Liberals won a minority government in Canada — what that means | Daily Hive

The Liberals won a minority government in Canada — here's what that means

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The Liberal Party of Canada has won a minority government, maintaining power after Monday night’s snap federal election.

Prime Minister Mark Carney delivered a rousing speech just after midnight in Ottawa, reiterating his party’s pledge to “build Canada strong” during an election where tariffs and the cost-of-living crisis were top of mind.

As of Tuesday afternoon, the Liberals are leading with 169 seats in the House of Commons ahead of the Conservatives with 144 seats.

Carney will lead Canada with a minority government, but what exactly does this mean?

Here’s a quick explainer if you’re new to Canadian politics or have forgotten the material covered in your political science class.

Winning a majority vs. a minority government

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To put it simply, in Canada, a majority government is formed when a political party has more than half of the seats in the House of Commons, which is a total of 343 for this election.

A minority government is formed when the party with the most seats has fewer than half the seats and will need support from opposition members of parliament (MPs).

Canada follows the “first past the post” electoral system, which means the candidate with the most votes in each riding wins the seat and becomes the MP.

“The government is usually formed by the party whose candidates win the most seats, as they are most likely to hold the confidence of the House (be supported by a majority of MPs),” according to the Parliament of Canada’s website.

While the Liberals have won the most seats (169), they need 172 seats for a majority.

Former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau led a minority Liberal government for two terms before this snap election.

Majority vs. minority government decision-making power

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In a majority government, the governing party holds more power in decision-making.

It can state a clear mandate to introduce and pass laws to accomplish its goals on its platform.

It also has more legislative power because proposed laws need a majority of votes to be passed in the House of Commons. If all of the members of the governing party vote the same way, they can easily pass or reject any bill because they have more than half the votes.

Overall, a majority government is more stable and is more likely to complete a four-year term in office.

“Opposition parties hold less decision-making power in a majority government since they are unlikely to change the outcome of a vote,” explains Parliament.

Minority governments, on the other hand, will need the support of opposition parties and independent MPs to pass laws.

Decision-making power is shared between political parties when there is a minority government, because no party holds a majority of seats in the House of Commons.

“Depending on how many MPs the governing party has, one or more of the opposition parties could be the deciding factor during a vote,” says Parliament. “In such cases, political parties with a small number of MPs can hold a lot of decision-making power.”

This means the government will need to draft laws that other political parties are willing to support, which also means it might not be able to pass as many laws.

Opposition parties have more power because they can, at any time, call a non-confidence motion to show that a majority of the House no longer supports the government. This could then trigger an election.

“Opposition parties can use this risk as leverage to change bills to reflect their own priorities,” explains Parliament. “As a result, laws from a minority government tend to include elements put forward by different political parties.”

An example of this is the supply-and-confidence agreement the Liberals reached with the NDP in 2022, which essentially helped to keep Trudeau in power until 2025.

The deal was that the NDP would support the minority Liberal government in confidence votes, such as federal budgets, in exchange for progress on NDP priorities. This is how the country got the Canadian Dental Care Plan, which was one of the top priorities on the NDP’s platform.

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