Skip to content
Surf Wiki
Save to docs
geography/canada

From Surf Wiki (app.surf) — the open knowledge base

List of prime ministers of Canada

None


None

By constitutional convention, a prime minister holds a seat in parliament and, since the early 20th century, this has more specifically meant the House of Commons.

The 24th and current prime minister is Mark Carney, who assumed office on 14 March 2025. There are currently six living former prime ministers. The most recent former prime minister to die was Brian Mulroney, on 29 February 2024.

Model

The office is not outlined in any of the documents that constitute the written portion of the Constitution of Canada; executive authority is formally vested in the sovereign and exercised on the sovereign's behalf by the governor general. The prime ministership is part of Canada's constitutional convention tradition. The office was modelled after that which existed in the United Kingdom at the time of Confederation. John A. Macdonald was commissioned by the Viscount Monck on 24 May 1867 to form the first government of the Canadian Confederation. On 1 July 1867, the first ministry assumed office.

Term

When the prime minister begins their term is determined by the date that they are sworn in as prime minister or, if they do not take an oath as prime minister, the date they were sworn into another portfolio, as an oath of office as prime minister is not required. However, since 1957, all incoming prime ministers have sworn an oath as prime minister. Two prime ministers have died in office: John A. Macdonald (1867–1873, 1878–1891) and John Thompson (1892–1894), both of natural causes. All others have resigned, either after losing an election or upon retirement.

Prime ministers

Canadian custom is to count by the individuals who were prime minister, not by terms. Since Confederation, 24 prime ministers have been called upon by the governor general to form 30 Canadian ministries.

Provinces key:AB: Alberta, BC: British Columbia, MB: Manitoba, NS: Nova Scotia, ON: Ontario, QC: Quebec, SK: Saskatchewan

(1 of 2) (2 of 2) (1911–17) 10th (1917–20) (1 of 2) (1 of 3) (2 of 2) (2 of 3) (3 of 3) (1 of 2) (2 of 2) : :}}

Timeline

ImageSize = width:1010 height:auto barincrement:25 PlotArea = top:30 bottom:90 right:130 left:3 AlignBars = late

Define $today =

DateFormat = dd/mm/yyyy Period = from:01/01/1865 till:31/12/ TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal

Colors = id:Liberal value:rgb(0.92,0.43,0.42) legend: Liberal_Party_of_Canada id:OldConservative value:rgb(0.6,0.6,1) legend: Conservative_Party_→_Progressive_Conservative_Party id:Conservative value:rgb(0.39,0.58,0.93) legend: Conservative_Party_of_Canada id:gray1 value:gray(0.8) id:gray2 value:gray(0.9) id:grid value:gray(0.5)

ScaleMajor = gridcolor:gray1 unit:year increment:10 start:1870 ScaleMinor = gridcolor:gray2 unit:year increment:2 start:1868

Legend = columns:1 left:150 top:60 columnwidth:230

TextData = pos:(20,65) textcolor:black fontsize:M text:"Political parties:"

BarData = bar:Macdonald bar:Mackenzie bar:Abbott bar:JSDT bar:Bowell bar:Tupper bar:Laurier bar:Borden bar:Meighen bar:WLMK bar:Bennett bar:St.Laurent bar:Diefenbaker bar:Pearson bar:PTrudeau bar:Clark bar:Turner bar:Mulroney bar:Campbell bar:Chretien bar:Martin bar:Harper bar:JTrudeau bar:Carney

