| No. | Portrait | Name(Birth–Death) | Term of office | Electoral mandates(Assembly) | Political party | Parliamentaryseat | Cabinet | Ref. |
| 1(1 of 2) | | John A. Macdonald(1815–1891) | 1 July 1867–5 November 1873 | Title created (caretaker government) 1867 election (1st Parl.) 1872 election (2nd Parl.) | | Liberal–Conservative | MP for Kingston, ON | 1st | |
| Minister of Justice; Integration of Rupert's Land and the North-Western Territory into Canada; Manitoba Act; Red River Rebellion; British Columbia and Prince Edward Island join Confederation; Creation of the North-West Mounted Police; Resigned over Pacific Scandal. |
| 2 | | Alexander Mackenzie(1822–1892) | 7 November 1873–8 October 1878 | Appointment (2nd Parl.) 1874 election (3rd Parl.) | | Liberal(Ldr. 1873) | MP for Lambton, ON | 2nd | |
| Appointed as a result of the Pacific Scandal; Creation of the Supreme Court; Passage of the Indian Act; Establishment of the Royal Military College; Creation of the office of the Auditor General. |
| (1)(2 of 2) | | John A. Macdonald(1815–1891) | 17 October 1878–6 June 1891 | 1878 election (4th Parl.) 1882 election (5th Parl.) 1887 election (6th Parl.) 1891 election (7th Parl.) | | Liberal–Conservative | MP for Victoria, BC(1878–1882) MP for Carleton, ON(1882–1887) MP for Kingston, ON(1887–1891) | 3rd | |
| National Policy; Railway to the Pacific; North-West Rebellion; Hanging of Louis Riel; Imposed Peasant Farm Policy. Died in office (stroke). |
| 3 | | John Abbott(1821–1893) | 16 June 1891–24 November 1892 | Appointment (7th Parl.) | | Liberal–Conservative | Senator for Inkerman, Quebec | 4th | |
| First prime minister born in what would become Canada; first of only two prime ministers to serve while in the Senate; Minister without Portfolio; succeeded on Macdonald's death due to objections to the Catholic John Thompson; in ill health; retired. |
| 4 | | John Sparrow David Thompson(1845–1894) | 5 December 1892–12 December 1894 | Appointment (7th Parl.) | | Liberal–Conservative | MP for Antigonish, NS | 5th | |
| Minister of Justice; first Catholic prime minister; Manitoba Schools Question; died in office (heart attack). |
| 5 | | Mackenzie Bowell(1823–1917) | 21 December 1894–27 April 1896 | Appointment (7th Parl.) | | Conservative | Senator for Ontario | 6th | |
| Minister of Customs; Minister of Militia and Defence; Manitoba Schools Question; last prime minister to serve while in the Senate and last prime minister not to be born in Canada or pre-Canada until Turner. |
| 6 | | Charles Tupper(1821–1915) | 1 May 1896–8 July 1896 | Appointment (caretaker government) | | Conservative | Did not hold a seat in legislature | 7th | |
| Minister of Customs, Minister of Railways and Canals; Oldest Canadian PM to take office. Longest life of any Canadian prime minister (as of 2025), at 94 years, four months. Appointed prime minister while Parliament was dissolved for the 1896 election; despite his party's defeat, attempted to remain in office, until dismissed by the Governor General. Never sat in parliament as prime minister; he was MP for Cape Breton, NS immediately before and after the election. |
| 7 | | Wilfrid Laurier(1841–1919) | 11 July 1896–6 October 1911 | 1896 election (8th Parl.) 1900 election (9th Parl.) 1904 election (10th Parl.) 1908 election (11th Parl.) | | Liberal(Ldr. 1887) | MP for Quebec East, QC | 8th | |
| Manitoba Schools Question; Boer War; Alberta and Saskatchewan created; Creation of the Royal Canadian Navy; Reciprocity with the US; Department of External Affairs established; first French Canadian prime minister; longest single term for a prime minister. |
| 8 | | Robert Borden(1854–1937) | 10 October 1911–10 July 1920 | 1911 election (12th Parl.) 1917 election (13th Parl.) | | Conservative(Ldr. 1901) | MP for Halifax, NS(1911–1917) MP for Kings, NS(1917–1920) | 9th(1911–17)10th(1917–20) | |
