List of Prime Ministers of Canada

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This is a list of Prime Ministers of Canada since Confederation. In Canada's Westminster-style parliamentary government, the Prime Minister is the leader of the party that controls the most seats in the lower house of parliament and acts as Canada's head of government. While there is a long standard tradition of considering John A. Macdonald Canada's first Prime Minister, since he was prime minister after Canadian Confederation, a number of modern scholars, foremost among them John Ralston Saul, argue that Louis-Hippolyte Lafontaine is truly Canada's first Prime Minister. He and his joint premier Robert Baldwin were the first to govern the United Province of Canada as democratically elected leaders.

Red bordered images denote Liberals while blue denotes the various forms of Conservative:

Blue = Liberal-Conservative, Conservative (historical), Unionist, N.L.C., Progressive Conservative, Conservative
Red = Liberal

Prime Ministers of Canada since 1867
Prime Minister (party)			Period	Parli- ament	Elections (Riding)
	1st	Sir John A. Macdonald (Liberal-Conservative) (1st time of 2)	Jul 1, 1867 Nov 5, 1873	... 1st 2nd ...	Designated Jul 1, 1867 Elected Aug-Sep, 1867 (Kingston, ON) Re-elected Jul-Oct, 1872 (Kingston, ON) Resigned (Pacific Scandal) Nov 5, 1873
	2nd	Alexander Mackenzie (Liberal)	Nov 7, 1873 Oct 9, 1878	... 3rd	Designated Nov 7, 1873 (Lambton, ON) Elected Jan 22, 1874 (Lambton, ON)
	-	Sir John A. MacDonald (Liberal-Conservative) (2nd time of 2)	Oct 17, 1878 Jun 6, 1891	4th 5th 6th 7th ...	Elected Sep 17, 1878 (Victoria, BC^[1]) Re-Elected Jun 20, 1882 (Carleton, Lennox, ON) Re-elected Feb 22, 1887 (Kingston, Carleton, ON) Re-elected Mar 5, 1891 (Kingston, ON) Died in office Jun 6, 1891
	3rd	Sir John Abbott (Liberal-Conservative)	Jun 16, 1891 Nov 24, 1892	... ...	Party Leader Jun 16, 1891 (QC senate^[2]) Resigned (Retired) Nov 24, 1892
	4th	Sir John Thompson (Conservative)	Dec 5, 1892 Dec 12, 1894	... ...	Party Leader Dec 5, 1892 (Antigonish, NS) Died in office Dec 12, 1894
	5th	Sir Mackenzie Bowell (Conservative)	Dec 21, 1894 Apr 27, 1896	... ...	Party Leader Dec 21, 1894 (ON senate^[3]) Resigned (Retired) Apr 27, 1896
	6th	Sir Charles Tupper (Conservative)	May 1, 1896 Jul 8, 1896	none^[4]	Party Leader May 1, 1896 (Cape Breton, NS)
	7th	Sir Wilfrid Laurier (Liberal)	Jul 11, 1896 Oct 6, 1911	8th 9th 10th 11th	Elected Jun 23, 1896 (Québec-Est, QC, Saskatchewan, NWT) Re-Elected Nov 7, 1900 (Québec-Est, QC) Re-Elected Nov 3, 1904 (Québec-Est, Wright, QC) Re-Elected Oct 26, 1908 (Québec-Est, QC, Ottawa, ON)
	8th	Sir Robert Borden (Conservative/Unionist)	Oct 10, 1911 Jul 10, 1920	12th ... 13th ...	Elected Sep 21, 1911 (Halifax, NS) Changed Parties Oct 12, 1917 Re-Elected Dec 17, 1917 (Kings, NS) Resigned (Retired) Jul 9, 1920
	9th	Arthur Meighen (N.L.C.) (1st time of 2)	Jul 10, 1920 Dec 29, 1921	...	Party Leader Jul 7, 1920 (Portage La Prairie, MB)
