Joint address (Canada)

A joint address to Parliament is a speech made by a distinguished visitor, usually a foreign head of state or head of government, to Members of the Senate and the House of Commons under a special procedure of the Canadian Parliament, in which members of the House of Commons and Senate sit jointly in the chamber of the House of Commons, that chamber acting, for the occasion, as an auditorium. The speaker of the House of Commons takes his chair, as normal, with the speaker of the Senate seated to their right. Members of Parliament also take their usual seats, with senators and justices of the Supreme Court positioned on the floor of the House, in front of the clerk's table. Gallery privileges are suspended during a joint address and access to those areas is strictly limited to invited guests. Fifty-two heads of state and five non-heads of state have addressed the Joint Sessions of the Senate and House of Commons of Canada since 1939.