| First World War; Military Service Act; Conscription Crisis of 1917; Union government; National Research Council; Introduction of income tax; Nickle Resolution; Women's suffrage; Suppression of Winnipeg General Strike; Canada sits at the Paris Peace Conference, signs the Treaty of Versailles and joins the League of Nations; last Canadian Prime Minister to be knighted. |
| 9(1 of 2) | | Arthur Meighen(1874–1960) | 10 July 1920–29 December 1921 | Appointment (13th Parl.) | | Conservative(Ldr. 1920) | MP for Portage la Prairie, MB | 11th | |
| Solicitor General of Canada, Minister of Mines, Secretary of State for Canada, Minister of the Interior, Superintendent Indian Affairs; Grand Trunk Railway placed under control of Canadian National Railways. |
| 10(1 of 3) | | William Lyon Mackenzie King(1874–1950) | 29 December 1921–28 June 1926 | 1921 election (14th Parl.) 1925 election (15th Parl.) | | Liberal(Ldr. 1919) | MP for York North, ON(1921–1925) MP for Prince Albert, SK(1925–1926) | 12th | mw- [LS] |
| Minister of Labour; Chanak Crisis; lower tariffs; reinstated Crowsnest Pass Agreement; 1923 Imperial Conference; Halibut Treaty; Continued after 1925 with third party Progressive support until resigning after his request for an election was refused by Governor General Lord Byng. |
| (9)(2 of 2) | | Arthur Meighen(1874–1960) | 29 June 1926–25 September 1926 | Appointment (15th Parl.) | | Conservative(Ldr. 1920) | MP for Portage la Prairie, MB | 13th | |
| Appointed as a result of the King–Byng Affair. Circumvented required ministerial by-elections by appointing "acting ministers" and was subsequently defeated on a motion of no confidence. |
| (10)(2 of 3) | | William Lyon Mackenzie King(1874–1950) | 25 September 1926–7 August 1930 | 1926 election (16th Parl.) | | Liberal(Ldr. 1919) | MP for Prince Albert, SK | 14th | |
| Balfour Declaration; Introduction of old age pensions; first Canadian envoys with full diplomatic status sent to foreign countries (USA, France, Japan); Great Depression. |
| 11 | | R. B. Bennett(1870–1947) | 7 August 1930–23 October 1935 | 1930 election (17th Parl.) | | Conservative(Ldr. 1927) | MP for Calgary West, AB | 15th | |
| Minister of Justice, Minister of Finance; Great Depression; Imperial Preference; Statute of Westminster; Canadian Radio Broadcasting Commission; Canadian Wheat Board; Creation of the Bank of Canada. |
| (10)(3 of 3) | | William Lyon Mackenzie King(1874–1950) | 23 October 1935–15 November 1948 | 1935 election (18th Parl.) 1940 election (19th Parl.) 1945 election (20th Parl.) | | Liberal(Ldr. 1919) | MP for Prince Albert, SK(1935–1945) MP for Glengarry, ON(1945–1948) | 16th | [LS] |
| Creation of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation; National Film Board of Canada; Unemployment Insurance Act of 1940; Nationalization of the Bank of Canada; Second World War; Japanese Canadian internment; Conscription Crisis of 1944; Canada's entry into the United Nations; Trans-Canada Airlines; Gouzenko Affair. Longest cumulative time serving as prime minister; only prime minister to serve three non-consecutive terms. |
| 12 | | Louis St. Laurent(1882–1973) | 15 November 1948–21 June 1957 | Appointment (20th Parl.) 1949 election (21st Parl.) 1953 election (22nd Parl.) | | Liberal(Ldr. 1948) | MP for Quebec East, QC | 17th | |
| Minister of Justice, Secretary of State for External Affairs; Dominion of Newfoundland joins Confederation; right of appeal to Judicial Committee of the Privy Council ended; Canada's entrance into NATO; Suez Crisis; Creation of the United Nations Emergency Force; London Declaration; Newfoundland Act; Equalization; Trans-Canada Highway; St. Lawrence Seaway; Trans-Canada Pipeline; Pipeline Debate. |
| 13 | | John Diefenbaker(1895–1979) | 21 June 1957–22 April 1963 | 1957 election (23rd Parl.) 1958 election (24th Parl.) 1962 election (25th Parl.) | | Progressive Conservative(Ldr. 1956) | MP for Prince Albert, SK | 18th | |
