The 1949 Canadian federal election was held June 27, 1949 to elect members of the House of Commons of Canada of the 21st Parliament of Canada.

Quick Facts 262 seats in the House of Commons 132 seats needed for a majority, Turnout ...

1949 Canadian federal election

← 1945 June 27, 1949 1953 →
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262 seats in the House of Commons 132 seats needed for a majority
Opinion polls
Turnout	73.8%[1] (1.5pp)
First party Second party   Leader Louis St. Laurent George A. Drew Party Liberal Progressive Conservative Leader since August 7, 1948 October 2, 1948 Leader's seat Quebec East Carleton Last election 118 65 Seats won 191 41 Seat change 73 24 Popular vote 2,874,813 1,734,261 Percentage 49.15% 29.65% Swing 9.37pp 2.03pp   Third party Fourth party   Leader Major James Coldwell Solon Earl Low Party Co-operative Commonwealth Social Credit Leader since March 22, 1942 April 6, 1944 Leader's seat Rosetown—Biggar Peace River Last election 28 13 Seats won 13 10 Seat change 15 3 Popular vote 784,770 135,217 Percentage 13.42% 2.31% Swing 2.13pp 1.74pp
The Canadian parliament after the 1949 election
Prime Minister before election Louis St. Laurent Liberal Prime Minister after election Louis St. Laurent Liberal

Close

The Liberal Party of Canada was re-elected with its fourth consecutive government, winning 191 seats (73 percent of the seats in the House of Commons), with just under 50 percent of the popular vote.

It was the Liberals' first election in almost thirty years not under the leadership of William Lyon Mackenzie King. King had retired in 1948, and was replaced as Liberal leader and Prime Minister by Louis St. Laurent.

It was the first federal election with Newfoundland voting, having joined Canada in March of that year. It was also the first election since 1904 in which part of the remaining parts of the Northwest Territories were granted representation, following the partitioning off of the provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan.

The Liberal Party victory won the largest majority in Canadian history to that point. As of 2022^[update], it remains the third largest majority government in Canadian history, and the largest in the party's history (the Progressive Conservative Party won larger seat majorities in 1958 and 1984).

The Progressive Conservative Party, led by former Premier of Ontario George Drew, gained little ground in this election. The party lost over a third of their seats.

Smaller parties, such as the social democratic Co-operative Commonwealth Federation, and Social Credit, a party that advocated monetary reform, lost support to the Liberals and, to a lesser extent, the Conservatives.

Notes:

* The party did not nominate candidates in the previous election.

x - less than 0.005% of the popular vote

• xx - less than 0.05% of the popular vote

• List of Canadian federal general elections
• List of political parties in Canada
• 21st Canadian Parliament