Carleton electoral district was located in eastern Canada West (now the province of Ontario), on the Ottawa River, which formed the boundary with Canada East (now the province of Quebec).

[2] Carleton County had been an electoral district in the Legislative Assembly of Upper Canada[3] and was continued with the same boundaries.

The Union Act provided that Bytown was its own electoral district in the new Parliament.

[5] The boundaries of Bytown electoral district were defined by the Governor General, and any parts of the town which were not included in Bytown electoral district were included in Carleton.

[10] It was succeeded by electoral districts of the same name in the House of Commons of Canada[11] and the Legislative Assembly of Ontario.