| | Prime Minister | Total time in office | Dates in office | Number of governments | Comments |
| 1 | William Lyon Mackenzie King | 21 years, 154 days | 1921-12-29 to 1926-06-28 (4 years, 181 days) 1926-09-25 to 1930-08-06 (3 years, 315 days) 1935-10-23 to 1948-11-15 (13 years, 23 days) | Six governments in total. Three majority governments: 1921–1925 1935–1940 1940–1945 Three minority governments: 1925–1926 1926–1930 1945–1948 | King served three non-consecutive terms: from 1921 to the spring of 1926 (one majority and one minority government); from the fall of 1926 to 1930 (minority government); and from 1935 to 1948 (two majority governments and one minority government). First term: King began his first term after winning a narrow majority government in the election of 1921, defeating Prime Minister Meighen. His government fluctuated between majority and minority over the course of four years, due to by-elections and political developments. He won a minority government in the 1925 election, but that government was cut short by the King-Byng Affair. To avoid a motion of non-confidence in the Commons, King asked the governor general, Viscount Byng to call an election. Byng refused and King resigned. Byng appointed Meighen as prime minister, but Meighen's government fell after only four days in office, triggering a general election, which King won. Second term: King began his second term when he won a minority government in the 1926 election. His second term lasted until 1930, when he was defeated by R.B. Bennett in the 1930 general election and resigned as prime minister. He stayed on as party leader and became Leader of the Opposition. Third term: King began his third and longest term when he won the election of 1935, defeating Prime Minister Bennett and winning a majority government. He won the subsequent elections in 1940 and 1945, and retired in 1948. He was succeeded by Louis St. Laurent. |
| 2 | Sir John A. Macdonald | 18 years, 359 days | 1867-07-01 to 1873-11-05 (6 years, 127 days) 1878-10-17 to 1891-06-06 (12 years, 232 days) | Six majority governments: 1867–1872 1872–1873 1878–1882 1882–1887 1887–1891 1891 | Macdonald served two non-consecutive terms: from July 1, 1867, to the fall of 1873 (two majority governments), and from 1878 until his death in 1891 (four majority governments). First term: The Governor-General, Viscount Monck, appointed Macdonald the first prime minister of Canada on July 1, 1867 prior to the first general election, which Macdonald won. His second government, elected in 1872, was cut short by the Pacific Scandal. When it became apparent that he had lost the confidence of the Commons in the fall of 1873, Macdonald resigned as prime minister, remaining party leader and becoming Leader of the Opposition. The Governor-General, the Earl of Dufferin, appointed Alexander Mackenzie as prime minister. Mackenzie then called the general election of 1874, which he won. Second term: Returned to power after defeating Prime Minister Mackenzie in the election of 1878, Macdonald won four successive majority governments. His last government, elected in April, 1891, ended upon his death on June 6, 1891. The office of prime minister was vacant for ten days from Macdonald's death on June 6, 1891, until the appointment of Sir John Abbott as prime minister on June 16, 1891. After Abbott, three other individuals served in turn as prime minister until the next election in 1896. |
| 3 | Pierre Trudeau | 15 years, 164 days | 1968-04-20 to 1979-06-04 (11 years, 45 days) 1980-03-03 to 1984-06-30 (4 years, 119 days) | Five governments in total. Three majority governments: 1968–1972 1974–1979 1980–1984 Two minority governments: 1968 1972–1974 | Trudeau served two non-consecutive terms: from 1968 to 1979 (two majority governments and two minority governments), and then from 1980 to 1984 (one majority government). First term: When Prime Minister Pearson retired, Trudeau won the Liberal leadership and became prime minister on April 20, 1968, initially with a minority government. He called a general election for June 25, 1968, winning a majority government. He remained in office for two more elections, but was defeated by Joe Clark in the 1979 general election. Trudeau resigned the leadership of the Liberal Party and announced his retirement from politics, staying on as interim leader until the Liberals elected a new party leader. Second term: In the first session of the new parliament it became clear that Clark's government was quickly losing popular support. The Liberals and the New Democratic Party combined to defeat the budget of the Clark government. Since that was a confidence matter, Clark was forced to call an election. Trudeau resumed the leadership of the Liberal Party and defeated Prime Minister Clark in the 1980 election, winning a majority government. He stayed in office until 1984, when he announced his retirement after taking a walk in the snow. He was succeeded by John Turner. |
