List of Canadian federal general elections

This article provides a summary of results for Canadian general elections (where all seats are contested) to the House of Commons, the elected lower half of Canada's federal bicameral legislative body, the Parliament of Canada. The number of seats has increased steadily over time, from 180 for the first election to the current total of 338. The current federal government structure was established in 1867 by the Constitution Act.

For federal by-elections (for one or a few seats as a result of retirement, etc.) see List of federal by-elections in Canada. For the eight general elections of the Province of Canada held in 1843 to 1864 before confederation in 1867, see List of elections in the Province of Canada. There were also earlier elections in Canada, such as for the Legislative Assembly of Upper Canada (held in 1792–1836, now part of Ontario) and the Legislative Assembly of Lower Canada (held in 1792–1834, now part of Quebec).

Two political parties have dominated politics in Canada: the Liberal Party and the historic Conservative party (known as the Progressive Conservative Party from 1942 to 2003). If one regards the modern Conservative Party as the successor to the historic one, then these are the only two parties to have formed a government, although often as the lead party in a minority or coalition government with one or more smaller parties (the 1917 win was by a pro-conscription Unionist coalition of former Liberals and Conservatives).

Although government has primarily been a two-party system, Canadian federal politics has been a multi-party affair since the 1920s, during which there was significant parliamentary presence of the Progressive Party and the United Farmers movement. They were supplanted by the Social Credit Party and the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF) in the 1930s. The CCF evolved into the New Democratic Party (NDP) in 1961. The Social Credit Party and the CCF/NDP won the third and fourth most seats between them from the 1930s, until the Social Credit Party failed to win any seats in the 1980 election.

Since 1980, the NDP has remained a presence in the Canadian parliament, but the situation amongst other non-government parties has been more complex. The Progressive Conservative Party never recovered from its spectacular defeat in the 1993 election (when it went from being the majority government with 169 seats, to just two seats and the loss of official party status). Right-wing politics has since seen the rise and fall of the Reform Party and the Canadian Alliance, followed by the rise to government of the new Conservative Party. Further, in 1993 the separatist Bloc Québécois won seats for the first time. It has been a constant presence in parliament since then.

Summary of results

Party colour key
	Liberal		Reform
	New Democratic		Canadian Alliance
	Progressive		Conservative
	Anti-Confederate		Liberal-Conservative Conservative (historic)[1] Progressive Conservative
	Co-operative Commonwealth Federation		Liberal-Progressive
	Social Credit		Bloc Québécois
	United Farmers		Unionist coalition

The third, fourth, and fifth parties' results are included in "Other" if the party did not win at least four seats in an election at some point in its history. Results for parties placing sixth or lower (as in the 1926 election) are also included in "Other", as are Independent seats.

