Mark Carney has led the Liberals to a fourth straight victory, weeks after becoming prime minister in a landslide party leadership win.
The remarkable Liberal victory left the party a few seats shy of a majority.
Early Tuesday morning, the Liberals were projected to have won 168 seats in the House of Commons. This is 16 more seats than the Liberals had previously, but four short of the 172 needed for a majority government. The Conservatives remain the opposition with 144 seats, 24 more than the 120 they held when Parliament dissolved in March.
The tight match between the two parties was seen throughout the country.
The Liberals had decisive majorities in provinces such as Nova Scotia, where the party took 10 of 11 ridings, and Newfoundland and Labrador, where it took five of seven. In Prince Edward Island, it swept all four.
But in others, the ridings were more evenly split between the two main parties. New Brunswick’s 10 ridings were split six for the Liberals and four for the Conservatives. In Manitoba, the Conservatives won seven seats, the Liberals six and the NDP one.
In British Columbia, the Liberals took 20 of the province’s 43 ridings. The Conservatives claimed 19. The NDP took three and Green Party co-leader Elizabeth May got the Greens’ only seat. In Ontario, the Liberals took 69 seats, down from the 74 they had previously. The Conservatives made significant gains jumping from 38 to 53 seats — including in ridings that were long held by the NDP and Green Party.
In Quebec, the Liberals took 43 of 78 seats. The Bloc Quebecois got 23, the Conservatives 11 and the NDP one. The Conservatives continued to dominate western provinces. The party won all but three of Alberta’s 37 ridings and 13 of Saskatchewan’s 14.
When Carney finally addressed supporters after 1:00 a.m., he met the cheering crowd with a sober message about the importance of humility and the seriousness of threats from the United States.
“Over my long career, I have made many mistakes, and I will make more,” he told the crowd. “But I commit to admitting them openly, to correcting them quickly, and always learning from them.”
Humility means working together: between cabinet ministers, political parties, provinces and territories and Indigenous Peoples, he told the crowd. It also means labour and business need to work together.
“Humility is also about recognizing that one of the responsibilities of government is to prepare for the worst, not hope for the best,” he said. He reiterated his key campaign talking points: that the U.S. wants to take over Canada, and that Canada must build an economy not so dependent on the U.S.
But this will require Canadians to work together, he said.
“As we come to the end of this most consequential election, let’s put an end to the division and anger of the past.”
‘Come a long way’
Carney may not have taken time to revel in his victory in the speech, but his supporters did.
For many, the Liberal victory was nothing short of extraordinary. None could forget the uncertainty of last December when former finance minister Chrystia Freeland’s resignation sent the party into a tailspin, plummeting in the polls and leading to former prime minister Justin Trudeau’s January resignation.
“We’ve come a long way since January,” said longtime supporter Dorothy Goubault. She “loved” Trudeau, but every leader needs to leave at some point, she said.
Goubault’s support for new leader Carney stretched from her red cowboy hat to her white cowboy boots, to the red-and-white maple leaf scarf she wore over her denim jacket and white dress.
The outfit, she said, was a tribute to Carney’s upbringing in Edmonton. “We have a new leader,” she said. “And we’re moving on.”
Supporters’ enthusiasm never waned as they watched results from TD Place, an arena home to several teams, including the Ontario Hockey League’s Ottawa 67s and the Professional Women’s Hockey League’s Ottawa Charge.
They cheered enthusiastically as they watched Carney’s vote tally climb in his riding of Nepean. He won, leading second-place Conservative Barbara Bal by more than 20,000 votes.
One of the voters who helped Carney secure his riding was Mir Alam. To him, Carney is the right person to lead Canada through a trade war with the U.S.
“He’s a person who always comes into a crisis … and saves the people,” he said, referencing Carney’s time as governor of the Bank of Canada during the 2008 recession and the Bank of England during Brexit.
But this election is particularly significant for Alam, who became a Canadian citizen in 2024. Originally from Bangladesh, he said he voted for the Liberals because “they care about diversity.”
Opposition leaders
The crowd saved some of its most enthusiastic reactions for the results from Poilievre’s Ottawa-area riding of Carleton. Poilievre had held the riding for seven straight elections. But Tuesday morning, he was projected to have lost to Liberal Brad Fanjoy by just over 3,000 votes.
He was not the only party leader to lose a seat. NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh came in third place in his B.C. riding of Burnaby South, a riding which also went Liberal.
The NDP’s seats shrunk from 25 to eight, less than the 12 needed to achieve official party status in the House of Commons. In an emotional speech, Singh said he intends to resign as NDP leader once an interim leader has been named. He has been leader since 2017.
‘Build, baby, build’
In his early morning victory speech, Carney repeated promises to build millions of new homes, using Canadian technology, workers and lumber. He reminded the crowd of his intent to eliminate interprovincial trading barriers by July 1.
“We can give ourselves far more than the Americans could ever take away,” Carney told supporters.
“We will build Canada free, Canada strong, Canada forever,” he said to the cheering, whistling crowd.
But in the moments before the enthusiastic response to Carney’s victory speech, the arena floor was subdued. Not everyone was standing. Saad Khan sat on the floor, holding a Carney for Canada sign.
He was tired, he said. It had been a long night. But he was also excited for the Liberals’ victory, and relieved the Conservatives had not secured one.
Like many there that night, Khan said he was attracted to Carney because of Carney’s resume. But unlike the people around him, Khan did not vote for Carney.
He cannot. He has not yet become a Canadian citizen.
When he does become a citizen, he expects he will cast his ballot for the Liberal Party.
But for the moment, he sat, while all around people watched polling results broadcast on a screen in front of the room.
He was not ultimately there for Carney. He was there “to be part of the democratic process.”
“You should never, ever take it for granted,” he said.
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