The timeline of elections in Canada covers all the provincial, territorial and federal elections from when each province was joined Confederation through to the present day. The table below indicates which party won the election. Several provinces held elections before joining Canada, but only their post-Confederation elections are shown. These include:
- Lower Canada held 15 elections for its Legislative Assembly, from 1792 to 1835;
- Upper Canada held 13 elections to its Legislative Assembly, from 1792 to 1836;
- the Province of Canada held 8 elections for its Legislative Assembly from 1841 to 1863;
- New Brunswick's first 21 elections, beginning in 1785 (the 21st Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick was elected in 1866, one year before Confederation, and continued until 1870, three years after Confederation);
- Nova Scotia's first 22 elections, beginning in 1758;
- Prince Edward Island's first 25 elections, beginning in 1773; and
- Newfoundland's first 29 elections, beginning in 1832.
The most recent election is shown with a box limited to five years of government, as this is the maximum length of office, as set by the constitution. However, elections can be called at any time by an incumbent government. The federal government, nine provinces, and one territory have changed to fixed election dates every four years. For these legislatures, the box is shown as running until the next scheduled election, but one could still be earlier if the government falls due to a motion of no confidence. Nova Scotia and Yukon do not have fixed election dates in this matter.
Legend
| Abbreviation | Party |
|---|---|
| Pre | Pre-Confederation |
| BCL | British Columbia Liberal |
| LIB | Liberal Party |
| NDP | NDP |
| CCF | CCF |
| ASC | Alberta Social Credit |
| UF | United Farmers |
| SK | Saskatchewan Party |
| BSC | British Columbia Social Credit |
| PQ | Parti Québécois |
| CON | Progressive Conservatives or historical Conservatives |
| YU | Yukon Party |
| CPC | Conservative Party |
| UN | Union Nationale |
| APC | Alberta Progressive Conservative |
| CAQ | Coalition Avenir Québec |
| Co. | Coalition |
| N/A | Nonpartisan, and consensus government |
1867–1897
| Year | BC | MB | ON | QC | NB | NS | PEI | NT | Federal | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1867 | 1st Co.[1] [a] | 1st PC[2] | 1st [b] | 1st LIB[3] | 1st PC[4] | |||||
| 1868 | ||||||||||
| 1869 | ||||||||||
| 1870 | 1st N/A[5] | 2nd N/A | (Temp. Council) | |||||||
| 1871 | 1st N/A[6] | 2nd LIB[1] | 2nd PC[2] | 2nd LIB[3] | ||||||
| 1872 | 2nd PC[7] | |||||||||
| 1873 | 26th PC[8] | |||||||||
| 1874 | 2nd N/A[5] | 3rd N/A | 3rd LIB[3] | 3rd LIB[9] | ||||||
| 1875 | 2nd N/A[6] | 3rd LIB[1] | 3rd PC[2] | |||||||
| 1876 | 27th PC[10] | (First Council) | ||||||||
| 1877 | ||||||||||
| 1878 | 3rd[6] | 3rd[5] | 4th LIB [c] | 4th N/A | 4th PC[3] | 4th PC[11] | ||||
| 1879 | 4th PC[5] | 4th LIB[1] | 28th PC[12] | |||||||
| 1880 | ||||||||||
| 1881 | 5th PC[2] | |||||||||
| 1882 | 4th N/A[6] | 5th N/A | 5th LIB[3] | 29th PC[13] | 5th PC[14] | |||||
| 1883 | 5th PC[5] | 5th LIB[1] | ||||||||
| 1884 | ||||||||||
| 1885 | ||||||||||
| 1886 | 5th N/A[6] | 6th PC[5] | 6th LIB[1] | 6th LIB[2] | 6th N/A | 6th LIB[3] | 30th PC[15] | |||
| 1887 | 6th PC[16] | |||||||||
| 1888 | 7th LIB[5] | 1st N/A | ||||||||
| 1889 | ||||||||||
| 1890 | 6th N/A[6] | 7th LIB[1] | 7th LIB[2] | 7th N/A | 7th LIB[3] | 31st Co.[d][17] | ||||
| 1891 | 2nd N/A | 7th PC[18] | ||||||||
| 1892 | 8th LIB[5] | 8th PC[2] | 8th N/A | |||||||
| 1893 | 32nd LIB[19] | |||||||||
| 1894 | 7th N/A[6] | 8th LIB[1] | 8th LIB[3] | 3rd N/A | ||||||
| 1895 | 9th N/A | |||||||||
| 1896 | 9th LIB[5] | 8th LIB[20] | ||||||||
| 1897 | 9th LIB[2] | 9th LIB[3] | 33rd LIB[21] | |||||||
| Year | BC | MB | ON | QC | NB | NS | PEI | NT | Federal |
1898–1948
1949–1998
Newfoundland (now Newfoundland and Labrador) joined Canada as a new province in 1949.[35]
1999–present
The territory of Nunavut was created on 1 April 1999, from land previously part of the Northwest Territories.[50]
Notes
Summary
The table below shows how many elections each party has won in each province and territory. The Northwest Territories and Nunavut use consensus government, which means there are no political parties. Of forty-two federal elections, twenty-three have been won by the Liberals, and eighteen by the Conservatives.
