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Conservative Party of Canada Parti conservateur du Canada | |
|---|---|
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| Abbreviation | CPC PCC |
| Leader | Pierre Poilievre |
| President | Stephen Barber |
| House leader | Andrew Scheer |
| Deputy leaders | |
| Senate leader | Leo Housakos |
| Founders | |
| Founded | December 7, 2003; 21 years ago (2003-12-07) |
| Merger of | Progressive Conservative Canadian Alliance |
| Headquarters | 1800–66 Slater Street Ottawa,Ontario K1P 5H1 |
| Membership(2022) |  678,708[1] |
| Ideology | |
| Political position | Centre-right toright-wing |
| Regional affiliation | Asia Pacific Democracy Union |
| European affiliation | European Conservatives and Reformists Party (regional partner, until 2022) |
| International affiliation | International Democracy Union |
| Colours | Blue |
| Slogan | Canada First – for a Change (2025) |
| Senate | 13 / 105 |
| House of Commons | 144 / 343 |
| Website | |
conservative | |
TheConservative Party of Canada (CPC;French:Parti conservateur du Canada,PCC), sometimes referred to as theTories, is afederalpolitical party inCanada. It was formed in 2003 by the merger of the two mainright-leaning parties, theProgressive Conservative Party (PC Party) and theCanadian Alliance, the latter being the successor of theWestern Canadian–basedReform Party. The party sits at thecentre-right toright of theCanadian political spectrum, with their federal rival, thecentre tocentre-leftLiberal Party of Canada, positioned to theirleft.[2] The Conservatives are defined as a "big tent" party, practicing "brokerage politics"[c][5][6][7] and welcoming a broad variety of members, including "Red Tories" and "Blue Tories".[8][9][10][11]
FromCanadian Confederation in 1867 until 1942, theoriginal Conservative Party of Canada formed numerous governments and had multiple names. However, by 1942, the main right-wing Canadian force became known as the Progressive Conservative Party. In the1993 federal election, the PC Party's Western Canadian support transferred to the Reform Party. When it became clear that neither the PC Party nor the Reform Party or Canadian Alliance (the latter being the successor to the Reform Party) could beat the incumbent Liberals that had governed since the 1993 election, an effort tounite the right-of-centre parties emerged. In 2003, the Canadian Alliance and the PCs merged, forming the Conservative Party of Canada.
During the Conservative Party's governance of Canada from 2006 to 2015, its economic policies included reducingsales tax, reducingincome taxes, reducing business taxes,balancing the national budget, creating thetax-free savings account (TFSA), and creating theUniversal Child Care Benefit. In social policy, the government eliminated thelong-gun registry, introducedmandatory minimum sentences for violent crimes, raised theage of consent to 16 years of age, permitted the construction ofseveral pipelines, andwithdrew Canada from the Kyoto Protocol. The government also supported theState of Israel, negotiated theComprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA), and negotiated theTrans-Pacific Partnership (TPP).[12][13][14][15]
Under its first leader,Stephen Harper, the party governed with twominority governments after the federal elections of2006 and2008. It then won amajority government in the2011 federal election before being defeated in the2015 federal election by a majority Liberal government led byJustin Trudeau. Despite winning a plurality of the vote in each election, the party remained in opposition after losing the2019 and2021 elections under its second and third leaders,Andrew Scheer andErin O'Toole respectively.Pierre Poilievre was elected leader in the2022 leadership election, leading the party through the2025 election, which it again lost to the Liberals, while retaining Official Opposition status.
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The Conservative Party is political heir to a series of right-of-centre parties that have existed in Canada, beginning with theUpper Canada Tories of the nineteenth century.John A. Macdonald andGeorge-Étienne Cartier later founded theLiberal-Conservative Party. The party became known simply as theConservative Party after 1873, and theProgressive Conservative Party after 1942. Like its historical predecessors and conservative parties in some otherCommonwealth nations (such as theConservative Party of the United Kingdom), members of the present-day Conservative Party of Canada are sometimes referred to as "Tories".[16] The modern Conservative Party of Canada is also legal heir to the heritage of the historical conservative parties by virtue of assuming the assets and liabilities of the formerProgressive Conservative Party upon the merger of 2003.
In 1984, the Progressive Conservative Party's electoral fortunes made a massive upturn under its new leader,Brian Mulroney, who mustered a large coalition of westerners irritated over the Liberal government'sNational Energy Program, suburban and small-town Ontarians, andQuebec nationalists who were angered over Quebec not having distinct status in theConstitution of Canada signed in 1982.[17][18] This led to a huge landslide victory for the Progressive Conservative Party.
