Canada 1980 federal election
What was the result of the 1980 federal election in Canada?
Liberal Party of Canada won 147 of 282 seats with 44.3% of the vote. 69.3% 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 147 of 282 seats with 44.3% of the vote; 69.3% of registered voters cast a ballot, down 6.4 points on 1979.
- Liberal Party of Canada 147 +33 seats 44.3% +4.2 points
- Progressive Conservative Party of Canada 103 −33 seats 32.5% −3.4 points
- Co-operative Commonwealth Federation / New Democratic Party 32 +6 seats 19.8% +1.9 points
- Social Credit Party of Canada 0 −6 seats 1.7% −2.9 points
- Rhinoceros Party 0 0 seats 1.0% +0.5 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 1979 federal election, party by party.
- Liberal Party of Canada147
- Progressive Conservative Party of Canada103
- Co-operative Commonwealth Federation / New Democratic Party32
Key numbers
44.3%
Share of the vote won by Liberal Party of Canada
Liberal Party of Canada won 147 of 282 seats. A majority needs 142.
+33 seats
Seats gained by Liberal Party of Canada
The largest gain in seats compared with 1979. Progressive Conservative Party of Canada lost 33 seats.
69.3%
Voter turnout
Down 6.4 points on 1979.
Seats and votes by party
| Party | Seats | ± seats | % | ± points | Votes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Liberal Party of Canada | 147 | +33 | 44.3 | +4.2 | 4,853,914 |
| Progressive Conservative Party of Canada | 103 | −33 | 32.5 | −3.4 | 3,552,994 |
| Co-operative Commonwealth Federation / New Democratic Party | 32 | +6 | 19.8 | +1.9 | 2,164,987 |
| Social Credit Party of Canada | 0 | −6 | 1.7 | −2.9 | 185,486 |
| Rhinoceros Party | 0 | 0 | 1.0 | +0.5 | 110,597 |
± is the change against the Canada 1979 federal election, party by party.
Votes by party
- Liberal Party of Canada 4,853,914
- Progressive Conservative Party of Canada 3,552,994
- Co-operative Commonwealth Federation / New Democratic Party 2,164,987
- Social Credit Party of Canada 185,486
- Rhinoceros Party 110,597
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?
69.3% of the 15,890,416 registered voters cast a ballot (11,015,514 ballots), down 6.4 points on 1979. 10,947,914 of them were valid votes. The lowest turnout since 1953 in our data.
How do the votes compare with the seats?
- Liberal Party of Canada44.3% of votes52.1% of seats
- Progressive Conservative Party of Canada32.5% of votes36.5% of seats
- Co-operative Commonwealth Federation / New Democratic Party19.8% of votes11.3% of seats
The Gallagher index of disproportionality is 8.7 (0 when seats follow votes exactly); the effective number of parties is 2.9 by votes and 2.4 by seats; Liberal Party of Canada led Progressive Conservative Party of Canada by 11.9 points of the vote.
Time and source Data as of