Who We Are

Better Governance, Stronger Societies

Founded in 1968, the Parliamentary Centre is one of the leading and longest serving non-governmental, non-partisan organizations dedicated to the strengthening of parliamentary democracy in Canada and around the world.

Originally established to support the Canadian Parliament, our programming has gradually acquired a global focus. Today, we have supported over 120 legislatures at the regional, national, and sub-national levels across 70 countries, and counting. Through more than 300 uniquely tailored projects, we have developed innovative tools and services to promote stable, long-term governance and stronger societies.

We are committed to advancing democratic practices around the world, from promoting good governance and institutional strengthening to gender equality and social justice.

Our Approach

We provide long-term, sustainable support.

Our work not only supports parliamentarians and Parliament as an institution, but also parliamentary staff to create and maintain institutional memory. Coordination and cooperation with other organizations is also key to enhance the benefits to our partners and aid effectiveness.

We link parliaments to local organizations.

Many parliaments in developing countries have limited resources for research support. Local civil society organizations, think-tanks and academia can help bridge some of this institutional knowledge gap. The Centre also collaborates with these local organizations to bring in additional local context into our support.

We respond to specific needs.

There is no one-fits-all solution. Activities are developed in close cooperation with our partners and designed to meet their individual needs, taking into account their historical, cultural and political uniqueness.

We integrate important cross-cutting themes.

Themes like poverty reduction, gender equality, climate change, and anti-corruption are integrated into our training activities to highlight important linkages to international, regional and national priorities.

We offer practical tools and targeted services.

The solutions we offer are practical in nature and directly targeted to the specific beneficiaries, using the knowledge of both experts and peers.

We offer tailored, context-specific solutions.

We always try to share the most relevant best practice examples, from an international and regional context, and work with our partners to translate to a national context.

We are non-partisan.

We work with parliament as a whole, encouraging involvement of both government and opposition parties in all our activities.