What are Canada's major political parties?

Canada's major federal political parties currently represented in the House of Commons are the Liberal Party of Canada, the Conservative Party of Canada, the Bloc Québécois, the New Democratic Party (NDP), and the Green Party of Canada. These five parties have official-party status (recognition for parliamentary purposes) when they hold at least 12 seats. After the April 28, 2025 federal election, the Liberal Party formed a minority government with 169 seats out of 343 (about 49 per cent), with the Conservatives as the Official Opposition.

The Liberal Party of Canada (founded 1867 as a successor to the Reform Party of Canada West and the Parti rouge of Lower Canada) is the oldest active federal political party. The Liberals have formed federal government for about 70 of the 158 years since Confederation. Notable Liberal Prime Ministers include Wilfrid Laurier (1896 to 1911), William Lyon Mackenzie King (1921 to 1948 cumulatively), Louis St-Laurent (1948 to 1957), Pierre Trudeau (1968 to 1984 cumulatively), Jean Chrétien (1993 to 2003), Justin Trudeau (2015 to 2025), and Mark Carney (since March 14, 2025, after winning the Liberal leadership and the April 2025 federal election).

The Conservative Party of Canada was formed on December 7, 2003 by the merger of the Progressive Conservative Party (founded 1942 from the older Conservative Party of Canada that dated to Confederation) and the Canadian Alliance (which had grown out of the Reform Party of Canada in the 1990s). Notable Conservative leaders include Sir John A. Macdonald (1867 to 1873 and 1878 to 1891), Robert Borden (1911 to 1920), R.B. Bennett (1930 to 1935), John Diefenbaker (1957 to 1963), Brian Mulroney (1984 to 1993), and Stephen Harper (2006 to 2015). The current leader is Pierre Poilievre, elected September 10, 2022.

The Bloc Québécois (founded 1991) is a Quebec-only sovereignist party that runs candidates only in Quebec; it is the only registered federal party that does not seek government. The New Democratic Party (founded 1961 from the merger of the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation and the Canadian Labour Congress) is a social-democratic party that has formed provincial governments in Saskatchewan, British Columbia, Manitoba, Ontario, and Alberta but never federal government. The Green Party of Canada (founded 1983) advocates environmental policy. Other registered parties include the People's Party of Canada (founded 2018), the Communist Party of Canada, the Libertarian Party of Canada, and several smaller parties.