What is it called when the party in power holds at least half of the seats in the House of Commons?

Discover Canada records this in one direct sentence. The guide writes: If the party in power holds at least half of the seats in the House of Commons, this is called a majority government. If the party in power holds less than half of the seats in the House of Commons, this is called a minority government. The label the test wants is therefore majority government.

The threshold is precise: at least half. Discover Canada uses that phrase deliberately — anything below half is a minority government; anything at or above half is a majority. The dividing line is therefore clear: cross half the seats and the government is a majority; fall below and it is a minority.

The label affects how the government works. Discover Canada writes that "the Prime Minister and the party in power run the government as long as they have the support or confidence of the majority of the MPs." A majority government, by definition, holds that support on its own; a minority government has to find support from other parties to keep the confidence of the House.

The wider chain of formation is also in Discover Canada. After an election, "the leader of the political party with the most seats in the House of Commons is invited by the Governor General to form the government." So the most-seats party always forms the government — and the second question is whether that party has at least half of the seats. If it does, it is a majority government; if not, it is a minority government.

The question is testing whether new citizens know Discover Canada's vocabulary for the post-election seat count. The guide commits to a precise rule: at least half = majority government. The right test answer matches that label.

The wrong answer choices each pick a different label. Discover Canada uses minority government for less-than-half — the opposite case. Coalition government and provisional government are not used in Discover Canada's description of how Canadian governments form. Only majority matches at-least-half.