List of prime ministers of Canada by time in office

[1] Under this system, William Lyon Mackenzie King was Canada's longest-serving prime minister, holding office for a total of 21 years and 154 days over three non-consecutive terms.

A prime minister stays in office until they resign, die or are dismissed by the governor general.

The transition period and the date for the transfer of office are negotiated by the incoming and the outgoing prime ministers.

Charles Tupper served the shortest term in Canadian history, only sixty-eight days, in this way.

[9] John Turner[10] and Kim Campbell[11] both served short terms for similar reasons.

Of the other prime ministers who served short terms, Arthur Meighen,[12] Joe Clark,[13] and Paul Martin[14] had their time in office cut short by the collapse of their minority governments and the subsequent election of the opposition party.

Arthur Meighen (1920), Louis St. Laurent (1948), Pierre Trudeau (1968),[18] John Turner (1984), Kim Campbell (1993) and Paul Martin (2003) all succeeded to the office in this way.

[20] Since Confederation, 23 prime ministers have been appointed by the governor general to form 29 Canadian Ministries.

[20] Historical conservative parties/Progressive Conservative Party of Canada (12) Liberal Party of Canada (10) Conservative Party of Canada (1) (4 years, 181 days) 1926-09-25 to 1930-08-06[21] (3 years, 315 days) 1935-10-23 to 1948-11-14[21] (13 years, 23 days) Three majority governments: 1921–1925[22] 1935–1940[23] 1940–1945[24] Three minority governments: 1925–1926[25] 1926–1930[26] 1945–1948[27] 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.

To avoid a motion of censure in the Commons, King asked the governor general, Viscount Byng to call an election.

[33] (6 years, 127 days) 1878-10-17 to 1891-06-06[4] (12 years, 232 days) 1867–1872[34] 1872–1873[35] 1878–1882[36] 1882–1887[37] 1887–1891[38] 1891[39] First term: The Governor-General, Viscount Monck, appointed Macdonald the first prime minister of Canada on July 1, 1867[40] prior to the first general election, which Macdonald won.

Second term: Returned to power after defeating Prime Minister Mackenzie in the election of 1878, Macdonald won four successive majority governments.

[43][44] (11 years, 45 days) 1980-03-03 to 1984-06-29[18] (4 years, 119 days) Three majority governments: 1968–1972[45] 1974–1979[46] 1980–1984[47] One minority government: 1972–1974[48] First term: When Prime Minister Pearson retired, Trudeau won the Liberal leadership and became prime minister on April 20, 1968.

[13] Second term: In the first session of the new parliament it became clear that Clark's government was quickly losing popular support.

Trudeau resumed the leadership of the Liberal Party and defeated Prime Minister Clark in the 1980 election.

[82] 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.

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.