PlotData= width:7 align:left fontsize:S shift:(5,-4) anchor:till

bar:Macdonald from: 01/07/1867 till: 05/11/1873 color:OldConservative from: 17/10/1878 till: 06/06/1891 color:OldConservative text:"John A. Macdonald" fontsize:11 bar:Mackenzie from: 07/11/1873 till: 08/10/1878 color:Liberal text:"Alexander Mackenzie" fontsize:11 bar:Abbott from: 16/06/1891 till: 24/11/1892 color:OldConservative text:"John Abbott" fontsize:11 bar:JSDT from: 05/12/1892 till: 12/12/1894 color:OldConservative text:"John Sparrow David Thompson" fontsize:11 bar:Bowell from: 21/12/1894 till: 27/04/1896 color:OldConservative text:"Mackenzie Bowell" fontsize:11 bar:Tupper from: 01/05/1896 till: 08/07/1896 color:OldConservative text:"Charles Tupper" fontsize:11 bar:Laurier from: 11/07/1896 till: 06/10/1911 color:Liberal text:"Wilfrid Laurier" fontsize:11 bar:Borden from: 10/10/1911 till: 10/07/1920 color:OldConservative text:"Robert Borden" fontsize:11 bar:Meighen from: 10/07/1920 till: 29/12/1921 color:OldConservative from: 28/06/1926 till: 29/06/1926 color:OldConservative text:"Arthur Meighen" fontsize:11 bar:WLMK from: 29/12/1921 till: 28/06/1926 color:Liberal from: 25/09/1926 till: 07/08/1930 color:Liberal from: 23/10/1935 till: 15/11/1948 color:Liberal text:"William Lyon Mackenzie King" fontsize:11 bar:Bennett from: 07/08/1930 till: 23/10/1935 color:OldConservative text:"R. B. Bennett" fontsize:11 bar:St.Laurent from: 15/11/1948 till: 21/06/1957 color:Liberal text:"Louis St. Laurent" fontsize:11 bar:Diefenbaker from: 21/06/1957 till: 22/04/1963 color:OldConservative text:"John Diefenbaker" fontsize:11 bar:Pearson from: 22/04/1963 till: 20/04/1968 color:Liberal text:"Lester B. Pearson" fontsize:11 bar:PTrudeau from: 20/04/1968 till: 04/06/1979 color:Liberal from: 03/03/1980 till: 30/06/1984 color:Liberal text:"Pierre Trudeau" fontsize:11 bar:Clark from: 04/06/1979 till: 03/03/1980 color:OldConservative text:"Joe Clark" fontsize:11 bar:Turner from: 30/06/1984 till: 17/09/1984 color:Liberal text:"John Turner" fontsize:11 bar:Mulroney from: 17/09/1984 till: 25/06/1993 color:OldConservative text:"Brian Mulroney" fontsize:11 bar:Campbell from: 25/06/1993 till: 04/11/1993 color:OldConservative text:"Kim Campbell" fontsize:11 bar:Chretien from: 04/11/1993 till: 12/12/2003 color:Liberal text:"Jean Chrétien" fontsize:11 bar:Martin from: 12/12/2003 till: 06/02/2006 color:Liberal text:"Paul Martin" fontsize:11 bar:Harper from: 06/02/2006 till: 04/11/2015 color:Conservative text:"Stephen Harper" fontsize:11 bar:JTrudeau from: 04/11/2015 till: 14/03/2025 color:Liberal text:"Justin Trudeau" fontsize:11 bar:Carney from: 14/03/2025 till: $today color:Liberal text:"Mark Carney" fontsize:11

Lifespan timeline

Define $width = 1000 # 4 pixels per year ($end - $start) × 4 Define $warning = 880 # $width - 120 Define $height = 700 # 23 x 20 + 160

Define $start = 1813 Define $end = Define $now =

ImageSize = width:$width height:$height PlotArea = right:10 left:1 bottom:80 top:60 Period = from:$start till:$end TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal Legend = orientation:vertical position:bottom columns:1

Colors = id:bg value:white id:lightline value:rgb(0.9, 0.9, 0.9) id:lighttext value:rgb(0.5, 0.5, 0.5) id:LIFESPAN value:rgb(0.88, 0.90, 0.70) Legend: Lifespan id:HISTCON value:rgb(0.5977, 0.5977, 1) Legend: Conservative_(historical) id:LIB value:red Legend: Liberal id:CONS value:blue Legend: Conservative id:UNIONIST value:purple Legend: Unionist id:NAME value:rgb(0.00, 0.00, 0.05) id:TODAY value:green

BackgroundColors = canvas:bg ScaleMinor = gridcolor:lightline unit:year increment:1 start:$start ScaleMajor = gridcolor:lighttext unit:year increment:10 start:1820

