Prime Ministers
Liberal Party of Canada Conservative Party of Canada Historical conservative parties
| Rank | Prime Minister | Incumbency | Years in power | Number of Mandates | Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | King !William Lyon Mackenzie King | 700121000000000000021 years, 7002154000000000000154 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 | Macdonald !Sir John A. MacdonaldB | 700118000000000000018 years, 7002359000000000000359 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 | Trudeau !Pierre Trudeau | 700115000000000000015 years, 7002164000000000000164 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 | Laurier !Sir Wilfrid Laurier | 700115000000000000015 years, 700186000000000000086 days | 1896–1911 | 4 mandates | Sir Wilfrid Laurier served for four full terms in majority governments. |
| 5 | Chrétien !Jean Chrétien | 700110000000000000010 years, 700138000000000000038 days | 1993–2003 | 3 mandates | Jean Chrétien served for three full terms in majority governments. The final six months of his last term was served out by Paul Martin. |
| 6 | Mulroney !Brian Mulroney | 70008000000000000008 years, 7002281000000000000281 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 | Borden !Sir Robert Borden | 70008000000000000008 years, 7002274000000000000274 days | 1911–1920 | 2 mandates | Sir Robert Borden served for two full terms in majority governments. The final year and a half of his last term were served out by Arthur Meighen. |
| 8 | St. Laurent !Louis St. Laurent | 70008000000000000008 years, 7002218000000000000218 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 | Harper !Stephen Harper (incumbent) | 70006000000000000006 years, 7002301000000000000301 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 December 3, 2012. |
| 10 | Diefenbaker !John Diefenbaker | 70005000000000000005 years, 7002305000000000000305 days | 1957–1963 | 3 mandates | John Diefenbaker served for one full term in a majority government and two short terms in minority governments. |
| 11 | Bennett !R. B. Bennett | 70005000000000000005 years, 700177000000000000077 days | 1930–1935 | 1 mandate | R. B. Bennett served for one full term in a majority government. |
| 12 | Pearson !Lester B. Pearson | 70004000000000000004 years, 7002364000000000000364 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 | Mackenzie !Alexander Mackenzie | 70004000000000000004 years, 7002336000000000000336 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 | Martin !Paul Martin | 70002000000000000002 years, 700156000000000000056 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 | Thompson !Sir John Thompson | 70002000000000000002 years, 70007000000000000007 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 | Meighen !Arthur Meighen | 70001000000000000001 year, 7002260000000000000260 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. His party won the 1925 election, but King kept governing with the support of the Progressives. |
| 17 | Abbott !Sir John Abbott | 70001000000000000001 year, 7002161000000000000161 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 | Bowell !Sir Mackenzie Bowell | 70001000000000000001 year, 7002128000000000000128 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 | Clark !Joe Clark | 50000000000000000000 years, 7002273000000000000273 days | 1979–1980 | 1 mandate | Joe Clark served one short term in a minority government. |
| 20 | Campbell !Kim Campbell | 50000000000000000000 years, 7002132000000000000132 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 | Turner !John Turner | 50000000000000000000 years, 700179000000000000079 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 | Tupper !Sir Charles Tupper | 50000000000000000000 years, 700168000000000000068 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. |
Read more about this topic: List Of Prime Ministers Of Canada By Time In Office
Famous quotes containing the words prime and/or ministers:
“By whatever means it is accomplished, the prime business of a play is to arouse the passions of its audience so that by the route of passion may be opened up new relationships between a man and men, and between men and Man. Drama is akin to the other inventions of man in that it ought to help us to know more, and not merely to spend our feelings.”
—Arthur Miller (b. 1915)
“... the black girls didn’t get these pills because their black ministers were up on the pulpit saying that birth control pills were black genocide. What I’m saying is that black men have exploited black women.... They didn’t want them to have any choice about their reproductive health. And if you can’t control your reproduction, you can’t control your life.”
—Joycelyn Elders (b. 1933)