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 Parliament of Canada
Parliament Section
Duration of Majority Governments 1867 to Date
The official record - the report of the Chief Electoral Officer - makes no mention of political affiliation before 1963. Electoral results from 1867 to 1984 are taken from a chart prepared by the Office of Chief Electoral Officer of Canada and those from 1988 to date from the reports of the Chief Electoral Officer of Canada.

Average duration of majority government in Canada:
1463 Days (4 years, 2 days)
ParliamentKey DatesDuration between return of writs and dissolutionMajority
37th Writs Issued: 2000.10.22
General Election: 2000.11.27
Writs to be Returned: 2000.12.18
1st Sitting of Parliament: 2001.01.29
Dissolution: 2004.05.23
1252 Days (3 years, 5 months, 4 days) Government: 172
Opposition: 129
Majority: 43
36th Writs Issued: 1997.04.27
General Election: 1997.06.02
Writs to be Returned: 1997.06.23
1st Sitting of Parliament: 1997.09.22
Dissolution: 2000.10.22
1217 Days (3 years, 3 months, 30 days) Government: 155
Opposition: 146
Majority: 9
35th Writs Issued: 1993.09.08
General Election: 1993.10.25
Writs to be Returned: 1993.11.15
1st Sitting of Parliament: 1994.01.17
Dissolution: 1997.04.27
1259 Days (3 years, 5 months, 11 days) Government: 177
Opposition: 118
Majority: 59
34th Writs Issued: 1988.10.01
General Election: 1988.11.21
Writs to be Returned: 1988.12.12
1st Sitting of Parliament: 1988.12.12
Dissolution: 1993.09.08
1731 Days (4 years, 8 months, 27 days) Government: 169
Opposition: 126
Majority: 43
33rd Writs Issued: 1984.07.09
General Election: 1984.09.04
Writs to be Returned: 1984.09.24
1st Sitting of Parliament: 1984.11.05
Dissolution: 1988.10.01
1468 Days (4 years, 7 days) Government: 211
Opposition: 71
Majority: 140
32nd Writs Issued: 1979.12.14
General Election: 1980.02.18
Writs to be Returned: 1980.03.10
1st Sitting of Parliament: 1980.04.14
Dissolution: 1984.07.09
1582 Days (4 years, 3 months, 30 days) Government: 147
Opposition: 135
Majority: 12
30th Writs Issued: 1974.05.09
General Election: 1974.07.08
Writs to be Returned: 1974.07.31
1st Sitting of Parliament: 1974.09.30
Dissolution: 1979.03.26
1699 Days (4 years, 7 months, 25 days) Government: 141
Opposition: 123
Majority: 18
28th Writs Issued: 1968.04.23
General Election: 1968.06.25
Writs to be Returned: 1968.07.25
1st Sitting of Parliament: 1968.09.12
Dissolution: 1972.09.01
1499 Days (4 years, 1 month, 8 days) Government: 155
Opposition: 109
Majority: 46
24th Writs Issued: 1958.02.01
General Election: 1958.03.31
Writs to be Returned: 1958.04.30
1st Sitting of Parliament: 1958.05.12
Dissolution: 1962.04.19
1450 Days (3 years, 11 months, 20 days) Government: 208
Opposition: 56
Majority: 152
22nd Writs Issued: 1953.06.13
General Election: 1953.08.10
Writs to be Returned: 1953.10.08
1st Sitting of Parliament: 1953.11.12
Dissolution: 1957.04.12
1282 Days (3 years, 6 months, 4 days) Government: 171
Opposition: 94
Majority: 77
21st Writs Issued: 1949.04.30
General Election: 1949.06.27
Writs to be Returned: 1949.08.25
1st Sitting of Parliament: 1949.09.15
Dissolution: 1953.06.13
1388 Days (3 years, 9 months, 19 days) Government: 190
Opposition: 72
Majority: 118
20th Writs Issued: 1945.04.16
General Election: 1945.06.11
Writs to be Returned: 1945.08.09
1st Sitting of Parliament: 1945.09.06
Dissolution: 1949.04.30
1360 Days (3 years, 8 months, 21 days) Government: 125
Opposition: 120
Majority: 5
19th Writs Issued: 1940.01.27
General Election: 1940.03.26
Writs to be Returned: 1940.04.17
1st Sitting of Parliament: 1940.05.16
Dissolution: 1945.04.16
1825 Days (4 years, 11 months, 30 days) Government: 181
Opposition: 64
Majority: 117
18th Writs Issued: 1935.08.15
General Election: 1935.10.14
Writs to be Returned: 1935.11.09
1st Sitting of Parliament: 1936.02.06
Dissolution: 1940.01.25
