Canada's 44th Federal Election was held on September 20, 2021. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was re-elected and will be serving his third consecutive term in this position. The Liberal Party of Canada appears to have secured 158 seats in the House of Commons - which results in them forming a minority government for the second term in a row.

This federal election update conveys the results of the 2021 Federal Election and is intended to be purely informational. It is intended as general guidance only.

Results

While mail-in votes are still being counted across the country, and the final electoral results may not be finalized for a few days, the Liberal Party is leading or has been elected in 158 ridings across Canada.1 The Conservative Party of Canada has secured the second highest number of seats in the House of Commons at 119 seats. The rest of the House of Commons will be made up as follows: the Bloc Québecois will see 34 of their representatives serve as Members of Parliament; the New Democratic Party will see 25 of their representatives serve as Members of Parliament; and the Green Party will see 2 of their representatives serve as Members of Parliament.2 No independents or members of any other political party were elected.

The popular vote as of September 23, 2021 is as follows:

  • Conservative Party: 33.8%
  • Liberal Party: 32.5%
  • New Democratic Party: 17.7%
  • Bloc Québecois: 7.7%
  • People's Party of Canada: 5.0%
  • Green Party: 2.6%

Overall, the party distribution in Parliament is nearly identical to the results seen in the 2019 Federal Election. However, each election brings with it its own unique change in Canada's political landscape. Some interesting takeaways are:

  • The Conservative Party secured 9 seats in Atlantic Canada. In the 2019 Federal Election, the Conservative Party only won 4 seats in Atlantic Canada.3  
  • In Toronto, the Liberal Party secured 48.8% of the popular vote and 48 of 53 possible seats. In Vancouver, the Liberal Party secured 36.3% of the popular vote and 15 of 23 possible seats. In Montreal, the Liberal Party had 41.1% of the popular vote and 23 of 39 possible seats.4
  • The Green Party had a representative elected in the riding of Kitchener Centre, making this the first time that the party will hold an Ontario-based seat in Parliament.5
  • The People's Party did not win any seats but tripled their support from the 2019 Federal Election, getting nearly a million votes.6

Although this marks the end of our Federal Election coverage, the Public Sector team at McCarthy Tétrault is always available to answer any questions you may have about working with government and government agencies. The months ahead will see the formation of a new Cabinet and the 44th Speech from the Throne, setting out the government's direction and goals for the 44th Parliament. We would like to thank all of the readers for following along with our series. 

This article is part of our 2021 Federal Election series. You can access related content here.

Footnotes

1. We would note that in the riding of Spadina-Fort York, Kevin Vuong was elected as a candidate for the Liberal Party of Canada but will sit as an Independent. For the purpose of this blog, Mr. Vuong has been counted in the Liberal Party of Canada's seat count.

2. Rachel Aiello, "Another Minority Government. Now What?" (21 September 2021), online: CTV News.

3. Greg Mercer, "Canada Federal Election Results: Conservatives Gain Ground in Atlantic Canada" (21 September 2021), online: The Globe and Mail.

4. Elections Canada, "September 20, 2021 General Election: Election Results", online. 

5. John Rieti and John Mazerolle, "Federal Election Latest Updates" (20 September 2021), online: CBC.

6. Elections Canada, "September 20, 2021 General Election: Election Results", online. 

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