| 4 | Sir Wilfrid Laurier | 15 years, 87 days | 1896-07-11 to 1911-10-06 | Four majority governments: 1896–1900 1900–1904 1904–1908 1908–1911 | Laurier served one continuous term of fifteen years, the longest uninterrupted term of any prime minister. He took office after defeating Prime Minister Tupper in the 1896 general election. During his term, he won four majority governments. He was defeated by Robert Borden in the 1911 general election and resigned as prime minister, he remained the leader of the Liberal Party as leader of the opposition until his death in 1919. |
| 5 | Jean Chrétien | 10 years, 38 days | 1993-11-04 to 2003-12-12 | Three majority governments: 1993–1997 1997–2000 2001–2003 | Chrétien served for one term, winning three majority governments. He took office after defeating Prime Minister Campbell in the 1993 general election and stayed in power for ten years. After a leadership challenge within the Liberal Party from Paul Martin, he retired as prime minister and leader of the Liberal Party on December 12, 2003, and was replaced by Martin. |
| 6 | Stephen Harper | 9 years, 271 days | 2006-02-06 to 2015-11-04 | Three governments in total. Two minority governments: 2006–2008 2008–2011 One majority government: 2011–2015 | Harper served for one term, winning two minority governments and one majority government. He took office after defeating Prime Minister Martin in the 2006 general election and stayed in office for nine years. He was defeated by Justin Trudeau in the 2015 general election and resigned as prime minister. |
| 7 | Justin Trudeau | 9 years, 130 days | 2015-11-04 to 2025-03-14 | Three governments in total. One majority government: 2015–2019 Two minority governments: 2019–2021 2021–2025 | Trudeau served for one term, winning one majority government and two minority governments. In his second minority government, he held a de facto majority due to a confidence and supply agreement with the New Democratic Party from March 22, 2022 to September 4, 2024. He took office after defeating Prime Minister Harper in the 2015 general election, remaining in office with a minority government following both the 2019 and the 2021 general elections. After a political crisis, he resigned as prime minister and leader of the Liberal Party on March 14, 2025, and was replaced by Mark Carney. |
| 8 | Brian Mulroney | 8 years, 281 days | 1984-09-17 to 1993-06-25 | Two majority governments: 1984–1988 1988–1993 | Mulroney served for one term, winning two majority governments. He took office after defeating Prime Minister Turner in the 1984 general election. He won the largest number of seats in Canadian history: 211 out of 295 seats in the House of Commons. He retired in 1993 and was succeeded by Kim Campbell. |
| 9 | Sir Robert Borden | 8 years, 274 days | 1911-10-10 to 1917-10-12 1917-10-12 to 1920-07-10 | Two majority governments: 1911–1917 1917–1921 | Borden served two consecutive terms, the only prime minister to do so, as a war-time measure. First term: Borden was elected in the 1911 general election, defeating Prime Minister Laurier and forming a majority government. Second term: During the Conscription Crisis in World War I, Borden, a Conservative, approached Laurier and the Liberals to form a coalition war-time government. Laurier refused, but a large number of Liberals joined Borden, who formed a Unionist government. He was formally re-appointed as prime minister under the new government. Borden stayed in office after the end of the war, resigning in 1920. He was succeeded by Arthur Meighen. |
| 10 | Louis St. Laurent | 8 years, 218 days | 1948-11-15 to 1957-06-21 | Three governments in total. One minority government: 1948–1949 Two majority governments: 1949–1953 1953–1957 | St. Laurent served for one term over three parliaments, initially with a minority government, then with two majority governments. After King announced his retirement in 1948, St. Laurent won the Liberal leadership and became prime minister. He won the general election of 1949 and stayed in office until 1957. He was defeated by Diefenbaker in the 1957 general election and resigned. |
| 11 | John Diefenbaker | 5 years, 305 days | 1957-06-21 to 1963-04-22 | Three governments in total. Two minority governments: 1957–1958 1962–1963 One majority government: 1958–1962 | Diefenbaker served for one term, with two minority governments and one majority government. In the 1957 general election, Diefenbaker defeated Prime Minister St. Laurent by winning a minority government. After a short parliamentary session of less than four months, Diefenbaker called a general election in early 1958. He won the largest majority ever in Canadian history up to that time (208 seats of the 265 seats in the House of Commons). However, in the subsequent 1962 general election, he was reduced to a minority government, which lasted only half a year before being defeated on a confidence measure. In the 1963 general election, Diefenbaker was defeated by Pearson, who won a minority government. Diefenbaker resigned as prime minister. |
