Liberal Party of Canada

The Liberal Party of Canada (LPC; French: Parti libéral du Canada, PLC) is a federal political party in Canada. The Liberal Party espouses the principles of liberalism, and generally sits at the centre to centre-left of the Canadian political spectrum, with their main rival, the Conservative Party, positioned to their right and the New Democratic Party positioned to their left. The party is often described as a "big tent", practising "brokerage politics", attracting support from a broad spectrum of voters. The Liberal Party is the oldest currently active federal political party in the country, and has dominated the federal politics of Canada for much of its history. As a result, it has sometimes been referred to as Canada's "natural governing party". It has been the governing party since 2015; Mark Carney has been its leader and the Prime Minister of Canada since March 2025.

The party has been in continual existence since the confederation of Canada in 1867. The party first came into power in 1873, with the party's first official leader Alexander Mackenzie leading the nation for five years. Following close to 20 years in opposition, Wilfrid Laurier led the party to victory in 1896 and facilitated many compromises between English and French Canada that shaped the bilingual nation during his 15-year premiership. During William Lyon Mackenzie King's 29 years as party leader, the party was in government from 1921 to 1926, from 1926 to 1930, and from 1935 to 1948. In the half century between 1935 and 1984, the party was in power for all but seven years, winning elections under King, Louis St. Laurent, Lester B. Pearson, and Pierre Trudeau, leading the country through a period of significant expansion of the Canadian welfare state and the emergence of Canada as an independent voice in international affairs. In more recent decades, the party was in government from 1993 to 2006 led by Jean Chrétien and then Paul Martin, leaders who combined social liberalism with fiscal conservatism through a Third Way philosophy. It suffered its worst electoral defeat in 2011, the only federal election as of 2026 in which the Liberals failed to attain the status of government or Official Opposition. The party returned to power in 2015 led by Justin Trudeau, son of the previous Prime Minister Trudeau. Trudeau was succeeded by Mark Carney as party leader in March 2025, who was appointed Prime Minister that month and, in the 2025 federal election, garnered the highest vote share of any party since 1984.

The Liberals' signature policies and legislative decisions include Canadian citizenship, universal health care, the Canada Pension Plan, Canada Student Loans, the establishment of the Royal Canadian Navy in 1910, the unification of the armed forces in 1968, Canadian peacekeeping, the creation of the Maple Leaf flag, official bilingualism and multiculturalism, the patriation of the Constitution of Canada and the establishment of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, the Clarity Act, gun control, expanded access to abortion, the legalization of same-sex marriage and of medical assistance in dying, national carbon pricing, a national early learning and child care program, a national school lunch program, the Canadian Dental Care Plan, and the beginning of national pharmacare.