use when inside Canada as the Canadian King or Queen.

It is in the Senate Chamber of the Federal Canadian Parliament Building in Ottawa.

The Governor-General of Canada can sit in the Throne when the Canadian Monarch is not in Canada when they give Royal Assent on behalf of the Canadian Monarch.  

There is also a Provincial Canadian Throne (French: Trône provincial canadien) in all 10 Provincial Parliament Buildings.

The Canadian Monarch sits on it when they are in that Province otherwise the Lieutenant-Governor of that Province uses it when given Royal Assent on behalf of the Canadian Monarch.

The Canadian Monarch’s and the Governor General of Canada’s Official Residences are Rideau Hall in Ottawa, Ontario and the Citadelle in Quebec City, Quebec.

The Canadian Crown is represented by the Governor-General (French: gouverneure générale du Canada) who is the Canadian Monarch’s Federal Representative inside Canada since the Canadian Monarch usually lives in London, the United Kingdom.

The Governor-General is decided by the Canadian Monarch at the advice of the Canadian Prime Minister.

The Governor-General of Canada is higher in Power than the Canadian Prime Minister, but lower than the Canadian Monarch.

The Governor-General of Canada carries out both Constitutional Duties and Ceremonial Duties on behalf of the Canadian Monarch.

The Constitutional Duties include: Appointing Lieutenant Governors, Supreme Court Justices, and Senators; Signing Orders-In-Council; Summoning, Proroguing, and Dissolving the Federal Parliament; Granting Royal Assent to Bills; Calling Elections; and Signing Commissions for Officers of the Canadian Armed Forces.

The Ceremonial Duties include: Delivering the Speech from the Throne at the State Opening of Parliament; Accepting Letters of Credence from Incoming Ambassadors; and Distributing Honors, Decorations, and Medals.

The Current Governor-General of Canada is Mary Simon who is the 30^th Canadian Governor-General and the First Indigenous Governor-General. She was appointed in 2021.

When the Canadian Monarch is in Canada they then briefly take over the Duties of the Governor-General of Canada.

The first visit of the Queen of Canada (Queen Elizabeth II) to Canada was on.

The first International Trip made by the Queen of Canada (Queen Elizabeth II) was in October 1957 to the United States.

The first visit of the King of Canada (King Charles III) to Canada was in May 2022.

Before Patriation in 1982 every single Canadian Law (Provincial, Territorial or Federal) had to be first approved by the British Parliament in London, the United Kingdom and then given Royal Assent by the King or Queen or the United Kingdom before returning to Canada and being approved by either the Canadian Federal Parliament or one of the Provincial Parliaments and then given Royal Assent by the Canadian Queen (there was no Canadian King before 1982.)

Since 1982 all Canadian Laws (Provincial, Territorial or Federal) have to be approved by either the Provincial Parliaments (if it’s a Provincial Law) and given Royal Assent by the Lieutenant-Governor of that Province or the Federal Parliament and given Royal Assent by the Governor-General of Canada.

Each of the 10 Canadian Provinces (Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Prince Edward Island, Quebec and Saskatchewan) also has a Lieutenant-Governor (French Masculine: lieutenant-gouverneur, or French Feminine: lieutenante-gouverneure) who is the Canadian Monarch’s Provincial Representative inside Canada since the Canadian Monarch usually lives in London, the United Kingdom.

The 3 Canadian Territories (Nunavut, Yukon and the Northwest Territories) are governed directly by the Canadian Federal Government so the Governor-General covers them and they have no Lieutenant-Governors.

This example of Canada in the Commonwealth of Nations is similar to all the other 13 Commonwealth Realms - except for the United Kingdom.

Note: I am a Dual American and Canadian Citizen (by Birth and not Naturalization.)

 As a Canadian Citizen I am also a Commonwealth Citizen and since Canada is a Commonwealth Realm I can go to any of the 55 Other Commonwealth Member Countries and have Special Rights and Privileges while visiting or living there than I would if I entered on my American Passport.