Provincial assembly (Canada)

In the Canadian Republic, each province has its own government, the legislative branch of which is known genetically as a provincial assembly (French: assemblée provinciale); each assembly is known uniquely as the "Assembly of [Province]", such as Vancouver Island's Assembly of Vancouver Island. Each provincial assembly is unicameral (consisting of only a single chamber), with each seat representing a riding (electoral district) of roughly equal population. An elected member of a provincial assembly is officially known as a Member of Assembly (MA; French: Membre de l'Assemblée).

The political party or coalition holding a majority of seats in the provincial assembly has constitutional mandate to form the provincial government's executive branch (called the Executive Council), which is chaired by the province's premier who appoints other MAs of his party/coalition to chair particular provincial ministries, each formally confirmed by the respective province's deputy president. Each provincial assembly has a speaker who is elected by all MAs in a secret ballot; all MAs are eligible to be elected as speaker except members of the Executive Council (including the premier and deputy premier). According to Canadian constitutional law, a province's deputy president will not open an assembly session until a speaker is elected.