Prime Minister Mark Carney's vision for nation-building and economic growth is expected to form the main thrust of the throne speech when King Charles reads it today in the Canadian Senate.
Watch the speech from the throne here:
In a speech to his caucus Sunday, Carney laid out his governing agenda for the re-opening of Parliament.
Carney said his government's immediate focus will be on affordability measures, such as quickly passing the tax cut he promised during the campaign.
He said the Liberal government had been elected to do nothing less than define "a new economic and security relationship with the United States."
Carney said his ministers will immediately introduce legislation to fast-track infrastructure projects deemed to be in the national interest and bring in a bill to eliminate all federal barriers to free trade in Canada.
Carney said his minority government team will be "very, very busy" in not just the coming weeks, but also over the next few years, and accomplish things "previously thought impossible at speeds not seen in generations."
King Charles will read the speech from the throne this morning, which sets out the government's priorities for the current session of Parliament.
Here are some facts about this historic event.
— King Charles III will be the first monarch to use the new throne in the Senate of Canada building.
— There have been 152 speeches from the throne since Confederation.
— Throne speeches in Canada were read by Queen Elizabeth II in 1957 and 1977.
— The first throne speech was delivered in 1867 by Viscount Monck, Canada's first governor general.
— The first 10 throne speeches clocked in at an average length of 854 words, while the 2021 throne speech ran to 2,771 words.
— When the monarch or governor general arrives in Parliament for the ceremony, the Canadian flag on the Peace Tower is replaced with their flag.
— After the throne speech is read aloud, Bill S-1, An Act relating to railways, is introduced. This bill is never meant to pass into law and serves instead as a symbol of the Senate’s independence from the monarch. The Senate of Canada website says introducing the bill shows that the Senate is "able to deal with any matter of its choosing" without having to follow the throne speech.
- Source: Senate of Canada
This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 27, 2025.