Define $dy = -5 # shift text to button side of bar

LineData= at:$now color:TODAY width:0.1

PlotData= bar:1 width:18 color:LIFESPAN align:center fontsize:M from:1815 till:1867 shift:(-0,$dy) textcolor:NAME text:John A. Macdonald color:HISTCON from:1867 till:1873 color:LIFESPAN from:1873 till:1878 color:HISTCON from:1878 till:1891

bar:2 width:18 color:LIFESPAN align:center fontsize:M from:1822 till:1873 shift:(-0,$dy) textcolor:NAME text:Alexander Mackenzie color:LIB from:1873 till:1878 color:LIFESPAN from:1878 till:1892

bar:3 width:18 color:LIFESPAN align:center fontsize:M from:1821 till:1891 shift:(-0,$dy) textcolor:NAME text:John Abbott color:HISTCON from:1891 till:1892 color:LIFESPAN from:1892 till:1893

bar:4 width:18 color:LIFESPAN align:center fontsize:M from:1845 till:1892 shift:(-0,$dy) textcolor:NAME text:John Thompson color:HISTCON from:1892 till:1894

bar:5 width:18 color:LIFESPAN align:center fontsize:M from:1823 till:1894 shift:(-0,$dy) textcolor:NAME text:Mackenzie Bowell color:HISTCON from:1894 till:1896 color:LIFESPAN from:1896 till:1917

bar:6 width:18 color:LIFESPAN align:center fontsize:M from:1821 till:1896 shift:(-0,$dy) textcolor:NAME text:Charles Tupper color:HISTCON from:1896 till:1896.4 color:LIFESPAN from:1896.4 till:1915

bar:7 width:18 color:LIFESPAN align:center fontsize:M from:1841 till:1896.4 shift:(-0,$dy) textcolor:NAME text:Wilfrid Laurier color:LIB from:1896.4 till:1911 color:LIFESPAN from:1911 till:1919

bar:8 width:18 color:LIFESPAN align:center fontsize:M from:1854 till:1911 shift:(-0,$dy) textcolor:NAME text:Robert Borden color:HISTCON from:1911 till:1917 color:UNIONIST from:1917 till:1920 color:LIFESPAN from:1920 till:1937

bar:9 width:18 color:LIFESPAN align:center fontsize:M from:1874 till:1920 shift:(-0,$dy) textcolor:NAME text:Arthur Meighen color:HISTCON from:1920 till:1921 color:LIFESPAN from:1921 till:1926 color:HISTCON from:1926 till:1926.4 color:LIFESPAN from:1926.4 till:1960

bar:10 width:18 color:LIFESPAN align:center fontsize:M from:1874 till:1921 shift:(-0,$dy) textcolor:NAME text:William Lyon Mackenzie King color:LIB from:1921 till:1926 color:LIFESPAN from:1926 till:1926.4 color:LIB from:1926.4 till:1930 color:LIFESPAN from:1930 till:1935 color:LIB from:1935 till:1948 color:LIFESPAN from:1948 till:1950

bar:11 width:18 color:LIFESPAN align:center fontsize:M from:1870 till:1930 shift:(-0,$dy) textcolor:NAME text:R. B. Bennett color:HISTCON from:1930 till:1935 color:LIFESPAN from:1935 till:1947

bar:12 width:18 color:LIFESPAN align:center fontsize:M from:1882 till:1948 shift:(-0,$dy) textcolor:NAME text:Louis St. Laurent color:LIB from:1948 till:1957 color:LIFESPAN from:1957 till:1973

bar:13 width:18 color:LIFESPAN align:center fontsize:M from:1895 till:1957 shift:(-0,$dy) textcolor:NAME text:John Diefenbaker color:HISTCON from:1957 till:1963 color:LIFESPAN from:1963 till:1979

bar:14 width:18 color:LIFESPAN align:center fontsize:M from:1897 till:1963 shift:(-0,$dy) textcolor:NAME text:Lester B. Pearson color:LIB from:1963 till:1968 color:LIFESPAN from:1968 till:1972

bar:15 width:18 color:LIFESPAN align:center fontsize:M from:1919 till:1968 shift:(-0,$dy) textcolor:NAME text:Pierre Trudeau color:LIB from:1968 till:1979 color:LIFESPAN from:1979 till:1980 color:LIB from:1980 till:1984 color:LIFESPAN from:1984 till:2000

