The following list indicates ridings represented by Canadian prime ministers during their term(s) of office. Some prime ministers represented more than one constituency during their term(s), hence the tallied numbers exceed the number of prime ministers. Moreover, two prime ministers—John Abbott and Sir Mackenzie Bowell—served their terms while a member of the Senate. John Turner was a member of neither the House of Commons or the Senate during his entire term as Prime Minister.
Three provinces—New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, and Prince Edward Island—have never been represented by a sitting prime minister. Mackenzie King briefly represented the Prince Edward Island riding of Prince, and Jean Chrétien even more briefly represented the New Brunswick riding of Beauséjour prior to their assuming the premiership, however. None of the three territories has been represented by a person who served as prime minister.
Two ridings have been represented by two sitting prime ministers. Both King and John Diefenbaker served Prince Albert; and both Wilfrid Laurier and Louis St. Laurent represented Quebec East. R. B. Bennett represented Calgary West during his premiership, as did Stephen Harper prior to his. Similarly, John A. Macdonald served his fourth term as MP for Carleton, a riding represented by Robert Borden as Opposition Leader in the 10th Parliament.
Riding | Province | Prime Minister | Portrait | Start | End | Notes | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Prime minister outside Parliament | John A. Macdonald | ![]() |
1 July 1867 | 20 September 1867 | Macdonald was appointed as the first Prime Minister on the date that Canada came into existence, but before the first Parliamentary election was held | ||
Kingston | ![]() |
John A. Macdonald | ![]() |
20 September 1867 | 5 November 1873 | ||
Lambton | ![]() |
Alexander Mackenzie | ![]() |
7 November 1873 | 8 October 1878 | ||
Victoria | ![]() |
John A. Macdonald | ![]() |
17 October 1878 | 20 June 1882 | Macdonald was initially elected as the MP for Marquette in the federal election; after his appointment as Prime Minister, he was required to vacate his seat and fight a ministerial by-election, in which he chose to stand in Victoria | |
Carleton | ![]() |
John A. Macdonald | ![]() |
20 June 1882 | 21 February 1887 | ||
Kingston | ![]() |
John A. Macdonald | ![]() |
22 February 1887 | 6 June 1891 | ||
![]() |
John Abbott | ![]() |
16 June 1891 | 24 November 1892 | First person to serve as Prime Minister from the Senate | ||
Antigonish | ![]() |
John Thompson | ![]() |
5 December 1892 | 12 December 1894 | ||
![]() |
Mackenzie Bowell | ![]() |
21 December 1894 | 27 April 1896 | |||
Cape Breton | ![]() |
Charles Tupper | ![]() |
1 May 1896 | 8 July 1896 | Tupper was appointed as Prime Minister following the dissolution of Parliament, but before the federal election | |
Quebec East | ![]() |
Wilfrid Laurier | ![]() |
11 July 1896 | 6 October 1911 | Laurier won the riding of Saskatchewan (Provisional District) in the federal election but only held the seat for 18 days. On July 11, 1896, he vacated that seat, choosing instead to sit in the riding of Quebec East, which he had also contested and won in the federal election. | |
Halifax | ![]() |
Robert Borden | ![]() |
10 October 1911 | 16 December 1917 | ||
Kings | ![]() |
Robert Borden | ![]() |
17 December 1917 | 10 July 1920 | ||
Portage la Prairie | ![]() |
Arthur Meighan | ![]() |
10 July 1920 | 29 December 1921 | ||
York North | ![]() |
William Mackenzie King | ![]() |
29 December 1921 | 28 October 1925 | ||
Prince Albert | ![]() |
William Mackenzie King | ![]() |
29 October 1925 | 28 June 1926 | ||
Portage la Prairie | ![]() |
Arthur Meighan | ![]() |
29 June 1926 | 25 September 1926 | ||
Prince Albert | ![]() |
William Mackenzie King | ![]() |
25 September 1926 | 6 August 1930 | ||
Calgary West | ![]() |
R.B. Bennett | ![]() |
7 August 1930 | 22 October 1935 | ||
Prince Albert | ![]() |
William Mackenzie King | ![]() |
23 October 1935 | 10 June 1945 | ||
Prime minister outside Parliament | William Mackenzie King | ![]() |
11 June 1945 | 6 August 1945 | Mackenzie King lost his own seat in the 1945 election and thus served as Prime Minister outside Parliament for two months; subsequently re-entered Parliament in a by-election in Glengarry, a safe seat vacated by the sitting MP to allow Mackenzie King to stand for election | ||
Glengarry | ![]() |
William Mackenzie King | ![]() |
6 August 1945 | 15 November 1948 | ||
Quebec East | ![]() |
Louis St. Laurent | ![]() |
15 November 1948 | 20 June 1957 | ||
Prince Albert | ![]() |
John Diefenbaker | ![]() |
21 June 1957 | 21 April 1963 | ||
Algoma East | ![]() |
Lester B. Pearson | ![]() |
22 April 1963 | 20 April 1968 | ||
Mount Royal | ![]() |
Pierre Trudeau | ![]() |
20 April 1968 | 3 June 1979 | ||
Yellowhead | ![]() |
Joe Clark | ![]() |
4 June 1979 | 2 March 1980 | ||
Mount Royal | ![]() |
Pierre Trudeau | ![]() |
3 March 1980 | 30 June 1984 | ||
Prime minister outside Parliament | John Turner | ![]() |
30 June 1984 | 17 September 1984 | Was not serving in either the Senate or the House of Commons when elected as Trudeau's successor, and decided not to try and contest a by-election during his time in office | ||
Manicouagan | ![]() |
Brian Mulroney | ![]() |
17 September 1984 | 21 November 1988 | ||
Charlevoix | ![]() |
Brian Mulroney | ![]() |
21 November 1988 | 25 June 1993 | ||
Vancouver Centre | ![]() |
Kim Campbell | ![]() |
25 June 1993 | 3 November 1993 | ||
Saint-Maurice | ![]() |
Jean Chrétien | ![]() |
4 November 1993 | 12 December 2003 | ||
LaSalle—Émard | ![]() |
Paul Martin | ![]() |
12 December 2003 | 5 February 2006 | ||
Calgary Southwest | ![]() |
Stephen Harper | ![]() |
6 February 2006 | 3 November 2015 | ||
Papineau | ![]() |
Justin Trudeau | ![]() |
4 November 2015 | Incumbent |
Ridings represented by future or former prime ministers
editPrior to, or following, their tenure as prime minister, the following individuals represented other ridings:
- Sir John Abbott: Argenteuil, QC
- Richard Bedford Bennett: Calgary, AB
- Sir Robert Borden: Carleton, ON
- Sir Mackenzie Bowell: Hastings North, ON
- Jean Chrétien: Saint-Maurice—Laflèche, QC; Beauséjour, NB
- Joe Clark: Rocky Mountain, AB; Kings—Hants, NS; Calgary Centre, AB
- John Diefenbaker: Lake Centre, SK
- Stephen Harper: Calgary West, AB; Calgary Heritage, AB
- W.L. Mackenzie King: Waterloo North, ON; Prince, PE
- Sir Wilfrid Laurier: Drummond—Arthabaska, QC
- Alexander Mackenzie: York East, ON
- Arthur Meighen: Grenville, ON
- Brian Mulroney: Central Nova, NS
- Sir Charles Tupper: Cumberland, NS; Cape Breton, NS
- John Turner: St. Lawrence—St. George, QC; Ottawa-Carleton, ON; Vancouver Quadra, BC