1538 Days (4 years, 2 months, 17 days) Government: 173
Opposition: 72
Majority: 101
17th Writs Issued: 1930.05.30
General Election: 1930.07.28
Writs to be Returned: 1930.08.18
1st Sitting of Parliament: 1930.09.08
Dissolution: 1935.08.14
1822 Days (4 years, 11 months, 27 days) Government: 137
Opposition: 108
Majority: 29
16th Writs Issued: 1926.07.20
General Election: 1926.09.14
Writs to be Returned: 1926.11.02
1st Sitting of Parliament: 1926.12.09
Dissolution: 1930.05.30
1305 Days (3 years, 6 months, 27 days) Government: 125
Opposition: 120
Majority: 5
13th Writs Issued: 1917.10.31
General Election: 1917.12.17
Writs to be Returned: 1918.03.16
1st Sitting of Parliament: 1918.03.18
Dissolution: 1921.10.04
1298 Days (3 years, 6 months, 20 days) Government: 153
Opposition: 82
Majority: 71
12th Writs Issued: 1911.08.03
General Election: 1911.09.21
Writs to be Returned: 1911.10.07
1st Sitting of Parliament: 1911.11.15
Dissolution: 1917.10.06
2191 Days (5 years, 11 months, 31 days) Government: 133
Opposition: 88
Majority: 45
11th Writs Issued: 1908.09.18
General Election: 1908.10.26
Writs to be Returned: 1908.12.03
1st Sitting of Parliament: 1909.01.20
Dissolution: 1911.07.29
968 Days (2 years, 7 months, 25 days) Government: 133
Opposition: 88
Majority: 45
10th Writs Issued: 1904.09.24
General Election: 1904.11.03
Writs to be Returned: 1904.12.15
1st Sitting of Parliament: 1905.01.11
Dissolution: 1908.09.17
1372 Days (3 years, 9 months, 3 days) Government: 139
Opposition: 75
Majority: 64
9th Writs Issued: 1900.10.09
General Election: 1900.11.07
Writs to be Returned: 1900.12.05
1st Sitting of Parliament: 1901.02.06
Dissolution: 1904.09.29
1394 Days (3 years, 9 months, 25 days) Government: 132
Opposition: 81
Majority: 51
8th Writs Issued: 1896.04.24
General Election: 1896.06.23
Writs to be Returned: 1896.07.13
1st Sitting of Parliament: 1896.08.19
Dissolution: 1900.10.09
1548 Days (4 years, 2 months, 27 days) Government: 118
Opposition: 95
Majority: 23
7th Writs Issued: 1891.02.04
General Election: 1891.03.05
Writs to be Returned: 1891.04.25
1st Sitting of Parliament: 1891.04.29
Dissolution: 1896.04.24
1826 Days (4 years, 11 months, 31 days) Government: 123
Opposition: 92
Majority: 31
6th Writs Issued: 1887.01.17
General Election: 1887.02.22
Writs to be Returned: 1887.04.07
1st Sitting of Parliament: 1887.04.13
Dissolution: 1891.02.03
1398 Days (3 years, 9 months, 29 days) Government: 123
Opposition: 92
Majority: 31
5th Writs Issued: 1882.05.18
General Election: 1882.06.20
Writs to be Returned: 1882.08.07
1st Sitting of Parliament: 1883.02.08
Dissolution: 1887.01.15
1622 Days (4 years, 5 months, 9 days) Government: 139
Opposition: 72
Majority: 67
4th Writs Issued: 1878.08.17
General Election: 1878.09.17
Writs to be Returned: 1878.11.21
1st Sitting of Parliament: 1879.02.13
Dissolution: 1882.05.18
1274 Days (3 years, 5 months, 26 days) Government: 137
Opposition: 69
Majority: 68
3rd Writs Issued: 1874.01.02
General Election: 1874.01.22
Writs to be Returned: 1874.02.21
1st Sitting of Parliament: 1874.03.26
Dissolution: 1878.08.17
1638 Days (4 years, 5 months, 25 days) Government: 133
Opposition: 73
Majority: 60
2nd Writs Issued: 1872.07.15
General Election: 1872.07.20 to 1872.10.12
Writs to be Returned: 1872.09.03
* Writs were returned on September 3, 1872, except for a few electoral districts where the date was October 12, 1872.

1st Sitting of Parliament: 1873.03.05
Dissolution: 1874.01.02
486 Days (1 year, 3 months, 30 days) Government: 103
Opposition: 98
Majority: 5
1st Writs Issued: 1867.08.06
General Election: 1867.08.07 to 1867.09.20
Writs to be Returned: 1867.09.24
1st Sitting of Parliament: 1867.11.06
Dissolution: 1872.07.08
1749 Days (4 years, 9 months, 15 days) Government: 101
Opposition: 79
Majority: 22
^

© Library of Parliament
PARLINFO v.2.01
Updated on: 2007.01.15

Revised on: 2007.01.15