Section 70 of the Constitution Act, 1867 () is a provision of the Constitution of Canada, which defined the number of seats in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario when the province of Ontario was created in 1867. The number of seats is now defined by provincial statute.

The Constitution Act, 1867 is the constitutional statute which established Canada. Originally named the British North America Act, 1867, the Act continues to be the foundational statute for the Constitution of Canada, although it has been amended many times since 1867. It is now recognised as part of the supreme law of Canada.

Constitution Act, 1867

The Constitution Act, 1867 is part of the Constitution of Canada and thus part of the "supreme law of Canada".Peter Hogg and Wade Wright, Constitutional Law of Canada, 5th ed. (Thomson Reuters (looseleaf; current to 2024)), para. 1:4.Constitution Act, 1982, s. 52, s. 53, and Schedule, item 1. The Act sets out the constitutional framework of Canada, including the structure of the federal government and the powers of the federal government and the provinces. It was the product of extensive negotiations between the provinces of British North America at the Charlottetown Conference in 1864, the Quebec Conference in 1864, and the London Conference in 1866.Donald Creighton, The Road to Confederation (Macmillan Publishing, 1964; reprinted ed., Oxford University Press, 2012); online version.Christopher Moore, 1867 — How the Fathers Made a Deal (McClelland & Stewart, 1997). Those conferences were followed by consultations with the British government in 1867.Ben Gilding,"The Silent Framers of British North American Union: The Colonial Office and Canadian Confederation, 1851–67" (2018) 99:3 Canadian Historical Review. The Act was then enacted by the British Parliament under the name the British North America Act, 1867.Hogg and Wright, Constitutional Law of Canada, para. 1:2.British North America Act, 1867, 30 & 31 Vict., c. 3 (UK). In 1982 the Act was brought under full Canadian control through the Patriation of the Constitution, and was renamed the Constitution Act, 1867. Since Patriation, the Act can only be amended in Canada, under the amending formula set out in the Constitution Act, 1982.Hogg and Wright, Constitutional Law of Canada, para. 4:1.Constitution Act, 1982, Part V.Canada Act 1982, 1982, c. 11, s. 2 (UK).

Text of section 70

Section 70 reads:

Section 70 is found in Part V of the Constitution Act, 1867, dealing with provincial constitutions. The number of seats has been expanded from time to time by the Ontario Legislature. As of 2025, the Legislative Assembly has 124 seats.

Legislative history

The Quebec Resolutions, adopted at the Quebec Conference in 1864, proposed that the Province of Canada would be split into two new provinces, Ontario and Quebec, which would require the creation of new legislatures for each of them. However, the Resolutions did not set out the structure of the new legislatures, leaving that to be decided by the existing Legislature of the Province of Canada.Quebec Resolutions, resolution 41, in G.P. Browne and Janet Ajzenstat (eds.), Documents on the Confederation of British North America (McGill-Queen's University Press, 2009; reprint of the 1969 edition), document 34, p. 160.

Accordingly, in the summer of 1866 the two co-premiers of the Province of Canada, John A. Macdonald and George-Étienne Cartier, introduced a series of resolutions in the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada setting out the proposed constitutions of the two new provinces.Creighton, Road to Confederation, pp. 397–399.P.B. Waite, The Life and Times of Confederation (University of Toronto Press, 1962; republished, Robin Blass Studio, 2001), pp. 303–311. Resolution 12 provided that the Legislative Assembly of Ontario would consist of 82 members, the same as the number of seats Ontario would have in the new federal House of Commons. The same electoral map would be used for the provincial elections to the Ontario assembly, and for the federal elections to the House of Commons.Journals of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada, 8th Parliament, 5th session, vol. 26 (July 13, 1866), pp. 141–142. An appendix set out the proposed boundaries for the electoral districts, which became the basis for the first schedule to the act.Journals of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada (July 13, 1867), pp. 142–145. After debate on the set of resolutions, the Assembly approved resolution 12 on August 2, 1866. Journals of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada (August 2, 1866), p. 280.

At the London Conference in December 1866, the Canadian delegates passed the London Resolutions. They adopted the same language as resolution 41 of the Quebec Resolutions, that the existing provincial legislature would provide for the structure of the two new provinces.London Resolutions, resolution 40, in Browne and Ajzenstat, Documents, document 74, p. 223.

Following the London Conference, a number of drafts of the bill were prepared, but the details of the electoral boundaries were not addressed until the fourth draft. Clause 32 of the fourth draft provided that Ontario would be divided into 82 electoral districts for the House of Commons, with what became the first schedule listing the 82 districts. Clause 76 then adopted the same boundaries to be used for the Legislative Assembly of Ontario."Fourth Draft of the British North America Bill" (undated), clauses 32 and 76, in Browne and Ajzenstat, Documents, document 85, pp. 283–285 and 290. The final draft provided that the Ontario Legislative Assembly would be based on the 82 electoral districts set out in the first schedule to the bill."Final Draft of the British North America Bill" (February 9, 1867), clause 72, in Browne and Ajzenstat, Documents, document 86, p. 318.

Purpose and interpretation

The province of Ontario was created by the Constitution Act, 1867 from the western portion of the Province of Canada. The Constitution Act, 1867 set out the constitution of the province, including a unicameral legislature composed of the lieutenant governor and the Legislative Assembly of Ontario.Constitution Act, 1867, s. 69. Section 70 set out the initial boundaries of the electoral districts for the Assembly, using the same electoral districts as were used for Ontario in the House of Commons in the federal Parliament. Those boundaries were defined by the first schedule to the act. The districts were single-member, with the 82 districts returning 82 members.

That also became the basis for the size of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario, with 82 members, elected on the same electoral map as the Ontario members of the House of Commons, set out in the first schedule of the act.

Section 92(1) of the act gave each province the power to amend its own constitution. The Legislature of Ontario has used this power to alter the composition of the Legislative Assembly from time to time, beginning in 1874, when the Legislative Assembly was expanded to 88 members.Representation in the Legislative Assembly Act, SO 1874, c. 2, s. 1. As of 2025, the Legislative Assembly consists of 124 members.

The First Schedule

The 82 electoral districts mentioned in the section are named and defined in the first schedule to the act.Constitution Act, 1867, first schedule. The same set of electoral districts was initially used for the election of Ontario members of the House of Commons in the federal Parliament.Constitution Act, 1867, section 40.

Related provisions of the Constitution Act, 1867

Section 40 provides that the House of Commons will be elected from the electoral divisions set out in the first schedule to the act, the same as the Ontario Legislative Assembly.

Section 69 creates the Legislature of Ontario, consisting of the lieutenant governor and the Legislative Assembly of Ontario.

Notes

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