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List of Canadian federal general elections

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This page provides an overview of Canadian federal election results since 1867, the year the Constitution Act established the federal goverment structure for the Dominion of Canada .

Summary

1867-1879

Further information: Canadian federal election results (1867-1879)

1880-1899

Further information: Canadian federal election results (1880-1899)
  • 1882 - 5th general election, Conservatives, led by Macdonald, are re-elected with a fourth majority, defeating Edward Blake's Liberals.
  • 1887 - 6th general election, Conservatives, led by Macdonald, are re-elected with a fifth majority, defeating Edward Blake's Liberals.
  • 1891 - 7th general election, Conservatives, led by Macdonald, are re-elected with a sixth majority, in Macdonald's final election before his death shortly after. Macdonald defeated rookie Liberal opposition leader Wilfrid Laurier.
  • 1896 - 8th general election, Liberals, led by Sir Wilfrid Laurier, are elected with a majority, defeating the Conservatives of prime minister Sir Charles Tupper.

1900-1919

Further information: Canadian federal election results (1900-1919)
  • 1900 - 9th general election, Liberals, led by Laurier, are re-elected with a second majority, defeating Tupper's Conservatives.
  • 1904 - 10th general election, Liberals, led by Laurier, are re-elected with a third majority, defeating the Conservatives of Sir Robert Borden.
  • 1908 - 11th general election, Liberals, led by Laurier, are re-elected with a fourth majority, defeating Borden and the Conservatives.
  • 1911 - 12th general election, Conservatives, led by Sir Robert Borden, defeat Laurier's Liberals with a majority.
  • 1917 - 13th general election, Conservatives, led by Borden, are re-elected with a majority as part of a pro-conscription unionists coalition, which had former Liberals and Conservatives in the cabinet. The Unionists defeat Laurier's anti-conscription Liberals in the most bitter campaign in Canadian history.

1920-1939

Further information: Canadian federal election results (1920-1939)
  • 1921 - 14th general election, Liberals, led by William Lyon Mackenzie King, win a minority government, defeating Conservative prime minister Arthur Meighen, whose party is reduced to third-place in the House. Meighen becomes opposition leader, however, as the Progressives decline the title of official opposition.
  • 1925 - 15th general election, Conservatives, led by Arthur Meighen, win more seats than Mackenzie King's Liberals, who hold on to power with the help of Progressive Robert Forke. The Progressives withdraw support from scandal-plagued Liberals and refuse to support the Conservatives, triggering the 1926 election.
  • 1926 - 16th general election, Liberals, led by Mackenzie King, defeat Meighen's Conservatives, winning a majority with a Liberal-Progressive coalition. Also see the King-Byng Affair.
  • 1930 - 17th general election, Conservatives, led by R.B. Bennett, defeat Mackenzie King's Liberals, winning a majority.
  • 1935 - 18th general election, Liberals, led by Mackenzie King, defeat Bennett's Conservatives with a majority.

1940-1959

Further information: Canadian federal election results (1940-1959)
  • 1940 - 19th general election, Liberals, led by Mackenzie King, are re-elected with a second consecutive majority, defeating Robert Manion's National Government party, a failed attempt to recreate Robert Borden's World War I-era Unionists.
  • 1945 - 20th general election, Liberals, led by Mackenzie King, are re-elected with a third consecutive majority, defeating the newly renamed Progressive Conservatives, led by John Bracken.
  • 1949 - 21st general election, Liberals, led by Liberal prime minister Louis St-Laurent, are re-elected with a majority, defeating the Progressive Conservatives led by George Drew.
  • 1953 - 22nd general election, Liberals, led by St. Laurent, are re-elected with a second majority government, defeating George Drew's Progressive Conservatives.
  • 1957 - 23rd general election, Progressive Conservatives, led by John Diefenbaker, defeat Liberals, led by St-Laurent with an upset minority victory.
  • 1958 - 24th general election, Progressive Conservatives, led by Diefenbaker, are re-elected with the largest majority to date in Canadian history, defeating the Liberals and their new leader Lester Pearson.

