On the advice of the Prime Minister, the Governor General, the Monarch's representative in Canada, officially appoints Senators to represent Canada's provinces and territories in Parliament. The rules for Senate representation are written in the Constitution.
The Constitution requires that a senator:
Beyond these criteria established in the Constitution, there are no set rules about how the Prime Minister chooses senators. In 2016, the government created an independent advisory board for Senate appointments, which provides non-binding recommendations to the Prime Minister on Senate appointments.
The following table lists the number of Senators appointed on the advice of the Prime Minister from 1867 to today.