A Pair of Locals are in the Senate Page Program

Tuesday, 30 December 2025 09:33

There are a pair of Woodstonians currently enrolled in the Senate Page Program in the Nation's Capital.

WOODSTOCK/OTTAWA - They're both from Woodstock, and they both have front row seats to Canada's upper chamber.

Noah Rolland and Sav Saran are both part of the Senate Page Program in Ottawa.

Rolland has been part of the program for three years now and is currently serving as the Deputy Chief Page.

"The Senate Page Program is a paid opportunity for undergraduate students who are bilingual across Canada to work in Canada's parliament and assist senators in their everyday duties, their committees and special events like the Speech from the Throne that happened with the King this past May."

Rolland has lots of great memories of being a page, but his all-time favourite was earlier this year.

"I got to hold the door open for the King, so he was about three feet away from me, so that was my biggest memory and getting to meet various senators from various regions. We have a tradition of standing at the doors and holding them open at the beginning of every sitting, so we get to chat with them."

Saran is currently serving her first year as a page, and she tells us about some of the things she has done over the past few months.

"When the Senate sits, there would be a group of pages on a rotation. We would make sure the senators have documents they might need, have water, and we're refilling their water and making sure they're equipped to deal with the matters at hand within the senate."

The Senate Page Team consists of 17 undergrads from across Canada, including the Chief and Deputy Chief. Rolland was very excited to have another Woodstonian join the team.

"We didn't have a full team yet, so I thought it was so cool that we would have a small town connection! We were also both at the museum, so we both had similar first jobs with the same bosses, so having that connection was very interesting, I think."

Saran also appreciated having a friendly face in the group.

"We had a very similar path prior to becoming pages. We were both involved with our local museum and kind of ran in the same circle. So it's definitely a bit of a coincidence, but it's also really nice to have a friendly face from our little town."

Applications are currently being accepted for the 2026-2027 Senate Page Program online here, with a deadline of January 25th.

After submitting your resume and cover letter, you'll have to write a test based on the parliamentary system and the Senate Page Manuel, which will be provided to you. If you score well on the test, you will take part in a group interview that will test your situational awareness, before being invited to join orientation in August.

It's a lot of hoops to jump through, but Saran says it's worth it in the end.

"I definitely encourage students who are in Woodstock and planning to go to school in Ottawa to apply. I think it has been a great privilege and honour to be a page, and we would love to have another Woodstonian on the team in the future."

To be involved in the Senate Page Program, you have to be an undergrad working on your first degree, and you have to be willing to relocate to the Ottawa area.

You can find more information about the Senate Page Program online here.