The Durham Report recommends union and responsible government
Sent to investigate the rebellions, Lord Durham redraws the constitutional map
Quick facts
- Report completed
- January 1839
- Key recommendations
- Union of the Canadas; responsible government
- Union enacted
- Act of Union, 1840
- Responsible government achieved
- 1848 (Nova Scotia, then Province of Canada)
What happened
The British government sent John Lambton, Lord Durham, to the Canadas in 1838 to investigate the causes of the previous year's rebellions. After spending less than six months in Lower Canada, Durham completed his Report on the Affairs of British North America in January 1839, recommending two major changes: merging Upper and Lower Canada into a single Province of Canada, and introducing responsible government, meaning an executive drawn from and accountable to the elected assembly rather than answerable only to the Crown. Britain agreed to the union, enacted through the 1840 Act of Union, but rejected responsible government outright, unwilling to loosen control over colonies it still saw as needing tight oversight to remain loyal.
Why it matters
Although Britain refused Durham's most democratic recommendation at the time, the report set the template debate that produced responsible government within a decade, first achieved in Nova Scotia in 1848 and then in the Province of Canada the same year under Robert Baldwin and Louis-Hippolyte LaFontaine, a foundational step toward Canadian self-governance.
How we know
Durham's report survives in full and is quoted directly by the Canadian Encyclopedia's Durham Report and Act of Union entries, which trace both the report's recommendations and Britain's selective adoption of them.
Sources
- The Canadian Encyclopedia. Durham Report · Reputable sourcethecanadianencyclopedia.ca · The domain "thecanadianencyclopedia.ca" is on our Reputable source registry. · Link is live and its text matches the event's key terms (Jul 2026)
- The Canadian Encyclopedia. Act of Union · Reputable sourcethecanadianencyclopedia.ca · The domain "thecanadianencyclopedia.ca" is on our Reputable source registry. · Link is live and its text matches the event's key terms (Jul 2026)
See something wrong? . Corrections with a source get fixed fastest.
Part of a timelineHistory of Canada38 events · From the first peoples of the Americas and a Norse camp in Newfoundland to Confederation, the railway, two world wars, and a reckoning with the residential-school systemView all →