How old are our MPs?

Many of us are generally familiar with what our Member of Parliament looks like. We might see them around town at this or that event, or at least see their mugshots beside stories in the local paper. Based on those impressions, we know if our MP is young or old, or somewhere in between. But do you know when your MP was born, and how that compares to their colleagues in the House of Commons? The range of ages is quite varied across Canada: plenty of MPs are in their 50s and 60s, but many are under the age of 40, and there’s a cadre of MPs under 30 years old. This map gives you a sense of that patchwork.

Ridings are coded by their MP’s age. Click on them, and the info bubbles that pop up tell you where MPs were born, when they were born, and their occupations before they took office. (We haven’t tracked down the birth dates or years of a small group of MPs. We know only the birth year of a few MPs, who are marked with an asterisk.)

The graph to the right illustrates how much baby boomers still dominate the House of Commons, but note the sizeable portion of MPs born in the 1970s and afterwards.

Find anything interesting? Comment away. We’ll be watching.