In the late 1980s and 1990s, federal conservative politics became split by the creation of a new western-based protest party, the populist and social conservativeReform Party of Canada created byPreston Manning, the son of anAlberta Social Credit premier,Ernest Manning. Westerners reportedly felt betrayed by the federal Progressive Conservative Party, seeing it as catering to Quebec and urban Ontario interests over theirs. In 1989, Reform made headlines in the political scene when its firstmember of Parliament (MP),Deborah Grey, was elected in aby-election in Alberta, which was a shock to the PCs, who had almost complete electoral dominance over the province for years. Another defining event for western conservatives was when Mulroney accepted the results of an unofficial Senate election held in Alberta, which resulted in the appointment of a Reformer,Stanley Waters, to the Senate.[19][20][21]
In the1993 election, support for the Progressive Conservative Party collapsed, and the party's representation in the House of Commons dropped from an absolute majority of seats to only two. Meanwhile, the Reform Party tookWestern Canada and became the dominant conservative party in Canada. The PC Party rebounded slightly with 20 seats in1997 and 12 in2000, but was unable to challenge Reform in Western Canada; meanwhile, Reform dominated the western provinces but struggled to win seats east of Manitoba. Their electoral problems were accentuated by Canada'ssingle member plurality electoral system, which resulted in numerous seats being won by theLiberal Party, even when the total number of votes cast for PC and Reform Party candidates was substantially in excess of the total number of votes cast for the Liberal candidate. This led tocalls for the two parties to merge.
On October 15, 2003, after months of talks between theCanadian Alliance (formerly the Reform Party) and Progressive Conservative Party,Stephen Harper (then the leader of the Canadian Alliance) andPeter MacKay (then the leader of the Progressive Conservatives) announced the "'Conservative Party Agreement-in-Principle", that would merge their parties to create the new Conservative Party of Canada. After the agreement-in-principle was ratified by the membership of both parties, the new party was officially registered withElections Canada on December 7. SenatorJohn Lynch-Staunton, a PC, was named interim leader, pending the outcome of the party's inaugural leadership election.
The merger was opposed by some elements in both parties. In the PCs in particular, the merger process resulted in organized opposition, and in a substantial number of prominent members refusing to join the new party. Former leadership candidateDavid Orchard argued that his written agreement with MacKay, which had been signed a few months earlier at the2003 Progressive Conservative Leadership convention, excluded any such merger. Orchard announced his opposition to the merger before negotiations with the Canadian Alliance had been completed. Over the course of the following year, Orchard led an unsuccessful legal challenge to the merger of the two parties.
In October and November, during the course of the PC party's process of ratifying the merger, three sitting Progressive Conservative MPs —André Bachand,John Herron and former prime ministerJoe Clark — announced they would not join the new Conservative Party caucus. In the months following the merger,Rick Borotsik, who had been elected as Manitoba's only PC, became openly critical of the new party's leadership, while former leadership candidateScott Brison and former Alliance leadership candidateKeith Martin left the party. Brison, Herron and Martin ran for the Liberal Party in the next election, while Clark, Bachand and Borotsik retired. Three senators —William Doody,Norman Atkins, andLowell Murray — declined to join the new party and continued to sit in the upper house as arump caucus of Progressive Conservatives, and a fourth (Jean-Claude Rivest) soon left to sit as an independent. In February 2005, Prime MinisterPaul Martin appointed two anti-merger Progressive Conservatives,Nancy Ruth andElaine McCoy, to the Senate. In March 2006, Nancy Ruth joined the new Conservative Party.
In the immediate aftermath of the merger announcement, some Conservative activists hoped to recruit former Ontario premierMike Harris for the leadership. Harris declined the invitation, as didNew Brunswick premierBernard Lord andAlberta premierRalph Klein. Outgoing Progressive Conservative leaderPeter MacKay also announced he would not seek the leadership, as did formerDemocratic Representative Caucus leaderChuck Strahl.Jim Prentice, who had been a candidate in the2003 PC leadership contest, entered the Conservative leadership race in mid-December but dropped out in mid-January because of an inability to raise funds so soon after his earlier leadership bid.
In the end, there were three candidates in the party'sfirst leadership election: formerCanadian Alliance leaderStephen Harper, formerMagna International CEOBelinda Stronach, and formerOntario provincial PC Cabinet ministerTony Clement. Voting took place on March 20, 2004. A total of 97,397 ballots were cast.[22] Harper won on the first ballot with 56.2% of the vote; Stronach received 34.5%, and Clement received 9.4%.[23]
Two months after Harper's election as leader, Prime Minister Paul Martin called ageneral election for June 28, 2004.
