On April 28, 2025, 19.5 million Canadians, a total of 67.44 per cent of registered voters, headed to the polls and cast their vote in the 45th General election. Voter turnout was the highest it’s been since 2015.
Summary/Political Context
The Liberals won and now will form a minority government. This is their fourth consecutive victory and Mark Carney will remain prime minister, having only assumed the role in early March following Justin Trudeau’s resignation.
In his victory speech, Carney pledged to unite a divided country in the face of ongoing tensions with the United States. He promised to lead a government that represents all Canadians and said the country works when Canadians work together.
“Let’s put an end to the division and anger of the past,” Liberal Leader Mark Carney stated. “We are all Canadian, and my government will work for and with everyone.”
Seat Count
The 2025 election was a race between the Liberals and Conservatives, with diminished NDP, Bloc support.
The seat count is as follows:*
- Liberals: 168 seats
- Conservatives: 144 seats
- Bloc Québécois: 23 seats
- NDP: 7 seats
- Green Party: 1 seat
*The seat count is correct as of the publishing of this article and are subject to change.*
The Liberals received 43.6 per cent of the popular vote with 8,377,709 ballots cast, but were just shy of securing the 172 seats needed to form a majority. They won the most seats in the key provinces of Ontario and Quebec, which account for 200 of Canada’s 343 electoral districts.
The Conservatives received 7,958,026 votes amounting to 41.4 per cent and picked up several traditionally NDP seats, especially in blue-collar ridings like Ontario’s Windsor West and Manitoba’s Elmwood-Transcona. Conversely, the Liberals picked up NDP seats in British Columbia.
Changes in Leadership
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh lost his Vancouver-area seat and announced he’d be resigning as party leader once the party selects an interim replacement.
At least a dozen NDP MPs lost their seats, and preliminary results show that the party will not maintain official party status.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has lost his Ottawa riding of Carleton, after facing stiff competition from 90 candidates, mostly independent candidates linked to a group calling for electoral reform. He had held that seat for 20 years. Liberal candidate Bruce Fanjoy won the riding.
Poilievre suggested that he does not have plans to step down as party leader, his loss means the Conservatives, at least temporarily, will be without a party leader in the House of Commons.
“It will be an honour to continue to fight for you and be a champion for your cause as we go forward,” Poilievre said to a cheering crowd.
The Bloc Quebecois is poised to keep its third-place spot in the House of Commons, but lost 10 seats, almost entirely to the Liberals. Bloc Leader Yves-François Blanchet won his seat, receiving about 48 per cent of the vote in his riding.
Projected Outlook
The Liberals and the Conservatives dominated the popular vote, with both parties receiving more than 40%. The popularity of the Liberals could be explained by Trudeau’s decision to step down, Trump’s threats and Canadians’ “discomfort” with Poilievre and his tactics that sometimes mirrored those of the U.S. President.
“The most important factor in Canadian politics right now doesn’t live in Canada – it’s Donald Trump,” Daniel Beland, a professor at McGill University in Montreal and director of the McGill Institute for the Study of Canada, told Al Jazeera.
As the newly-elected Prime Minister, Mark Carney has promised to negotiate a new trade deal with the United States, and has said he hopes to meet Trump in the next week or so. In the meantime, he wants to focus on lowering internal trade barriers and bolstering major investment projects, such as housing construction, to spur the economy.
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Naomi Mison
Public Relations Director