	10th	William Lyon Mackenzie King (Liberal) (1st time of 3)	Dec 29, 1921 Jun 29, 1926	14th 15th ... ...	Elected Dec 06, 1921 (Minority) (York North, ON) Re-Elected^[5] (Minority) Oct 29, 1925 (York North^[6], ON) By-Election Feb 15, 1926 (Prince Albert, SK) Resigned (King-Byng Affair) Jun 28, 1926
	-	Arthur Meighen (Conservative) (2nd time of 2)	Jun 29, 1926 Sep 25, 1926	...	Designated Jun 29, 1926 (Portage La Prairie, MB)
	-	William Lyon Mackenzie King (Liberal) (2nd time of 3)	Sep 25, 1926 Aug 6, 1930	16th	Elected (Minority) Sep 14, 1926 (Prince Albert, SK)
	11th	Richard Bedford Bennett (Conservative)	Aug 7, 1930 Oct 23, 1935	17th	Elected Jul 28, 1930 (Calgary West, AB)
	-	William Lyon Mackenzie King (Liberal) (3rd time of 3)	Oct 23, 1935 Nov 15, 1948	18th 19th 20th ... ...	Elected Oct 14, 1935 (Prince Albert, SK) Re-Elected Mar 26, 1940 (Prince Albert, SK) Re-Elected Jun 11, 1945 (Prince Albert)^[7], SK)) By-Election Aug 6, 1945 (Glengarry, ON) Resigned (Retired) 1948
	12th	Louis St. Laurent (Liberal)	Nov 15, 1948 Jun 21, 1957	... 21st 22nd	Party Leader Aug 7, 1948 (Québec-Est, QC) Re-elected Jun 27, 1949 (Québec-Est, QC) Re-Elected Aug 10, 1953 (Québec-Est, QC)
	13th	John Diefenbaker (Progressive Conservative)	Jun 21, 1957 Apr 22, 1963	23rd 24th 25th	Elected (Minority) Jun 10, 1957 (Prince Albert, SK) Re-Elected Mar 31, 1958 (Prince Albert, SK) Re-Elected (Minority) Jun 18, 1962 (Prince Albert, SK)
	14th	Lester B. Pearson (Liberal)	Apr 22, 1963 Apr 20, 1968	26th 27th ...	Elected (Minority) Apr 8, 1963 (Algoma East, ON) Re-Elected (Minority) Nov 8, 1965 (Algoma East, ON) Resignation (Retired) announced Dec 14, 1967
	15th	Pierre Trudeau (Liberal) (1st time of 2)	Apr 20, 1968 Jun 4, 1979	... 28th 29th 30th	Party Leader Apr 6, 1968 (Mount Royal, QC) Re-elected Jun 25, 1968 (Mount Royal, QC) Re-Elected (Minority) Oct 30, 1972 (Mount Royal, QC) Re-Elected Jul 8, 1974 (Mount Royal, QC)
	16th	Joe Clark (Progressive Conservative)	Jun 4, 1979 Mar 3, 1980	31st	Elected (Minority) May 22, 1979 (Yellowhead, AB)
	-	Pierre Trudeau (Liberal) (2nd time of 2)	Mar 3, 1980 June 30, 1984	32nd ...	Elected Feb 18, 1980 (Mount Royal, QC) Resigned (Retired) Jun 29, 1984^[8]
	17th	John Turner (Liberal)	Jun 30, 1984 Sep 17, 1984	...	Party Leader Jun 16, 1984 (non-MP)
	18th	Brian Mulroney (Progressive Conservative)	Sep 17, 1984 Jun 25, 1993	33rd 34th ...	Elected Sep 4, 1984 (Manicouagan, QC) Re-Elected Nov 21, 1988 (Charlevoix, QC) Resigned (Retired) Jun 24, 1993^[9]
	19th	Kim Campbell (Progressive Conservative)	Jun 25, 1993 Nov 4, 1993	...	Party Leader Jun 13, 1993 (Vancouver Centre, BC)
	20th	Jean Chrétien (Liberal)	Nov 4, 1993 Dec 12, 2003	35th 36th 37th ...	Elected Oct 25, 1993 (Saint-Maurice, QC) Re-Elected Jun 2, 1997 (Saint-Maurice, QC) Re-Elected Nov 27, 2000 (Saint-Maurice, QC) Resigned (Retired) Dec 11, 2003^[10]
	21st	Paul Martin (Liberal)	Dec 12, 2003 Feb 6, 2006	... 38th	Party Leader Nov 15, 2003 Re-elected (Minority) Jun 28, 2004 (Lasalle-Émard, QC)
	22nd	Stephen Harper (Conservative)	Feb 6, 2006 Current Office Holder.	39th	Elected (Minority) Jan 23, 2006 (Calgary Southwest, AB)