1960-1979

Further information: Canadian federal election results (1960-1979)
  • 1962 - 25th general election, Progressive Conservatives, led by Diefenbaker, are re-elected, but with a minority.
  • 1963 - 26th general election, Liberals, led by Lester Pearson, defeat Diefenbaker's Progressive Conservatives, winning a minority.
  • 1965 - 27th general election, Liberals, led by Pearson, are re-elected with a second minority, defeating Diefenbaker's Progressive Conservatives.
  • 1968 - 28th general election, Liberals, led by prime minister Pierre Trudeau, are re-elected with a majority, defeating the Progressive Conservatives led by Robert Stanfield.
  • 1972 - 29th general election, Liberals, led by Trudeau, are re-elected, but with a minority, defeating Stanfield's Progressive Conservatives by only two seats.
  • 1974 - 30th general election, Liberals, led by Trudeau, are re-elected with a majority government, defeating Robert Stanfield's Progressive Conservatives.
  • 1979 - 31st general election, Progressive Conservatives, led by Joe Clark, defeat Liberals, led by Trudeau, and win a minority, despite winning a significantly smaller share of the vote than the Liberals. The Progressive Conservatives won the highest vote share in seven provinces, but the Liberals captured an enormous lead in Quebec.

1980-1999

Further information: Canadian federal election results (1980-1999)
  • 1980 - 32nd general election, Liberals, led by Trudeau, defeat Clark's Progressive Conservatives with a majority.
  • 1984 - 33rd general election, Progressive Conservatives, led by Brian Mulroney, defeat Liberals, led by prime minister John Turner and win the most seats in Canadian history. The election is both the best showing ever for the Progressive Conservatives (211 seats), and the worst showing ever for the Liberals (40 seats).
  • 1988 - 34th general election, Mulroney is re-elected with a second majority, contending with a much stronger performance from Turner, and a strong third-party showing from Ed Broadbent's New Democrats, winning that party's best result ever (43 seats).
  • 1993 - 35th general election, Liberals, led by Liberal Jean Chrétien, defeat Progressive Conservatives, led by prime minister Kim Campbell, with a majority. The election changes the political landscape as ex-Mulroney cabinet minister Lucien Bouchard's separatist Bloc Québécois become the official opposition, and the upstart right-wing western protest Reform Party, led by Preston Manning, becomes the third party. Meanwhile Audrey McLaughlin's New Democrats and Campbell's Progressive Conservatives both have their worst electoral results ever, with 9 and 2 seats, respectively.
  • 1997 - 36th general election, Liberals, led by Chretien, are re-elected with a second majority. Manning becomes opposition leader. The Progressive Conservatives, hoping to regain their place as the natural alternative to the Liberals under Jean Charest win nearly as many votes as Manning's Reform Party, but only one-third as many seats.

Since 2000

Further information: Canadian federal election results (2000-)
  • 2000 - 37th general election, Liberals, led by Chretien, are re-elected with a third majority, defeating Stockwell Day and the Canadian Alliance, the failed attempt to unite the Reform Party and the Progressive Conservatives. Former prime minister Joe Clark leads the Progressive Conservatives to a disappointing result in their final election, but is able to keep the party as an official party in the House of Commons by winning the necessary 12 seats.
  • 2004 - 38th general election, Liberals, led by prime minister Paul Martin, are re-elected with a minority, defeating Conservative Stephen Harper, the former leader of the Canadian Alliance and now leader of the united Conservative Party. Jack Layton's New Democrats come 1 seat short of winning enough seats to be able to guarantee the survival of Martin's government, resulting in a highly unstable parliament. The Bloc Quebecois under Gilles Duceppe, which had been drifting into irrelevance, also experiences a revival due to a Quebec-based Liberal scandal.
  • 2006 - 39th general election, Conservatives, led by Stephen Harper, win a minority, defeating Martin's Liberals, who finish 21 seats behind them. The BQ retains most of its seats, while the New Democrats improve their fourth-place position. It is expected that the Conservatives will negotiate for the support they will need to pass legislation, while the opposition parties will not force another election at least until Martin has been replaced as Liberal leader.


See also

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