bar:16 width:18 color:LIFESPAN align:center fontsize:M from:1939 till:1979 shift:(-0,$dy) textcolor:NAME text:Joe Clark color:HISTCON from:1979 till:1980 color:LIFESPAN from:1980 till:$now

bar:17 width:18 color:LIFESPAN align:center fontsize:M from:1929 till:1984 shift:(-0,$dy) textcolor:NAME text:John Turner color:LIB from:1984 till:1984.4 color:LIFESPAN from:1984.4 till:2020

bar:18 width:18 color:LIFESPAN align:center fontsize:M from:1939 till:1984.4 shift:(-0,$dy) textcolor:NAME text:Brian Mulroney color:HISTCON from:1984.4 till:1993 color:LIFESPAN from:1993 till:2024

bar:19 width:18 color:LIFESPAN align:center fontsize:M from:1947 till:1993 shift:(-0,$dy) textcolor:NAME text:Kim Campbell color:HISTCON from:1993 till:1993.4 color:LIFESPAN from:1993.4 till:$now

bar:20 width:18 color:LIFESPAN align:center fontsize:M from:1934 till:1993.4 shift:(-0,$dy) textcolor:NAME text:Jean Chrétien color:LIB from:1993.4 till:2003 color:LIFESPAN from:2003 till:$now

bar:21 width:18 color:LIFESPAN align:center fontsize:M from:1938 till:2003 shift:(-0,$dy) textcolor:NAME text:Paul Martin color:LIB from:2003 till:2006 color:LIFESPAN from:2006 till:$now

bar:22 width:18 color:LIFESPAN align:center fontsize:M from:1959 till:2006 shift:(-0,$dy) textcolor:NAME text:Stephen Harper color:CONS from:2006 till:2015 color:LIFESPAN from:2015 till:$now

bar:23 width:18 color:LIFESPAN align:center fontsize:M from:1971 till:2015 shift:(-0,$dy) textcolor:NAME text:Justin Trudeau color:LIB from:2015 till:2025 color:LIFESPAN from:2025 till:$now

bar:24 width:18 color:LIFESPAN align:center fontsize:M from:1965 till:2025 shift:(-0,$dy) textcolor:NAME text:Mark Carney color:LIB from:2025 till:$now

TextData = fontsize:M textcolor:black pos:($warning,30) text:Updated /

TextData = pos:(320,$height) fontsize:L textcolor:black text:"Lifespan of each Canadian prime minister"

