2025 Canadian Federal Election
Canada held a snap federal election on April 28, 2025. All 343 seats in the House of Commons were up for election, and a party needed to secure 172 seats to win the right to form a majority government. The last election was held in 2021, and the next election was scheduled to be held no later than October 2025. The Liberal Party won its fourth straight election since taking power in 2015, securing a historic comeback victory to form another minority government over the opposing Conservatives. A turnout of 68.7% was the highest since the 1993 federal election.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau resigned amid sustained pressure within his Liberal Party on Mar. 14, 2025; he was succeeded by newly elected party leader Mark Carney. The new Prime Minister called a snap election on Mar. 23 to settle uncertainty surrounding domestic and foreign policy issues. The election took place against the backdrop of increased tensions with the United States. President Donald Trump abruptly launched a trade war against Canada after taking office on Jan. 20, 2025, and the American president had routinely issued threats to annex Canada as the "51st state."
Opinion polls in the months leading up to the federal election showed the Conservative Party holding a commanding lead over the governing Liberal Party. However, public opinion swung considerably following Trudeau's resignation and U.S. President Trump's threats toward Canadian sovereignty; the two parties were virtually tied in polls when the election was called in March.
The election was effectively a two-party race between the Liberals and Conservatives, who together earned about 85% of the vote—an unprecedented domination in living memory. This was the first election since 2015 in which the governing Liberals won the popular vote.
Both the Liberals and the Conservatives gained seats through a collapse in support for the New Democratic Party and Bloc Québécois, as well as the total number of seats increasing from 338 to 343 during redistribution. The Liberals fell just shy of winning a majority in the House of Commons. Most of the Liberals' gains came from Quebec, while the Conservatives posted most of their seat flips in southern Ontario and southwestern British Columbia.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre and NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh both lost their seats in the election. Carney, who had never before held elected office, won election to the Ottawa-area riding of Nepean.
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