For the first time since the 1993 election, a Liberal government would have to deal with an opposition party that was generally seen as being able to form government. The Liberals attempted to counter this with an early election call, as this would give the Conservatives less time to consolidate their merger. During the first half of the campaign, polls showed a rise in support for the new party, leading some pollsters to predict the election of aminority Conservative government. Momentum stalled after several Conservative candidates made controversial remarks abouthomosexuality,official bilingualism andabortion, allowing the Liberal Party to warn of a "hidden agenda". Ultimately, Harper's new Conservatives emerged from the election with a much larger parliamentarycaucus of 99 MPs while the Liberals were reduced to a minority government of 135 MPs, twenty short of a majority.
In 2005, some political analysts such as former Progressive Conservative pollsterAllan Gregg andToronto Star columnistChantal Hébert suggested that the then-subsequent election could result in a Conservative government if the public were to perceive the Tories as emerging from the party's founding convention (then scheduled for March 2005 in Montreal) with clearly defined, moderate policies with which to challenge the Liberals. The convention provided the public with an opportunity to see the Conservative Party in a new light, appearing to have reduced the focus on its controversial social conservative agenda. It retained its fiscal conservative appeal by espousing tax cuts, smaller government, and more decentralization by giving the provinces more taxing powers and decision-making authority in joint federal-provincial programs. The party's law and order package was an effort to address rising homicide rates, which had gone up 12% in 2004.[24]
On November 24, 2005, Harper introduced amotion of no confidence which, with the backing of the other two opposition parties, passed on November 28, 2005. This resulted in anelection scheduled for January 23, 2006. The Conservatives started off the first month of the campaign by making a series of policy-per-day announcements, which included aGoods and Services Tax reduction and a child-care allowance. These announcements played to Harper's strengths as a policy wonk,[25] as opposed to the 2004 election and summer 2005 where he tried to overcome the perception that he was cool and aloof. Though his party showed only modest movement in the polls, Harper's personal approval numbers, which had always trailed his party's significantly, began to rise. In addition, the party also received morenewspaper endorsements than in 2004.[26][27]
On January 23, 2006, the Conservatives won 124 seats, compared to 103 for the Liberals. The results made the Conservatives the largest party in the 308-member House of Commons, enabling them to form aminority government.
On February 6, 2006, Harper andhis Cabinet were sworn in. The Conservative Party confronted theIn and Out scandal, regarding improper election spending during the 2006 election. The government'sfirst budget produced a nearly $14 billion surplus, a number slightly greater than the Martin government. The budget also drastically increased military spending and scrapped funding for theKyoto Protocol and theKelowna Accord. Later, the government introduced thetax-free savings account (TFSA). The government passed theVeterans' Bill of Rights, which guaranteed benefits for veterans fromVeterans Affairs Canada, in addition to guaranteeing equality of veterans and referring to them as "special citizens". The government also passed theQuébécois nation motion which would "recognize theQuébécois as anation within a united Canada",[28] and introduced a motion to reverse thesame-sex marriage law implemented by the Martin government, which was defeated.[29]
Deadlock between the Conservatives and the Liberals, theNew Democratic Party, and theBloc Québécois led to the calling of theOctober 2008 federal election, in which the Conservatives won a stronger minority. Shortly after, the Conservatives fought off avote of non-confidence bya potential governing coalition of opposition parties byproroguing parliament. In his second term, Harper's government responded to the2008 financial crisis and theGreat Recession by introducing the2009 Canadian federal budget that implemented major personal income tax cuts. However, these tax cuts, along with increases in spending to mitigate the2008 financial crisis, grewdeficit spending to $55.6 billion – Canada's largest federal deficit up to that time.[30]
A March 2011 non-confidence vote that found the Harper government to be incontempt of Parliament dissolvedParliament and triggeredan election. In this election, the Conservatives won amajority government. The Harper government withdrew Canada from theKyoto Protocol and repealed thelong-gun registry. In foreign policy, the government passed theAnti-terrorism Act, launchedOperation Impact to combatISIL, negotiated theComprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) with theEuropean Union, and negotiated theTrans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). The Conservatives also gained controversy surrounding theCanadian Senate expenses scandal and theRobocall scandal; the latter involvedrobocalls and real-person calls that were designed to result invoter suppression in the 2011 election. In economic policy, the government launchedCanada's Global Markets Action Plan to generate employment opportunities for Canadians by expanding Canadian businesses and investment in other countries, andbalanced the budget in the2014 federal budget, producing a minor deficit of $550 million.