References

References

  1. Forsey, Eugene. (2005). "How Canadians Govern Themselves". Queen's Printer for Canada.
  2. (14 October 2009). "Guide to Canadian Ministries since Confederation: Life of a Ministry". Government of Canada [[Privy Council Office (Canada).
  3. (2007-01-15). "Prime Ministers of Canada: Gallery". [[Parliament of Canada]].
  4. "Prime Ministers of Canada".
  5. (14 October 2009). "Guide to Canadian Ministries since Confederation". Privy Council Office.
  6. (14 October 2009). "Guide to Canadian Ministries since Confederation". Privy Council Office.
  7. "Profile – Mackenzie, Alexander". [[Parliament of Canada]].
  8. (14 October 2009). "Guide to Canadian Ministries since Confederation". Privy Council Office.
  9. "Profile – Macdonald, John Alexander". [[Parliament of Canada]].
  10. (14 October 2009). "Guide to Canadian Ministries since Confederation". Privy Council Office.
  11. "Chinese Head Tax in Canada". Historica Canada.
  12. "Sir John A. Macdonald". Historica Canada.
  13. "Profile – Abbott, John Joseph Caldwell". [[Parliament of Canada]].
  14. (14 October 2009). "Guide to Canadian Ministries since Confederation". Privy Council Office.
  15. "Profile – Thompson, John Sparrow David". [[Parliament of Canada]].
  16. (14 October 2009). "Guide to Canadian Ministries since Confederation". Privy Council Office.
  17. "Profile – Bowell, Mackenzie". [[Parliament of Canada]].
  18. (14 October 2009). "Guide to Canadian Ministries since Confederation". Privy Council Office.
  19. (1915-10-30). "Profile – Tupper, Charles". [[Parliament of Canada]].
  20. (14 October 2009). "Guide to Canadian Ministries since Confederation". Privy Council Office.
  21. "Profile – Laurier, Wilfrid". [[Parliament of Canada]].
  22. (14 October 2009). "Guide to Canadian Ministries since Confederation". Privy Council Office.
  23. "Profile – Borden, Robert Laird". [[Parliament of Canada]].
  24. (14 October 2009). "Guide to Canadian Ministries since Confederation". Privy Council Office.
  25. "Profile – Meighen, Arthur". [[Parliament of Canada]].
  26. (14 October 2009). "Guide to Canadian Ministries since Confederation". Privy Council Office.
  27. "Profile – King, William Lyon Mackenzie". [[Parliament of Canada]].
  28. (14 October 2009). "Guide to Canadian Ministries since Confederation". Privy Council Office.
  29. (14 October 2009). "Guide to Canadian Ministries since Confederation". Privy Council Office.
  30. (14 October 2009). "Guide to Canadian Ministries since Confederation". Privy Council Office.
  31. "Profile – Bennett, Richard Bedford". [[Parliament of Canada]].
  32. (14 October 2009). "Guide to Canadian Ministries since Confederation". Privy Council Office.
  33. (14 October 2009). "Guide to Canadian Ministries since Confederation". Privy Council Office.
  34. "Profile – St-Laurent, Louis Stephen". [[Parliament of Canada]].
  35. (14 October 2009). "Guide to Canadian Ministries since Confederation". Privy Council Office.
  36. "Timeline Korean War". Historica Canada.
  37. "Profile – Diefenbaker, John George". [[Parliament of Canada]].
  38. (14 October 2009). "Guide to Canadian Ministries since Confederation". Privy Council Office.
  39. "Profile – Pearson, Lester Bowles". [[Parliament of Canada]].
  40. (14 October 2009). "Guide to Canadian Ministries since Confederation". Privy Council Office.
  41. "Profile – Trudeau, Pierre Elliott". [[Parliament of Canada]].
  42. "Profile – Clark, Charles Joseph". [[Parliament of Canada]].
  43. "Profile – Turner, John Napier". [[Parliament of Canada]].
  44. "Profile – Mulroney, Martin Brian". [[Parliament of Canada]].
  45. "Profile – Campbell, A. Kim". [[Parliament of Canada]].
  46. "Profile – Chrétien, Joseph Jacques Jean". [[Parliament of Canada]].
  47. "Profile – Martin, Paul Edgar Philippe". [[Parliament of Canada]].
  48. "Profile – Harper, Stephen Joseph". [[Parliament of Canada]].
  49. "Operation MOBILE". Government of Canada.
  50. "Profile – Trudeau, Justin". [[Parliament of Canada]].
  51. "Profile – Carney, Mark". [[Parliament of Canada]].
  52. Murphy, Jessica. (9 March 2025). "Canada's next PM Mark Carney vows to win trade war with Trump". BBC News.
  53. (14 October 2009). "Guide to Canadian Ministries since Confederation". Privy Council Office.
  54. (14 October 2009). "Guide to Canadian Ministries since Confederation". Privy Council Office.
  55. (14 October 2009). "Guide to Canadian Ministries since Confederation". Privy Council Office.
  56. (14 October 2009). "Guide to Canadian Ministries since Confederation". Privy Council Office.
  57. (14 October 2009). "Guide to Canadian Ministries since Confederation". Privy Council Office.
  58. (14 October 2009). "Guide to Canadian Ministries since Confederation". Privy Council Office.
  59. (14 October 2009). "Guide to Canadian Ministries since Confederation". Privy Council Office.
Info: Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

Want to explore this topic further?

Ask Mako anything about List of prime ministers of Canada — get instant answers, deeper analysis, and related topics.

Research with Mako

Free with your Surf account

Content sourced from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

This content may have been generated or modified by AI. CloudSurf Software LLC is not responsible for the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of AI-generated content. Always verify important information from primary sources.

Report