Newfoundland and Labrador House of Assembly in the context of King of Canada

An electoral district in Canada is a geographical constituency upon which Canada's representative democracy is based. It is officially known in Canadian French as a circonscription but frequently called a comté ('county'). In Canadian English it is also colloquially, and more commonly known as a riding or constituency.

Each federal electoral district returns one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of Canada; each provincial or territorial electoral district returns one representative—called, depending on the province or territory, Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA), Member of the National Assembly (MNA), Member of Provincial Parliament (MPP) or Member of the House of Assembly (MHA)—to the provincial or territorial legislature.

The General Assembly of Newfoundland and Labrador (known as the General Assembly of Newfoundland until 6 December 2001) is the legislature of the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. Today, the legislature is made of two elements: the lieutenant governor (representing the King of Canada), and the unicameral assembly called the Newfoundland and Labrador House of Assembly. The legislature was first established in 1832.

Like the Canadian federal government, Newfoundland and Labrador uses a Westminster-style parliamentary government, in which members are sent to the House of Assembly after general elections. The leader of the party with the most seats is called upon by the lieutenant governor of Newfoundland and Labrador to form a government and assume the position of Premier of Newfoundland and Labrador and Executive Council of Newfoundland and Labrador. The premier acts as Newfoundland and Labrador's head of government, while the King of Canada is head of state.

The Confederation Building serves as the home of the Newfoundland and Labrador House of Assembly. It is located on Confederation Hill overlooking Newfoundland and Labrador's capital city, St. John's. The brick- and concrete-clad building has 11 stories and is 64 metres (210 ft) tall. It was completed in 1960 at a cost of $9 million to replace the Colonial Building. A lantern is located at the top of the copper roof of the central tower and acts as a beacon when turned on at night.

In 1982, construction began on the West Block extension, a modern 7-storey structure, which is a six-storey building, with a gross floor area of 34,838 square metres (374,990 sq ft). The original building is now considered the East Block of the Confederation Building. A third building on the legislature campus is the Service Building Annex a two-storey building housing a day care centre and garage for some provincial government vehicles.

The Colonial Building is a historic government building located in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. The building was the home of the colonial and later provincial Newfoundland government and the House of Assembly from January 28, 1850 to July 28, 1959. In 1974, it was declared a Provincial Historic Site.

In 1832 when the Colony of Newfoundland governed itself by representative government there was not a formal building assigned to house the legislature. The first home of the legislature was a tavern and lodging house on Duckworth Street owned and operated by a Mrs. Mary Travers. The stay was brief as in the legislature's haste and inexperience it forgot to vote approval for the funds to pay rent. The first building was destroyed in city fire of 1846. For the next seventeen years they would meet in various temporary quarters including the local courthouse. In 1846 an act was approved authorizing the construction of the Colonial Building as a permanent home.