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About Petitions

Simply defined, a petition is a formal request to an authority for redress of a grievance. Petitions addressed to the House of Commons and presented to the House by its Members constitute one of the most direct means of communication between the people and Parliament.

Public Petitions

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Paper petitions have been presented to the House of Commons for more than 100 years. Roughly 1,500 paper petitions are presented every year.

e-Petitions

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Electronic petitions were established in 2015. Roughly 200 e-petitions are open for signature every year and gather over 500,000 signatures annually.

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If you wish to put forward an e-petition that is not identical or substantially the same as one already open for signature, you may start a new one.

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The government responds within 45 calendar days to every petition presented to the House of Commons, both paper and electronic.

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