When the election was called, PC Prime Minister John Diefenbaker had governed for four years with the largest majority until then in the House of Commons in Canadian history.

This election reduced the PCs to a tenuous minority government as a result of economic difficulties such as high unemployment and a slumping Canadian dollar, as well as unpopular decisions such as the cancellation of the Avro Arrow.

The Tories tried to defend the decline in the Canadian dollar by pointing out the benefits to the tourism industry, exports, manufacturing and farming, and employment.

The Liberals campaigned under the slogan, "Take a stand for tomorrow," and attempted to portray the Diefenbaker government as "feeble," with a divided cabinet.

The Liberals criticized the PCs for their "reckless mismanagement of finances," the slowdown in the Canadian economy, a lack of confidence in government policies, job losses, and a lower standard of living than in 1956.

Despite the initial problems, Medicare proved popular, spread throughout the country, and is considered the NDP's (and Douglas') major contribution to the Canadian social fabric.

They would never again equal, let alone surpass, that number—though the party gained its highest share of the vote in the 1963 election (1962 being its second-highest by a very close margin), it had a net loss of six seats.

In 1958, the PCs had successfully compensated for that handicap by using the powerful electoral machine of the Union Nationale government under Maurice Duplessis.

However, Diefenbaker declined to negotiate a more formal alliance between the two parties, which would ultimately prove costly and helped lead to the fall of his government the following year.