| 12 | R. B. Bennett | 5 years, 77 days | 1930-08-07 to 1935-10-23 | One majority government: 1930–1935 | Bennett served for one term, with one majority government. He defeated Prime Minister King in the 1930 general election, but in turn lost to King in the 1935 general election. He resigned as prime minister and retired from Canadian politics, sitting in the British House of Lords for many years. |
| 13 | Lester B. Pearson | 4 years, 364 days | 1963-04-22 to 1968-04-20 | Two minority governments: 1963–1965 1965–1968 | Pearson served for one term, with two minority governments. He defeated Prime Minister Diefenbaker in the 1963 general election. He maintained power, again with a minority government, in the 1965 general election. After he announced his retirement in 1968, Pierre Trudeau was elected leader of the Liberal Party and succeeded him as prime minister. |
| 14 | Alexander Mackenzie | 4 years, 336 days | 1873-11-07 to 1878-10-09 | One majority government: 1873–1878 | Mackenzie served one term, over two parliaments. He was appointed prime minister in the fall of 1873 by the Governor-General, the Earl of Dufferin, after Prime Minister Macdonald resigned over the Pacific Scandal. Mackenzie then called a general election early in 1874, in which he won a majority government. However, he lost the next general election in 1878 to Macdonald, and resigned as prime minister. |
| 15 | Paul Martin | 2 years, 56 days | 2003-12-12 to 2006-02-06 | One majority government: 2003–2004 One minority government: 2004–2006 | Martin served for one term over two parliaments, initially with a majority government, then with a minority government. He became prime minister in December 2003, after winning the leadership of the Liberal Party after Prime Minister Chrétien announced he would step down. He inherited the 37th Parliament, in which the Liberals held a majority, and held one session in the spring of 2004. He then called the general election of 2004, in which his government was reduced to a minority. Martin's government fell on a confidence vote in late 2005, forcing him to call the general election of 2006. Harper and the Conservative Party won a minority government in that election and Martin resigned as prime minister. |
| 16 | Sir John Thompson | 2 years, 7 days | 1892-12-05 to 1894-12-12 | One majority government: 1892–1894 | Thompson served one term of just over two years. He was the second prime minister to lead the Conservative government after Macdonald's death in 1891, prior to the next election in 1896. He had a majority in the parliament elected in the 1891 election, but never led his government in an election, as he died suddenly in 1894 at Windsor Castle. The office of prime minister was vacant for nine days until the governor general, the Earl of Aberdeen, appointed Mackenzie Bowell as prime minister. Thompson was the second and last prime minister of Canada to die in office. |
| 17 | Arthur Meighen | 1 year, 260 days | 1920-07-10 to 1921-12-29 (1 year, 172 days) 1926-06-29 to 1926-09-25 (88 days) | Two governments in total. One majority government: 1920–1921 One minority government: 1926 | Meighen served two short non-consecutive terms, in 1920–1921 and 1926. First term: When Borden announced his retirement in 1920, the Conservative party caucus asked him to recommend his successor. After consulting with the individual members of caucus, he recommended that Meighen be the new party leader. The caucus accepted that recommendation and Meighen became party leader and prime minister. He governed for just over a year with a majority in the parliament elected under Borden's leadership in the 1917 election, then called the general election of 1921. He was defeated by King, who won a narrow majority government. Meighen resigned as prime minister, but remained as party leader. He had lost his own seat, but was elected in a by-election and returned to Parliament in January 1922. He served as Leader of the Opposition for the next four years. Second term: Meighen served a second term of just under three months in 1926. In the 1925 election, Meighen and the Conservatives won more seats than King and the Liberals, but did not win a majority. King was able to keep governing with the support of the Progressives until he faced a motion of censure in the Commons in the spring of 1926. The governor general refused King's request for a dissolution of Parliament and King resigned as prime minister. Governor General Byng then appointed Meighen as prime minister, but Meighen's government fell within four days, defeated in Parliament. The governor general now granted the dissolution of Parliament, triggering a general election. Meighen lost the 1926 election to King and again was defeated in his own riding. He resigned as prime minister for the second time. |
| 18 | Sir John Abbott | 1 year, 161 days | 1891-06-16 to 1892-11-24 | One majority government: 1891–1892 | Abbott served one short term of just over a year. Following Macdonald's death in the spring of 1891, Abbott was appointed prime minister by the governor general, Lord Stanley, on the recommendation of the Cabinet. He was the first of four prime ministers to serve after Macdonald's death and prior to the next election, in 1896. He had a majority in the parliament elected in the 1891 election, but never led his government in an election, as he retired in 1892 for health reasons. |
