List of Prime Ministers of Canada by time in office

Prime ministers of Canada do not have a fixed term of office; instead, they may stay in office as long as their government is supported by parliament under a system of responsible government. Both the number of terms served and the length of individual terms have varied considerably since Confederation. Historically, elections have been held every three to five years, although since 2006 a government act set fixed election days every four years unless parliament is dissolved earlier by the Governor General.[1] Prime ministers can be re-elected to serve any number of consecutive mandates, and some have served up to six terms, while several others have served for less than one full term. There are also four prime ministers who served multiple non-consecutive terms in the office.

Of the prime ministers who served less than one full term, two of them, Joe Clark and Paul Martin, had their time in office cut short by the collapse of a minority parliament and the subsequent election of the opposition party. In all other cases of short tenure, a new prime minister was put in place for the last few months of their predecessor's mandate—usually to try to gain support from the electorate before an election—but were subsequently defeated by the opposition party. The preceding Prime Minister always stays in office during an election campaign, and that time is included in the total. The first day of a Prime Minister's term is counted in the total, but the last day is not. This list is accurate as of February 23, 2012.

Contents

Prime ministers

      Liberal Party of Canada       Conservative Party of Canada       Historical conservative parties

Rank Prime Minister Incumbency Years in power[2] Number of Mandates Remarks[3][4][5][6]
     1 William Lyon Mackenzie King &1000000000000002100000021 years, &10000000000000154000000154 days 1921–1926,
1926–1930,
1935–1948A		 6 mandates William Lyon Mackenzie King served for three full terms in majority governments; two full terms in minority governments supported by opposition parties; and one short term under a minority government cut short by the King-Byng Affair after which he was replaced by Arthur Meighen.
     2 Sir John A. MacdonaldB &1000000000000001800000018 years, &10000000000000359000000359 days 1867–1873,
1878–1891C D		 6 mandates Sir John A. Macdonald served for four full terms in majority governments; one term in a majority government cut short by the Pacific Scandal, with Alexander Mackenzie taking over; and one term in a majority government cut short by his death, after which four others served out the end of his final term.
     3 Pierre Trudeau &1000000000000001500000015 years, &10000000000000164000000164 days 1968–1979,
1980–1984E		 4 mandates Pierre Trudeau served for three full terms in majority governments and one short term in a minority government. The final months of his last term were served out by John Turner.
     4 Sir Wilfrid Laurier &1000000000000001500000015 years, &1000000000000008600000086 days 1896–1911 4 mandates Sir Wilfrid Laurier served for four full terms in majority governments.
     5 Jean Chrétien &1000000000000001000000010 years, &1000000000000003800000038 days 1993–2003 3 mandates Jean Chrétien served for three full terms in majority governments. The final year of his last term was served out by Paul Martin.
     6 Brian Mulroney &100000000000000080000008 years, &10000000000000281000000281 days 1984–1993 2 mandates Brian Mulroney served for two full terms in majority governments. The final months of his last term were served out by Kim Campbell.
     7 Sir Robert Borden &100000000000000080000008 years, &10000000000000274000000274 days 1911–1920 2 mandates Sir Robert Borden served for two full terms in majority governments. The final months of his last term were served out by Arthur Meighen.
     8 Louis St. Laurent &100000000000000080000008 years, &10000000000000218000000218 days 1948–1957 2 mandates Louis St. Laurent served out the end of William Lyon Mackenzie King's last term after the latter's retirement. He then served for two full terms in majority governments.
     9 Stephen Harper (incumbent) &100000000000000060000006 years, &1000000000000001700000017 days 2006–present 3 mandates Stephen Harper served for two short terms in minority governments and is currently serving a term in majority government. He is the incumbent prime minister as of February 23, 2012.
     10 John Diefenbaker &100000000000000050000005 years, &10000000000000305000000305 days 1957–1963 3 mandates John Diefenbaker served for one full term in a majority government and two short terms in minority governments.
     11 R. B. Bennett &100000000000000050000005 years, &1000000000000007700000077 days 1930–1935 1 mandate R. B. Bennett served for one full term in a majority government.
     12 Lester B. Pearson &100000000000000040000004 years, &10000000000000364000000364 days 1963–1968 2 mandates Lester B. Pearson served for two short terms in minority governments. The final months of his last term were served out by Pierre Trudeau.
     13 Alexander Mackenzie &100000000000000040000004 years, &10000000000000336000000336 days 1873–1878 1 mandate Alexander Mackenzie took over from Sir John A. Macdonald's first block of terms following the Pacific Scandal. He then served for one full term in a majority government.
     14 Paul Martin &100000000000000020000002 years, &1000000000000005600000056 days 2003–2006 1 mandate Paul Martin served out the end of Jean Chrétien's last term after the latter's retirement. He then served for one short term in a minority government.
     15 Sir John Thompson &100000000000000020000002 years, &100000000000000070000007 days 1892–1894D 0 mandates Sir John Thompson was the second of four prime ministers to serve out the end of Sir John A. Macdonald's last term after Macdonald's death. He was the second, and currently last prime minister of Canada to die in office. He never won an election of his own.
     16 Arthur Meighen &100000000000000010000001 year, &10000000000000260000000260 days 1920–1921,
1926F		 0 mandates Arthur Meighen served out the end of Sir Robert Borden's last term after the latter's retirement. He also briefly took over from William Lyon Mackenzie King's second block of terms following the King-Byng Affair. He never won an election of his own.
     17 Sir John Abbott &100000000000000010000001 year, &10000000000000161000000161 days 1891–1892 0 mandates Sir John Abbott was the first of four prime ministers to serve out the end of Sir John A. Macdonald's last term after Macdonald's death. Due to health reasons he did not finish the term. He never won an election of his own.
     18 Sir Mackenzie Bowell &100000000000000010000001 year, &10000000000000128000000128 days 1894–1896 0 mandates Sir Mackenzie Bowell was the third of four prime ministers to serve out the end of Sir John A. Macdonald's last term after Macdonald's death. He lost the confidence of his cabinet and resigned before the end of the term. He never won an election of his own.
     19 Joe Clark &100000000000000000000000 years, &10000000000000273000000273 days 1979–1980 1 mandate Joe Clark served one short term in a minority government.
     20 Kim Campbell &100000000000000000000000 years, &10000000000000132000000132 days 1993 0 mandates Kim Campbell served out the end of Brian Mulroney's last term after the latter's retirement. She never won an election of her own.
     21 John Turner &100000000000000000000000 years, &1000000000000007900000079 days 1984 0 mandates John Turner served out the end of Pierre Trudeau's last term after the latter's retirement. He never won an election of his own. He was one of two prime ministers who never served as a Member of Parliament or Senator during any point of his tenure as prime minister.
     22 Sir Charles Tupper &100000000000000000000000 years, &1000000000000006800000068 days 1896 0 mandates Sir Charles Tupper was the fourth of four prime ministers to serve out the end of Sir John A. Macdonald's last term after Macdonald's death. He never won an election of his own. He was only in power during an election campaign, making him one of two prime ministers who never served as a Member of Parliament or Senator during any point of his tenure as prime minister.

