Canada 1965 federal election
What was the result of the 1965 federal election in Canada?
Liberal Party of Canada won 131 of 265 seats with 40.2% of the vote. 75.9% of registered voters cast a ballot.
Canada- Held:
- Final result
- ParlGov, read 5 October 2026
Which party won the most seats?
Final results from ParlGov, read : Liberal Party of Canada won 131 of 265 seats with 40.2% of the vote; 75.9% of registered voters cast a ballot, down 4.4 points on 1963.
- Liberal Party of Canada 131 +2 seats 40.2% −1.5 points
- Progressive Conservative Party of Canada 97 +2 seats 32.4% −0.4 points
- Co-operative Commonwealth Federation / New Democratic Party 21 +4 seats 17.9% +4.8 points
- Ralliement créditiste 9 4.7%
- Social Credit Party of Canada 5 −19 seats 3.7% −8.3 points
- Communist Party of Canada 0 0 seats 0.1% 0.0 points
- Seats won
- Change on the previous election at the right
- Share of the vote
- Share at the previous election
- Change in points at the right
Changes are against the Canada 1963 federal election, party by party.
- Liberal Party of Canada131
- Progressive Conservative Party of Canada97
- Co-operative Commonwealth Federation / New Democratic Party21
- Ralliement créditiste9
- Social Credit Party of Canada5
- Independents2
Key numbers
40.2%
Share of the vote won by Liberal Party of Canada
Liberal Party of Canada won 131 of 265 seats. A majority needs 133.
+4 seats
Seats gained by Co-operative Commonwealth Federation / New Democratic Party
The largest gain in seats compared with 1963. Social Credit Party of Canada lost 19 seats.
75.9%
Voter turnout
Down 4.4 points on 1963.
Seats and votes by party
| Party | Seats | ± seats | % | ± points | Votes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Liberal Party of Canada | 131 | +2 | 40.2 | −1.5 | 3,099,519 |
| Progressive Conservative Party of Canada | 97 | +2 | 32.4 | −0.4 | 2,499,913 |
| Co-operative Commonwealth Federation / New Democratic Party | 21 | +4 | 17.9 | +4.8 | 1,381,658 |
| Ralliement créditiste | 9 | 4.7 | 359,438 | ||
| Social Credit Party of Canada | 5 | −19 | 3.7 | −8.3 | 282,454 |
| Communist Party of Canada | 0 | 0 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 4,285 |
| Independents | 2 |
± is the change against the Canada 1963 federal election, party by party.
Votes by party
- Liberal Party of Canada 3,099,519
- Progressive Conservative Party of Canada 2,499,913
- Co-operative Commonwealth Federation / New Democratic Party 1,381,658
- Ralliement créditiste 359,438
- Social Credit Party of Canada 282,454
- Communist Party of Canada 4,285
- Independents
ParlGov lists parties with at least 1 percent of the vote or 2 seats, so the rows do not add up to the valid votes.
How many people voted?
75.9% of the 10,274,904 registered voters cast a ballot (7,796,728 ballots), down 4.4 points on 1963. 7,713,316 of them were valid votes. The lowest turnout since 1957 in our data.
How do the votes compare with the seats?
- Liberal Party of Canada40.2% of votes49.4% of seats
- Progressive Conservative Party of Canada32.4% of votes36.6% of seats
- Co-operative Commonwealth Federation / New Democratic Party17.9% of votes7.9% of seats
- Ralliement créditiste4.7% of votes3.4% of seats
- Social Credit Party of Canada3.7% of votes1.9% of seats
The Gallagher index of disproportionality is 10.2 (0 when seats follow votes exactly); the effective number of parties is 3.3 by votes and 2.6 by seats; Liberal Party of Canada led Progressive Conservative Party of Canada by 7.8 points of the vote.
Time and source Data as of