Notes

^ In 1878, John A. Macdonald presented himself in the electoral districts of Kingston, ON, Marquette, MB, and Victoria, BC. He was defeated in Kingston, Ontario by Liberal Alexander Gunn. However, since Macdonald was elected in the two other districts and chose to sit as a MP from Victoria, BC, he did not present himself in another by-election.
^ John Abbott was a senator from the Quebec Senate District of Inkerman when he was appointed as Prime Minister.
^ Mackenzie Bowell was a senator from the Ontario Senate District of Hastings when he was appointed as Prime Minister.
^ After the dissolution of the 7th Canadian Parliament, Mackenzie Bowell stepped down and Sir Charles Tupper became Prime Minister on May 1, 1896. Tupper was only Prime Minister during the 1896 election campaign, which he lost, so he was never Prime Minister of a sitting parliament.
^ In the 15th general election, P.M. King's Liberals elected less seats than Arthur Meighen's Conservatives. However, King stayed in power with the support of the Progressive Party.
^ Defeated in his electoral district.
^ Defeated in his electoral district.
^ Resignation announced Feb 29, 1984
^ Resignation announced Feb 1993
^ Jean Chrétien announced on August 21, 2002, his intention to step down in February 2004 and ended up resigning on December 12, 2003.

For more lists of this type, see Lists of incumbents.

Sir John A. Macdonald was the first Prime Minister of Canada. He was a problem alcoholic.	Sir Charles Tupper was Canada's shortest-serving Prime Minister, despite being well qualified for the job.	Wilfrid Laurier had the longest unbroken term as Canada's Prime Minister. He led the campaign against the two main parties’ attempt to put aside partisan bickering during a time of war.	William Lyon Mackenzie King was Canada's longest-serving Prime Minister. He sought advice on policies from the spirit of his dead mother and dog.
Lester B. Pearson introduced universal health care, student loans, the Canada Pension Plan, Canada's flag, and won the Nobel Peace Prize. He was never voted into a majority government.	Joe Clark was Canada's youngest Prime Minister. He was still trying to get re-elected 20 years after being defeated.	Kim Campbell was the only female Prime Minister of Canada. Due to a variety of factors, including a campaign style seen by many as haughty and dismissive, Campbell's party suffered the greatest defeat in the history of Canadian Politics.	Stephen Harper is the current Prime Minister of Canada.

v • d • e Lists about Prime Ministers of Canada
Master Lists	List of Prime Ministers of Canada • Graphical Timeline
Ranked	by time in office • by constituency • by religion • by place of birth • by longevity • by date of death • by age
Personal Information	residences of • military service of • education of • spouses of • children of • parents of
Related Lists	List of Canadian federal parliaments • Leaders of the Opposition • Political parties by time in office
Province of Canada PMs	Province of Canada PMs master list • Province of Canada PMs by time in office

v • d • e Lists of Canadian first ministers
Federal	Canada • Province of Canada (historical)
Provincial	British Columbia • Alberta • Saskatchewan • Manitoba Ontario • Quebec • New Brunswick • Prince Edward Island Nova Scotia • Newfoundland and Labrador
Territorial	Yukon • Northwest Territories • Nunavut