No.	Year	Summary			Third party		Fourth party		Fifth party		Other	Total seats
1st	1867	Liberal-Conservative Party (commonly known as the Conservative Party), led by Sir John A. Macdonald, is elected to form Canada's first government, defeating the Liberal Party and its de facto leader George Brown. Brown does not win his riding of Ontario South. In Nova Scotia, Anti-Confederates under Joseph Howe win 17 of 19 seats after campaigning against confederation, but later sit with the Liberals.	100[2]	62		18		–		–	0	180
2nd	1872	Conservatives under Prime Minister Macdonald are re-elected with a minority, defeating Liberals and their de facto leader Edward Blake.	100[3]	95	–		–		–		5	200
3rd	1874	Liberals, led by Prime Minister Alexander Mackenzie, retain power with a majority after having formed a government after the Conservatives, under former prime minister John A. Macdonald, lost the confidence of the House in 1873. The Conservatives drop the word "Liberal" from "Liberal-Conservative Party" in 1873, but Macdonald and some other members continue to run under the original party name. First federal election by Secret ballot.	129	65[2]	–		–		–		12	206
4th	1878	Conservative Party, led by Sir John A. Macdonald, defeat Prime Minister Mackenzie's Liberals, returning Macdonald to power with a second majority.	134[2]	63	–		–		–		9	206
5th	1882	Conservatives, led by Prime Minister Macdonald, are re-elected with a third majority, defeating Blake's Liberals.	134[4]	73	–		–		–		4	211
6th	1887	Conservatives, led by Prime Minister Macdonald, are re-elected with a fourth majority, defeating Blake's Liberals.	124[4]	80	–		–		–		11	215
7th	1891	Conservatives, led by Prime Minister Macdonald, are re-elected with a fifth majority, in Macdonald's final election before his death shortly after. Macdonald defeated Liberal opposition leader Wilfrid Laurier in Laurier's first election as party leader.	118[4]	90	–		–		–		7	215
8th	1896	Liberals, led by Laurier, are elected with a majority, defeating Conservatives, led by Prime Minister Sir Charles Tupper, despite losing the popular vote.	117	86[2]	–		–		–		10	213
9th	1900	Liberals, led by Prime Minister Sir Wilfrid Laurier, are re-elected with a second majority, defeating former prime minister Tupper's Conservatives. Tupper loses his own seat of Cape Breton.	128	79[2]	–		–		–		6	213
10th	1904	Liberals, led by Prime Minister Laurier, are re-elected with a third majority, defeating Robert Borden's Conservatives.	137	75[2]	–		–		–		2	214
11th	1908	Liberals, led by Prime Minister Laurier, are re-elected with a fourth majority, defeating Borden and his Conservatives.	133	85[2]	–		–		–		3	221
12th	1911	Conservatives, led by Borden, defeat Prime Minister Laurier's Liberals with a majority.	132[2]	85	–		–		–		4	221
13th	1917	Unionist Party, a pro-conscription coalition of Conservatives and former Liberals, are elected with a majority under Prime Minister Borden. Both former Conservatives and former Liberals are appointed to the cabinet. The coalition defeats former prime minister Laurier's anti-conscription Liberals in the bitterest campaign in Canadian history.	153	82	–		–		–		0	235
14th	1921	Liberals, led by William Lyon Mackenzie King, win a minority government, defeating Conservatives under Prime Minister Arthur Meighen. The Conservatives are reduced to third place in the House, but the Progressive Party under Thomas Crerar declines the title of Official Opposition, so Meighen becomes opposition leader despite having lost his own seat of Portage la Prairie.	118	49		58		3[5]	–		7	235
15th	1925	Prime Minister Mackenzie King's Liberals hold on to power with a minority with the help of Progressives under Robert Forke, despite former prime minister Meighen's Conservatives winning more seats, including that for King's own riding of York North. Labour Party leader and future CCF leader J. S. Woodsworth bargains his votes in the House to the Liberals in exchange for a promise to enact an old-age pension plan. The Progressives soon withdraw support from the scandal-plagued Liberals but also refuse to support the Conservatives. Governor General Lord Byng controversially gives Meighen the Prime Minister's post in the King–Byng Affair, but the Conservatives soon fall in a non-confidence vote.	100	115		22		2[6]	–		6	245
16th	1926	Liberals, led by Mackenzie King, defeat former prime minister Meighen's Conservatives, winning a minority supported by the eight Liberal-Progressives under Forke. Meighen loses his Portage la Prairie seat again. United Farmers parties take 12 seats and Labour four, giving Canada a rare Parliament with six parties in the House each with four or more seats.	116	91		11		12[5]		8	7	245
17th	1930	Conservatives, led by R. B. Bennett, win a majority, defeating Liberals under Prime Minister Mackenzie King.	134	90		9[6]		3		2	7	245
18th	1935	Liberals, led by former prime minister Mackenzie King, defeat Prime Minister Bennett's Conservatives with a majority. Two new parties based in the West make their parliamentary debuts: the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF), under Woodsworth, wins seven seats on a platform of social reform, while the new Social Credit Party, led in Parliament by John Blackmore (its most recognized leader William Aberhart is serving as Premier of Alberta), wins 17 seats with its platform of monetary reform. Progressive Party and United Farmers of Alberta pass into the history books.	173	39		17		7		4	5	245