| Avro Arrow cancellation; Coyne Affair; Cuban Missile Crisis; NORAD; Establishment of Board of Broadcast Governors; Canadian Bill of Rights; Allowed status aboriginals to vote in federal elections 1960; Alouette 1 satellite programme. |
| 14 | | Lester B. Pearson(1897–1972) | 22 April 1963–20 April 1968 | 1963 election (26th Parl.) 1965 election (27th Parl.) | | Liberal(Ldr. 1958) | MP for Algoma East, ON | 19th | |
| Secretary of State for External Affairs; Bomarc missile program; Creation of a national system of universal healthcare; Canada Pension Plan; Canada Student Loans; Creation of a new Canadian flag; Auto Pact; Rejection of troop deployment to Vietnam; Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism; Unification of the Armed Forces; Canadian Centennial Celebrations. |
| 15(1 of 2) | | Pierre Trudeau(1919–2000) | 20 April 1968–4 June 1979 | Appointment (27th Parl.) 1968 election (28th Parl.) 1972 election (29th Parl.) 1974 election (30th Parl.) | | Liberal(Ldr. 1968) | MP for Mount Royal, QC | 20th | [IA] |
| Minister of Justice; "Trudeaumania"; "Just Society"; decriminalizing homosexuality and legalizing abortion; October Crisis and use of the War Measures Act; Official Languages Act; Establishment of relations with Communist China; Victoria Charter; Creation of Petro-Canada; Membership in the G7; Metrication of Canada; National Housing Act amendments; inflation and eventual state intervention; Creation of Via Rail. |
| 16 | | Joe Clark(b. 1939) | 4 June 1979–3 March 1980 | 1979 election (31st Parl.) | | Progressive Conservative(Ldr. 1976) | MP for Yellowhead, AB | 21st | [IA] |
| Youngest Canadian PM; Freedom of Information Act; Canadian Caper; defeated in a motion of no confidence on first budget. First prime minister born in Western Canada. |
| (15)(2 of 2) | | Pierre Trudeau(1919–2000) | 3 March 1980–30 June 1984 | 1980 election (32nd Parl.) | | Liberal(Ldr. 1968) | MP for Mount Royal, QC | 22nd | [IA] |
| 1980 Quebec referendum; Access to Information Act; Patriation of the Canadian Constitution; Montreal Protocol; Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms; National Energy Program; Canada Health Act; Western alienation. |
| 17 | | John Turner(1929–2020) | 30 June 1984–17 September 1984 | Appointment (32nd Parl.) | | Liberal(Ldr. 1984) | Did not hold a seat in legislature | 23rd | [IA] |
| Minister of Justice, Minister of Finance; Trudeau Patronage Appointments. Never sat in parliament as prime minister. First prime minister since Bowell not to have been born in Canada. |
| 18 | | Brian Mulroney(1939–2024) | 17 September 1984–25 June 1993 | 1984 election (33rd Parl.) 1988 election (34th Parl.) | | Progressive Conservative(Ldr. 1983) | MP for Manicouagan, QC(1984–1988) MP for Charlevoix, QC(1988–1993) | 24th | [IA] |
| Cancellation of the National Energy Program; Meech Lake Accord; Petro-Canada privatization; Canada-US Free Trade Agreement; Introduction of the Goods and Services Tax; Charlottetown Accord; Sanctions against South Africa; Acid Rain treaty; Gulf War; Oka Crisis; Emergencies Act; Environmental Protection Act; Privatization of Air Canada, North American Free Trade Agreement; Nunavut Land Claims Agreement; Airbus affair. |
| 19 | | Kim Campbell(b. 1947) | 25 June 1993–4 November 1993 | Appointment (34th Parl.) | | Progressive Conservative(Ldr. 1993) | MP for Vancouver Centre, BC | 25th | [IA] |
| Minister of Justice, Minister of Veterans Affairs, Minister of National Defence, Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs; only female prime minister of Canada. Defeated and lost her seat in 1993 election. |
| 20 | | Jean Chrétien(b. 1934) | 4 November 1993–12 December 2003 | 1993 election (35th Parl.) 1997 election (36th Parl.) 2000 election (37th Parl.) | | Liberal(Ldr. 1990) | MP for Saint-Maurice, QC | 26th | [IA] |