| 19 | Sir Mackenzie Bowell | 1 year, 128 days | 1894-12-21 to 1896-04-27 | One majority government: 1894–1896 | Bowell served one short term of just over a year. After Thompson's sudden death in office in late 1894, Bowell was appointed prime minister by the governor general, the Earl of Aberdeen. Bowell was the third prime minister to lead the Conservative government after Macdonald's death in 1891, prior to the next election in 1896. He had a majority in the parliament elected in the 1891 election, but never led his government in an election. He resigned from office after a Cabinet revolt over his handling of the Manitoba Schools Question. |
| 20 | Joe Clark | 273 days | 1979-06-04 to 1980-03-03 | One minority government: 1979–1980 | Joe Clark served one short term in a minority government. In office for just nine months, Clark's term was the shortest for a prime minister who won an election. Clark and the Progressive Conservatives defeated Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau and the Liberals in the 1979 general election, but only won a minority in the Commons. The popularity of the Clark government dropped sharply after the election, and in December 1979, the opposition parties, the Liberals and New Democrats, combined to defeat the government's budget. Since that was a confidence measure, Clark was forced to call an election in early 1980, which he lost to Trudeau and the Liberals. He resigned as prime minister. |
| 21 | Mark Carney (Incumbent) | 236 days (As of November 5, 2025) | 2025-03-14 to present | Two minority governments: 20252025–present | Carney is currently serving for one term over two parliaments, initially with a minority government, then with another minority government. He became prime minister in March 2025, after winning the leadership of the Liberal Party after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced his resignation. He inherited the 44th Parliament, in which the Liberals held a minority. He then called the general election of 2025, in which his government returned to another minority. He is the first Prime Minister to have never previously held elected office. |
| 22 | Kim Campbell | 132 days | 1993-06-25 to 1993-11-04 | One majority government: 1993 | Campbell served one short term as prime minister. After Brian Mulroney announced his retirement in early 1993, Campbell won the leadership of the Progressive Conservative party and became prime minister in June 1993. She called an election shortly afterwards but was defeated in the largest electoral loss by a federal government in Canadian history, going from a majority in the thirty-fourth parliament to only two seats in the thirty-fifth parliament. Campbell lost her own seat and resigned as party leader. Campbell is one of three prime ministers to never face the House of Commons during her tenure, the other two being Sir Charles Tupper and John Turner. However, unlike Turner and Tupper, she had a seat in the House. |
| 23 | John Turner | 79 days | 1984-06-30 to 1984-09-17 | One majority government: 1984 | Turner served one short term as prime minister. He had come in third in the 1968 Liberal leadership convention, which Pierre Trudeau won, and had served from 1968 to 1975 in Trudeau's cabinet. When Trudeau announced his retirement in early 1984, Turner re-entered politics. He won the Liberal leadership and became prime minister in June 1984. He called an election shortly afterwards, which he lost in a landslide to Brian Mulroney. He resigned as prime minister but stayed on as Liberal leader and Leader of the Opposition. After he lost the 1988 general election to Mulroney, he retired from politics. Turner is one of two prime ministers who never sat in Parliament as prime minister, the other being Tupper. |
| 24 | Sir Charles Tupper | 68 days | 1896-05-01 to 1896-07-08 | One majority government: 1896 | Tupper served the shortest term of any Canadian prime minister, only 68 days. Prime Minister Bowell resigned after a cabinet revolt over his handling of the Manitoba Schools Question. Tupper, with the support of the Cabinet, was appointed prime minister by the governor general, the Earl of Aberdeen. Tupper was the fourth and last prime minister to lead the Conservative government during the same 7th Canadian Parliament, with Macdonald's death in 1891 followed by a series of three appointees to the position. He led the Conservatives into the 1896 election, which they lost to Laurier's Liberals. He resigned as prime minister but stayed on as leader of the Conservative party and Leader of the Opposition. He was defeated by Laurier in the 1900 election and retired from politics. He was one of two prime ministers who never sat in Parliament while he was prime minister, the other being Turner. |