19th	1940	Liberals, led by Prime Minister Mackenzie King, are re-elected with a majority, defeating Robert Manion's National Government party, a failed attempt to recreate Robert Borden's World War I-era Unionists. Manion runs at Fort William and loses.	179	39[7]		10[8]		8		3	6	245
20th	1945	Liberals, led by Prime Minister Mackenzie King, are re-elected with a minority, defeating the newly renamed Progressive Conservatives, led by John Bracken. Despite his party's nationwide victory, King loses his Prince Albert riding. Foreshadowing the Bloc Québécois, Bloc populaire Canadien wins two seats in Quebec on a platform of opposition to conscription and Quebec nationalism; future Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau and future mayor of Montreal Jean Drapeau are young party members.	118	66		28		13	–		20	245
21st	1949	Liberals, led by Liberal Prime Minister Louis St-Laurent, are re-elected with a majority, defeating Progressive Conservatives led by George Drew.	191[9]	41		13		10		1	6	262
22nd	1953	Prime Minister St-Laurent's Liberals are re-elected with a majority, defeating Drew's Progressive Conservatives.	169[9]	51		23		15		1	6	265
23rd	1957	Progressive Conservatives, led by John Diefenbaker, defeat Liberals led by Prime Minister St-Laurent with an upset minority victory despite losing the popular vote.	112	105[9]		25		19	–		4	265
24th	1958	Progressive Conservatives, led by Prime Minister Diefenbaker, are re-elected with the largest majority to date in Canadian history, defeating Liberals and their new leader Lester Pearson. Social Credit loses all its seats (including leader S. E. Low's Peace River) and the CCF loses most of its own (including leader M. J. Coldwell's Rosetown—Biggar).	208	49[9]		8	–		–		–	265
25th	1962	Progressive Conservatives, led by Prime Minister Diefenbaker, are re-elected, but with a minority. Under "father of Canadian medicare" Tommy Douglas, the New Democratic Party, evolved from the CCF, wins 19 seats but fails to achieve a hoped-for breakthrough; Douglas does not win his Regina City riding, for example. Robert Thompson makes his debut as leader of Social Credit, which makes unprecedented gains in Quebec but only a modest recovery in the West.	116	99[9]		30		19	–		1	265
26th	1963	Liberals, led by Lester Pearson, defeat Prime Minister Diefenbaker's Progressive Conservatives, winning a minority.	128[9]	95		24		17	–		1	265
27th	1965	Liberals, led by Prime Minister Pearson, are re-elected with a second minority, defeating former prime minister Diefenbaker's Progressive Conservatives. Social Credit split in 1963, with French-speaking, mostly Quebec-based supporters under Réal Caouette forming the Ralliement créditiste while English-speaking Western supporters under Thompson remain under the "classic" banner. Most social credit movement support appears in Parliament under the Ralliement créditiste.	131	97		21		14[10]	–		2	265
28th	1968	Liberals, led by new Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, are re-elected with a majority, defeating Progressive Conservatives, led by Robert Stanfield.	155[9]	72		22		14[11]	–		1	264
29th	1972	Liberals, led by Prime Minister P. Trudeau, are re-elected, but with a minority, defeating Stanfield's Progressive Conservatives by only two seats. The NDP pick up several seats under new leader David Lewis.	109	107		31		15	–		2	264
30th	1974	Liberals, led by Prime Minister P. Trudeau, defeat Stanfield's Progressive Conservatives with a second majority. Liberals gain seats at the expense of the other three parties to return MPs.	141	95		16		11	–		1	264
31st	1979	Progressive Conservatives, led by Joe Clark, defeat Liberals, led by Prime Minister P. Trudeau, and win a minority, despite winning a significantly smaller share of the vote than the Liberals. The PCs win the popular vote in seven provinces, but the Liberals capture an enormous lead in Quebec. Ed Broadbent makes his debut as leader of the NDP, which wins 10 more seats than in 1974 in a Parliament enlarged by 18 seats.	136	114		26		6	–		0	282
32nd	1980	Liberals, led by former prime minister P. Trudeau, defeat Progressive Conservatives, led by Prime Minister Clark. Social Credit fades into history after an almost unbroken 45-year run, leaving Canada with a three-party system.	147	103		32	–		–		0	282
33rd	1984	Progressive Conservatives, led by Brian Mulroney, defeat Liberals, led by new Prime Minister John Turner (who became party leader while out of Parliament and returns to the House at Vancouver Quadra in this election) and win the most seats in Canadian history. The election is both the best showing ever for the Progressive Conservatives and the second-worst showing ever for the Liberals (by total seats).	211	40		30	–		–		1	282
34th	1988	Progressive Conservatives, led by Prime Minister Mulroney, are re-elected with a second majority, contending with a much stronger performance from the Liberals under former prime minister Turner and a strong third-party showing from Broadbent's New Democrats, who score that party's third best result ever. This is the most recent federal general election to date where three parties returned all the Members of Parliament.	169	83		43	–		–		0	295
