United States of America

  • Capital: Washington, DC

    Population: 333.3 million (2022)

    Language(s): English

    Last Election: November 2020

    Next Election: November 2024

  • Canada is a parliamentary democracy and a constitutional monarchy with a bi-cameral (two house) legislature: The House of Commons and the Senate.

    The House of Commons (next page) is the lower house and made up of Members of Parliament (MPs). The party with the most MPs wins the general election and the leader become Prime Minister.

    Canada has a “First Past the Post” system where the candidate with the most votes in a specific electoral district (called a riding in Canada) wins the election for that district. Voters only choose one candidate on the ballot, unlike in a ranked voting system where a voter usually has multiple choices.

  • President: Joe Biden, Democrat

    Senate Majority:

    • Democrat (47), Independents (4)

    Senate Minority

    • Republican (49)

    House of Representatives Majority:

    • Republican (221)

    House of Representative Minority:

    • Democrat (213)

The Current Canadian House of Commons (338 Seats) as of September 2024

Liberal (Red): 154 Seats

Conservative (Blue): 119 Seats

Bloc Quebecois (Light Blue): 33 Seats

NDP (Orange): 25 Seats

Green (Green): 2 Seats

Independent/Vacant: 5 Seats

Her Majesty’s Government

The Liberal Party

  • 154 Seats in Parliament

  • Leader: Justin Trudeau

  • Ideology:

    Liberalism, Social Liberalism

Her Majesty’s Opposition

The Conservative Party

  • 119 Seats in Parliament

  • Leader: Pierre Poilievre

  • Ideology:

    Canadian conservatism, Economic Liberalism

Minor Parties with Representation in Parliament

New Democratic Party (NDP)

  • 25 Seats

  • Leader: Jagmeet Singh

  • Party Ideology

    Social Democracy, Democratic Socalism

Bloc Quebecois

  • 33 Seats in Parliament

  • Leader: Yves-Francois Blanchet

  • Party Ideology

    Quebec Nationalism, Quebec Sovereignty, Regionalism, Social Democracy

The Green Party

  • 2 Seats

  • Leader: Elizabeth May

  • Party Ideology

    Green Economics, Left-wing

The 2021 Federal Canadian Election

The 2021 Canadian Federal Election took place on September 20, 2021. Coming off a victory in 2019, where the Liberal Party won 157 seats, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s party again failed to win a majority government by 10 seats, with only 160 seats. The Liberals also lost the popular vote by 1% for a second straight election despite winning the election.

Where did the parties perform well?

The Liberals performed strongly in major Canadian cities such as Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, and the “Atlantic Canada” which consists of the provinces Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and Labrador, New Brunswick, and Prince Edward Island.

The Conservative Party was lead at the time by Erin O’Toole, won 119 seats, remaining as the opposition party. The Conservatives performed its strongest in Alberta, Saskatchewan, rural Ontario and Manitoba.

The NDP slightly performed better than in 2019, with most of its 25 seats in Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Northern Canada (Nunavut), Winnipeg, Manitoba and retained strong support in certain urban areas, such as Hamilton and parts of Toronto.

Bloc Québécois won its 32 seats in rural and francophone areas, especially in regions like Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean, Bas-Saint-Laurent, and Montérégie. However, they faced competition from the Liberals in urban areas like Montreal.

The Green Party won its only 2 seats in Saanich–Gulf Islands (British Columbia) and gained one seat in Kitchener Centre (Ontario).

Breakdown by Riding in Alberta 

Bow River (Conservative Win)

  • Martin Shields (CON) 70% ✅

  • Jonathan Bridges (PP) 10%

  • Michael MacLean (NDP) 9%

  • Getu Shawile (LIB) 8%

  • Orrin Bliss (MAV) 3%

  • Tom Lipp (CHP) 1%

Fort McMurray-Cold Lake (Conservative Win)

  • Laila Goodridge (CON) 67% ✅

  • Shawn McDonald (PP) 13%

  • Garnett Robinson (NDP) 10%

  • Abdifatah Abdi (LIB) 7%

  • Jonathan Myers (MAV) 1%

  • Brian Deheer (GRE) 1%

Calgary-Foot Hills (Conservative Win)

  • John Barlow (CON) 69% ✅

  • Michelle Traxel (NDP) 11%

  • Daniel Hunter (PP) 8%

  • Paula Shimp (LIB) 7%

  • Josh Wylie (MAV) 4%

  • Brett Rogers (GRE) 1%

Alberta Party Key:

CON= Conservative

LIB = Liberal

NDP = New Democratic Party

PP = People’s Party

MAV = Maverick Party

GRE = Green Party

CHP = Christian Heritage Party

Banff-Airdrie (Conservative Win)

  • Blake Richards (CON) 57% ✅

  • Sarah Zagoda (NDP) 16%

  • David Gamble (LIB). 12%

  • Nadine Wellwood (PP) 8%

  • Tariq Elnaga (MAV) 2%

  • Aidan Blum (GRE) 2%

Battle River Crowfoot (Conservative Win)

  • Damien Kurek (CON) 71% ✅

  • Tonya Ratushniak (NDP) 10%

  • Dennis Trepanier (PP). 9%

  • Leah Diane McLead (LIB) 4%

  • Jeff Golka (MAV) 4%

  • Daniel Brisbin(GRE) 1%

2019 and 2021: Liberals win but can’t form a majority

The table on the left shows the Liberal vote share decreased in 2021 from 33.12% to 32.62% yet the Liberals gained three more seats in 2021. This was also the second straight election where the Liberals lost the popular vote but gained more seats in Parliament. Why?

Well, both in 2019 and 2021, the Liberals had a more efficient distribution of votes, winning more ridings by narrower margins, especially in key areas like Ontario, Quebec, and Atlantic Canada. This allowed them to secure a larger number of seats despite their lower popular vote share. Meanwhile, the Conservatives racked up big margins in western provinces such as Alberta and Saskatchewan.

For the second straight election, the Liberal Party formed a minority government (170 is need to form a majority).