Footnotes

^A Mackenzie King's incumbency was in three blocks: &100000000000000040000004 years, &10000000000000181000000181 days; &100000000000000030000003 years, &10000000000000315000000315 days; and &1000000000000001300000013 years, &1000000000000002300000023 days.
^B Sir John A. Macdonald was also Premier of the Province of Canada for 250 days, giving him a total of 19 years, 244 days.
^C Macdonald's incumbency was in two blocks: &100000000000000060000006 years, &10000000000000127000000127 days and &1000000000000001200000012 years, &10000000000000232000000232 days.
^D The prime ministry was vacant for ten days each in 1891 and 1894.
^E Trudeau's incumbency was in two blocks: &1000000000000001100000011 years, &1000000000000004500000045 days and &100000000000000040000004 years, &10000000000000119000000119 days.
^F Meighen's incumbency was in two blocks: &100000000000000010000001 year, &10000000000000172000000172 days and 88 days.

See also

Canadian politics portal

References

  1. ^ "39th Parliament - 1st Session - Bill C-16: An Act to amend the Canada Elections Act". Legisinfo. Library of Parliament. 2008-12-09. http://www.parl.gc.ca/legisinfo/index.asp?Language=E&Session=14&query=4544&List=toc. Retrieved 2008-03-01. 
  2. ^ "Political Information - Ministerial Experience". Parlinfo. Library of Parliament. 2007-09-26. http://www2.parl.gc.ca/Parlinfo/Compilations/FederalGovernment/PrimeMinisters/Ministerial.aspx. Retrieved 2008-03-01. 
  3. ^ Government of Canada (1994). Canada's Prime Ministers, 1867–1994: Biographies and Anecdotes. Ottawa: National Archives of Canada. http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/primeministers/h4-3000-e.html. Retrieved 2008-11-28. 
  4. ^ "Jean Chrétien". The Canadian Who's Who. XLIII. Toronto: University of Toronto Press. 2008. 
  5. ^ "Paul Martin". The Canadian Who's Who. XLIII. Toronto: University of Toronto Press. 2008. 
  6. ^ "Stephen Harper". The Canadian Who's Who. XLIII. Toronto: University of Toronto Press. 2008. 
Canadian politics by time in office