35th	1993	Liberals, led by Jean Chrétien, win a majority and soundly defeat Progressive Conservatives, led by new Prime Minister Kim Campbell, who are left in fifth place with just two seats, their worst ever showing. Despite personal popularity, Campbell loses her own seat of Vancouver Centre. The separatist Bloc Québécois, led by ex-Mulroney cabinet minister Lucien Bouchard, becomes the official opposition, and the right-wing Reform Party, led by Preston Manning, becomes the third party. Audrey McLaughlin's New Democrats also post their worst ever results with just nine seats. The election marks the end of the predominantly three-party system of the Liberals, Progressive Conservatives, and NDP.	177	54		52		9		2	1	295
36th	1997	Liberals, led by Prime Minister Chrétien, are re-elected with a second, albeit much slimmer, majority. Manning's Reform Party becomes the official opposition. Bloc Québécois falls to third place under new leader Gilles Duceppe. Led by Alexa McDonough, the NDP win 21 seats, 12 more than in 1993, including making an historic breakthrough in Atlantic Canada. Led by Jean Charest, the Progressive Conservatives win nearly as many votes as Reform, but only one-third the seats. The composition of the House is nicknamed "pizza pie Parliament."	155	60		44		21		20	1	301
37th	2000	Liberals, led by Prime Minister Chrétien, are re-elected with a third majority, defeating Stockwell Day's Canadian Alliance, the unsuccessful attempt to unite the Reform Party and the Progressive Conservatives. Both the Liberals and Alliance gain at the expense of the Bloc under Duceppe, NDP under McDonough, and PCs under former prime minister Joe Clark. Progressive Conservatives barely keep official party status in the House with the minimum 12 seats.	172	66		38		13		12	0	301
38th	2004	Liberals are re-elected under new Prime Minister Paul Martin to a minority government. They defeat the new Conservative Party, led by Stephen Harper, previously the leader of the Canadian Alliance, who merged that party with the Progressive Conservatives. Bloc Québécois experiences a revival due to the Liberal sponsorship scandal. Jack Layton's NDP comes one seat short of being able to guarantee the survival of Martin's government.	135	99		54		19	–		1	308
39th	2006	Conservatives, led by Stephen Harper, win a minority, defeating Prime Minister Martin's Liberals. Duceppe's BQ keeps most of its seats and Layton's NDP improves its fourth-place position.	124	103		51		29	–		1	308
40th	2008	Conservatives, led by Prime Minister Harper, win a second minority, defeating Stéphane Dion's Liberals by larger margins than in 2006. BQ support is steady Duceppe and NDP picks up several Liberal seats under Layton. Green Party under new leader Elizabeth May continues its growth, winning 6.78% of the national vote on its environmentally conscious platform, but again fails to win any seats.	143	77		49		37	–		2	308
41st	2011	Conservatives, led by Prime Minister Harper, win a majority of seats. For the first time the NDP, led by Layton, becomes the Official Opposition, taking advantage of the collapse of BQ in Quebec and Liberals in Ontario; Layton died three months later due to cancer. The leaders of both defeated parties, respectively, Gilles Duceppe and Michael Ignatieff lost their seats (Duceppe in Laurier—Sainte-Marie, Ignatieff in Etobicoke—Lakeshore) and resigned. The Green Party campaign focused on and won its first ever seat (Elizabeth May ran and won in Saanich—Gulf Islands), letting overall support collapse to year 2000 levels.	166	103		34		4	–		1	308
42nd	2015	Liberals under Justin Trudeau win a majority of seats. Conservatives become the official opposition. Former Prime Minister Harper resigns as Conservative leader. Quebec drops their overwhelming support for the NDP following the 2011 election, and instead is largely divided, with the Liberals seizing most of the available seats. This split in Quebec reduces the NDP under Tom Mulcair back to their standing as a third party, while the Bloc Quebecois under Gilles Duceppe regains some of the ridings lost in 2011, despite Duceppe again failing to win his riding. Green Party leader Elizabeth May retains her seat for the second time.	184	99		44		10	–		1	338
43rd	2019	Liberals, led by Prime Minister J. Trudeau, win a minority and a second consecutive mandate from Canadians. Conservatives win the popular vote and gain seats under Andrew Scheer, who resigns two months later due in part to a spending scandal. The Bloc Québécois under Yves-François Blanchet also gain seats. The NDP loses seats under leader Jagmeet Singh, who wins his seat of Burnaby South, and Green Party leader Elizabeth May retains her seat for the third time, their second MP, Paul Manly's seat in Nanaimo—Ladysmith, and also gain a riding seat in Fredericton.	157	121		32		24	–		4	338
44th	2021	Liberals, led by Prime Minister J. Trudeau, win a second minority and a third consecutive mandate from Canadians. This was an early election, called by Trudeau in hopes of regaining his majority. Instead, he forms a second consecutive minority government. Conservatives, led by Erin O'Toole, win the popular vote but do not gain seats. The Bloc Québécois also fails to gain seats. Jagmeet Singh retains his seat for the second time, and the NDP gains a seat under his leadership. Green Party leader Annamie Paul places fourth in her attempt to win a seat in Toronto Centre, as her party loses Nanaimo—Ladysmith despite winning the riding of Kitchener Centre to offset their loss of Fredericton earlier in the year. Maxime Bernier's PPC gains votes but does not win any seats.	160	119		32		25	–		2	338

