1972 Canadian federal election

The 1972 Canadian federal election was held on October 30, 1972, to elect members of the House of Commons of Canada of the 29th Parliament of Canada. It resulted in a slim victory for the governing Liberal Party led by Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, which won 109 seats, compared to 107 seats for the opposition Progressive Conservatives led by Robert Stanfield, making this the closest election in Canadian history in terms of seat count. Trudeau's Liberals experienced a decline in support as a result of rising unemployment.

A further 48 seats were won by other parties and independents. On election night, the results appeared to give 109 seats to the Tories, but once the counting had finished the next day, the final results gave the Liberals a minority government and left the New Democratic Party led by David Lewis holding the balance of power.

This was the first national election held in Canada after the voting age was lowered from 21 to 18 in 1970. This was also the last election until 1997 in which more than three parties won enough seats to earn official party status in the House of Commons.