| Party | BC | AB | SK | MB | ON | QC | NB | NS | PEI | NL | YU | NT | NU | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Liberal | 9 | 4 | 10 | 11 | 17 | 25 | 12 | 25 | 23 | 13 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 152 | |
| (Progressive) Conservative | 5 | 14 | 2 | 18 | 23 | 5 | 11 | 15 | 18 | 9 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 123 | |
| Non-partisan | 9 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 16[a] | 0 | 0 | 0 | 27 | 23 | 6 | 84 | |
| New Democratic | 5 | 1 | 6 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 26 | |
| Social Credit | 11 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 20 | |
| Coalition | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | |
| United Farmers | 0 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | |
| Union Nationale | - | - | - | - | - | 6 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6 | |
| Parti Québécois | - | - | - | - | - | 5 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 5 | |
| Co. Commonwealth Fed. | - | - | 5 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 5 | |
| Yukon Party | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 4 | - | - | 4 | |
| Saskatchewan Party | - | - | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 4 | |
| Coalition Avenir Québec | - | - | - | - | - | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 2 | |
| Total | 42 | 31 | 29 | 43 | 43 | 43 | 39 | 41 | 42 | 22 | 39 | 24 | 6 | 444 | |
See also
References
New Brunswick
- "New Brunswick Votes 2006". CBC.ca. Retrieved December 23, 2006. (results back to 1956)
- Doyle, Arthur T. (1984). Elections in New Brunswick, 1784-1984. Fredericton: Brunswick Press. ISBN 0-88838-391-6.
Newfoundland and Labrador
- "General Election Statistics (1949-1999)". Elections Newfoundland and Labrador. Archived from the original on September 26, 2008. Retrieved August 22, 2008.
- Wayne Green. "Report on the 2003 General Election" (PDF). Elections Newfoundland and Labrador. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 6, 2011. Retrieved August 22, 2008.
- Paul Reynolds. "October 9, 2007 Provincial General Election Report" (PDF). Elections Newfoundland and Labrador. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 6, 2011. Retrieved August 22, 2008.
Yukon
- "Election Results". Election Almanac. Archived from the original on July 10, 2011. Retrieved July 1, 2009. (Results back to 1974)
- "General Elections". Elections Yukon. Retrieved December 2, 2006. (Dates of all elections)
- Donald Taylor. "The Yukon Legislative Assembly". Canadian Parliamentary Review. Retrieved December 23, 2006. (Non-partisan nature of Legislative Assembly before 1974)
Northwest Territories
- "History of Northwest Territories in Confederation". Collections Canada. Archived from the original on October 13, 2006. Retrieved December 19, 2006.
- "History of the Northwest Territories". Northwest Territories Legislative Assembly. Archived from the original on July 14, 2006. Retrieved December 19, 2006.
- "Councils and Assemblies". Northwest Territories Legislative Assembly. Archived from the original on February 14, 2006. Retrieved April 13, 2006. (1951 to date)
Nunavut
- "Nunavut Election '99 - Results". CBC Radio. Archived from the original on October 29, 2006. Retrieved December 5, 2006.
- "Nunavut Votes 2004". CBC News. Retrieved December 1, 2006.
Federal
- "History of Federal Ridings since 1867". Parliament of Canada. Archived from the original on June 9, 2009. Retrieved December 23, 2006.