Canada 1997 federal election
What was the result of the 1997 federal election in Canada?
Liberal Party of Canada won 155 of 301 seats with 38.5% of the vote. 67.0% 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 155 of 301 seats with 38.5% of the vote; 67.0% of registered voters cast a ballot, down 2.6 points on 1993.
- Liberal Party of Canada 155 −22 seats 38.5% −2.9 points
- Reform Party of Canada 60 +8 seats 19.4% +0.6 points
- Progressive Conservative Party of Canada 20 +18 seats 18.8% +2.8 points
- Co-operative Commonwealth Federation / New Democratic Party 21 +12 seats 11.1% +4.2 points
- Bloc Québécois 44 −10 seats 10.7% −2.8 points
- Green Party of Canada 0 0.4%
- 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 1993 federal election, party by party.
- Liberal Party of Canada155
- Reform Party of Canada60
- Bloc Québécois44
- Co-operative Commonwealth Federation / New Democratic Party21
- Progressive Conservative Party of Canada20
- Independents1
Key numbers
38.5%
Share of the vote won by Liberal Party of Canada
Liberal Party of Canada won 155 of 301 seats. A majority needs 151.
+18 seats
Seats gained by Progressive Conservative Party of Canada
The largest gain in seats compared with 1993. Liberal Party of Canada lost 22 seats.
67.0%
Voter turnout
Down 2.6 points on 1993.
Seats and votes by party
| Party | Seats | ± seats | % | ± points | Votes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Liberal Party of Canada | 155 | −22 | 38.5 | −2.9 | 4,994,277 |
| Reform Party of Canada | 60 | +8 | 19.4 | +0.6 | 2,513,080 |
| Progressive Conservative Party of Canada | 20 | +18 | 18.8 | +2.8 | 2,446,705 |
| Co-operative Commonwealth Federation / New Democratic Party | 21 | +12 | 11.1 | +4.2 | 1,434,509 |
| Bloc Québécois | 44 | −10 | 10.7 | −2.8 | 1,385,821 |
| Green Party of Canada | 0 | 0.4 | 55,583 | ||
| Independents | 1 | 0 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 17,163 |
± is the change against the Canada 1993 federal election, party by party.
Votes by party
- Liberal Party of Canada 4,994,277
- Reform Party of Canada 2,513,080
- Progressive Conservative Party of Canada 2,446,705
- Co-operative Commonwealth Federation / New Democratic Party 1,434,509
- Bloc Québécois 1,385,821
- Green Party of Canada 55,583
- Independents 17,163
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?
67.0% of the 19,663,478 registered voters cast a ballot (13,174,698 ballots), down 2.6 points on 1993. 12,985,874 of them were valid votes. The lowest turnout of this kind in our data, which begins in 1945.
How do the votes compare with the seats?
- Liberal Party of Canada38.5% of votes51.5% of seats
- Reform Party of Canada19.4% of votes19.9% of seats
- Bloc Québécois10.7% of votes14.6% of seats
- Co-operative Commonwealth Federation / New Democratic Party11.1% of votes7.0% of seats
- Progressive Conservative Party of Canada18.8% of votes6.6% of seats
The Gallagher index of disproportionality is 13.3 (0 when seats follow votes exactly); the effective number of parties is 4.1 by votes and 3.0 by seats; Liberal Party of Canada led Reform Party of Canada by 19.1 points of the vote.
Time and source Data as of