Ask a Constitutional Expert

What would it take to leave the monarchy?

- DAVID SCHNEIDERMAN 

THE QUESTION OF whether Canada has outgrown the monarchy has simmered on the political back burner for years. According to an online survey by Leger and the Association for Canadian Studies, published in March, 53 percent of respondents considered the monarchy outdated but were divided on what could replace it. We asked David Schneiderman, a constitutional law expert, about the feasibility of removing the Queen as head of state and what the government might look like if that happened.

Could Canada decouple itself from the Crown? Yes, but it wouldn’t be easy. The real impediment to the abolition of the monarchy is the constitutional amending formula. When Canada patriated the constitution, in 1982,1 it adopted a set of conditions for making changes to it. For most amendments, you need seven out of ten provinces and the federal government to agree. But the Constitution Act lays out a series of areas that require unanimity. Those include making changes to the office of the Queen.