Liberalism in Canada

Liberalism (French: Libéralisme) has been a major trend in Canadian politics since the late 18th century. Canada has the same features of other liberal democracies in the Western democratic political tradition. This article gives an overview of liberalism in Canada. It includes a brief history of liberal parties with substantial representation in parliament.

Liberal parties

Liberal parties developed in both the French and English speaking parts of Canada; these developments led to the formation of the Liberal Party of Canada. Liberal parties exist on a provincial level; however, while they mostly share similar ideologies, not all provincial parties are officially affiliated with the federal party.

In Canada, a "capital-L" Liberal refers to the policies and ideas of the Liberal Party of Canada/Parti Libéral du Canada (member LI), the most frequent governing party of Canada for the last century and one of the largest liberal parties around the world. The Quebec Liberal Party (Parti libéral du Québec) combines liberalism with more conservative ideas. Only federal parties are included in the following timeline. For inclusion in this scheme, it is not necessary for parties to have explicitly labelled themselves as a liberal party.

In 2023, The Saskatchewan Liberal Party changed its name to the Saskatchewan Progress Party, in the same year the British Columbia Liberal Party changed its name to BC United.

Timeline of the federal Liberal Party

Canadian Party / Patriot Party / Red Party

• 1806: Liberals in the Francophone part of Canada formed the Canadian Party (Parti Canadien)
• 1826: The party is renamed Patriot Party (Parti Patriote) and is led by Louis-Joseph Papineau
• 1848: The party is further reorganised into the Red Party (Parti rouge)
• 1867: The PR merged into the present-day Liberal Party of Canada

Reform Party

• 1841: The Upper Canada Reform Party is formed
• 1855: Radical members formed the Clear Grits.
• 1867: The Reform Party merged into Liberal Party of Canada

Clear Grits / Liberal Party of Canada

• 1855: Radical members of the Reform Party formed the Clear Grits
• 1867: The Clear Grits merged with the Reform Party, the Red Party and provincial liberal parties into the present-day Liberal Party of Canada

Current parties

In addition to the federal party, each province and the Yukon territory has its own Liberal Party; however, those in British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario and Quebec are no longer affiliated with the federal party. Under their system of consensus government, political parties are not recognized in the territories of Nunavut and Northwest Territories.

Federal, provincial and territorial Liberal parties

Federal party		Last election	Seats/Total	Status	Leader
Liberal Party of Canada		2021	157/338 (House) 0/105 (Senate)	Governing	Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada
Affiliated parties		Last election	Seats/Total	Status	Leader
New Brunswick Liberal Association		2020	16/49	Official Opposition	Susan Holt, Leader of the Opposition
Liberal Party of Newfoundland and Labrador		2021	23/40	Governing	Andrew Furey, Premier of Newfoundland and Labrador
Nova Scotia Liberal Party		2021	16/51	Official Opposition	Zach Churchill, Leader of the Opposition
Prince Edward Island Liberal Party		2023	3/27	Official Opposition	Hal Perry (interim)
Unaffiliated parties	Affiliation ended	Last election	Seats/Total	Status	Leader
Alberta Liberal Party	1987	2023	0/87	No seats	John Roggeveen
Manitoba Liberal Party		2023	1/57	Third party	Cindy Lamoureux (interim)
Ontario Liberal Party	1976	2022	9/124	Third party	Bonnie Crombie
Quebec Liberal Party	1955	2022	19/125	Official Opposition	Marc Tanguay, (interim) Leader of the Opposition
Yukon Liberal Party		2021	8/19	Governing	Ranj Pillai, Premier of Yukon
Former parties	Affiliation ended	Details
Northwest Territories Liberal Party	1905	No longer any recognized political parties due to consensus government.
British Columbia Liberal Party	1987	Changed its name to BC United in 2023 and replaced their colors with teal and pink representing both conservatives and liberals.
Saskatchewan Liberal Party	2009	Changed its name to Saskatchewan Progress Party in 2023 and replaced the colors to red, blue and yellow.

Liberal leaders

Parti Patriote

• Louis-Joseph Papineau

Clear Grits

• George Brown

Parti Rouge

• Antoine-Aimé Dorion

Liberal Party of Canada

• Alexander Mackenzie
• Edward Blake
• Wilfrid Laurier
• Daniel Duncan McKenzie
• William Lyon Mackenzie King
• Louis St. Laurent
• Lester Bowles Pearson
• Pierre Elliott Trudeau
• John Turner
• Jean Chrétien
• Paul Martin
• Bill Graham
• Stéphane Dion
• Michael Ignatieff
• Bob Rae
• Justin Trudeau

Liberal thinkers

• Mario Bunge - Argentinian-Canadian professor of philosophy.
• Michael Ignatieff - political philosopher and former leader of the federal Liberal Party.
• Will Kymlicka - Canadian liberal thinker included in Contributions to liberal theory
• Jan Narveson - Canadian political philosopher and defender of libertarianism, or classical liberalism, currently Emeritus Professor of Philosophy, University of Waterloo

See also

• Blue Grit
• Trudeauism
• Conservatism in Canada
• Socialism in Canada
• Republicanism in Canada
• Monarchism in Canada
• Fascism in Canada
• Anarchism in Canada
• History of Canada
• Politics of Canada
• List of political parties in Canada