Notes

In the 1921 election, the Conservatives ran under the name National Liberal and Conservative Party, and in 1940 under the name National Government. In both cases the Conservatives lost the election and the new name was soon abandoned.
Includes results for the Liberal-Conservative Party.
Includes results for the Liberal-Conservative Party and one Conservative Labour candidate.
Includes results for the Liberal-Conservative and Nationalist Conservative parties.
Combined total for the United Farmers of Alberta and United Farmers of Ontario.
Seats won by the United Farmers of Alberta.
Includes results for the National Government party.
Includes results for the New Democracy party.
Includes one seat won by a Liberal-Labour candidate in Kenora—Rainy River who sat in the House as a Liberal.
Includes 10 seats won by the Ralliement créditiste party.
All 14 seats were won by the Ralliement créditiste party.

Graphs of results

Bar graph of seats from 1867 to 2021

Seat distribution in the House of Commons from 1867 to 2021

New Democratic

Liberal

Green

Independent & others

Bloc Québécois

Conservative

Historical parties (represented in the House up to the 2000 elections)

Progressive, United Farmers of Alberta

Co-operative Commonwealth

Conservative, National Government, Progressive Conservative

Reform

Alliance

Social Credit, New Democracy, Ralliement créditiste

Anti-Confederation

Line graph of votes

References

"History of Federal Ridings since 1867". Parliament of Canada. Archived from the original on 2011-01-01. Retrieved 2007-01-07.

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.

[cons_nats-1] In the 1921 election, the Conservatives ran under the name National Liberal and Conservative Party, and in 1940 under the name National Government. In both cases the Conservatives lost the election and the new name was soon abandoned.

[libcon-2] Includes results for the Liberal-Conservative Party.

[1872_cons-3] Includes results for the Liberal-Conservative Party and one Conservative Labour candidate.

[natlibcon-4] Includes results for the Liberal-Conservative and Nationalist Conservative parties.

[farmer_both-5] Combined total for the United Farmers of Alberta and United Farmers of Ontario.

[farmer_AB-6] Seats won by the United Farmers of Alberta.

[1940con-7] Includes results for the National Government party.

[1940social-8] Includes results for the New Democracy party.

[liblab-9] Includes one seat won by a Liberal-Labour candidate in Kenora—Rainy River who sat in the House as a Liberal.

[rallie1-10] Includes 10 seats won by the Ralliement créditiste party.

[rallie2-11] All 14 seats were won by the Ralliement créditiste party.

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