In the2015 federal election, after nearly a decade in power, the Conservatives were defeated byJustin Trudeau and his Liberal Party. Harper stepped down as leader on the election day on October 19. JournalistJohn Ibbitson ofThe Globe and Mail described Harper as "the most conservative leader Canada has ever known."[31]
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Following the election of the Liberals and Harper's resignation as party leader in the 2015 election, it was announced that aninterim leader would be selected to serve until a new leader could be chosen.[32] That was completed at the caucus meeting of November 5, 2015[33] whereRona Ambrose, MP forSturgeon River—Parkland and a former cabinet minister, was elected by a vote of MPs and Senators.[34]
Some members of the party's national council were calling for a leadership convention as early as May 2016 according toMaclean's magazine.[35] However, some other MPs wanted the vote to be delayed until the spring of 2017.[36] On January 19, 2016, the party announced that a permanent leader will be chosen on May 27, 2017.[37]
On September 28, 2016, formerSpeaker of the House of CommonsAndrew Scheer announced his bid for theleadership of the party.[38] On May 27, 2017, Scheer was elected as the second permanent leader of the Conservative Party of Canada, beating runner-up MPMaxime Bernier and more than 12 others with 50.95% of the vote through 13 rounds.[39] Bernier left the Conservatives in 2018 to form thePeople's Party of Canada, which campaigned onright-wing populist positions in subsequent elections but failed to win a seat.
Under Scheer, the Conservatives prioritized repealing the Liberal government'scarbon tax,[40]pipeline construction,[41] andbalancing the budget within five years had they formed government in 2019.[42] Scheer is a social conservative; he is personallypro-life and opposes same-sex marriage, though like Harper, he stated he would not attempt to overturn the legality of both laws.[43]
The Conservative Party entered theOctober 2019 federal election campaign neck-in-neck with the Liberals after theSNC-Lavalin affair earlier that year involving Justin Trudeau, but the election resulted in a Liberal minority government victory. The Conservatives did, however, win the largest share of the popular vote, and gained 26 seats. Notably, they won every single seat inSaskatchewan and all butone inAlberta. While the Conservative Party has historically been highly successful in Alberta and Saskatchewan, some point to a growing sense ofWestern alienation to explain the results. Following the election, Scheer faced criticism from within the party for failing to defeat Trudeau, who gained criticism for his handling of the SNC-Lavalin affair and for his wearing ofbrownface andblackface; the latter incident was made public during the election campaign. Scheer announced his pending resignation on December 12, 2019, after theCBC reported that the Conservative party had been paying part of his children's private school tuition.[44] He remained party leader, until his successor was chosen in August 2020.
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A leadership election to replace Scheer was held in 2020, which was won by formerVeterans Affairs MinisterErin O'Toole on August 24, 2020.[45]
Though running for the leadership on a "true blue" platform,[46] O'Toole started to nudge the Conservative Party to thepolitical centre as leader.[47] Despite campaigning against the Liberal government's carbon tax during his leadership campaign, O'Toole reversed his position in April 2021, instead advocating for a low carbon savings account.[48] In contrast to his two predecessors as leader, O'Toole ispro-choice and supports same-sex marriage.[47]
Prime Minister Trudeau called theSeptember 2021 federal election in the hopes of winning a majority government, though in the middle of the campaign O'Toole's Conservatives were tied with the Liberals, if not slightly ahead of the Liberals inthe polls. During the campaign, O'Toole stated he would balance the budget within the next 10 years[49] and reversed his support for repealing the Liberal government's"assault-style" weapons ban.[50] In a similar manner to the 2019 election, the Conservatives again won the popular vote but fell short of gaining the largest amount of seats, enabling the Liberal Party underJustin Trudeau to form another minority government.
As a result, party members were undecided on whether he should continue as leader.[51][52] On October 5, the Conservative caucus voted to adopt the provisions of theReform Act, giving caucus the power to trigger aleadership review. O'Toole denied that it represented a threat to his leadership, insisting that the caucus was united as a team and that, as a supporter of the Act, he had encouraged his caucus to adopt all of its provisions.[53]
On January 31, 2022, ConservativeCalgary Heritage MPBob Benzen submitted a letter with signatures from 35 Conservative MPs calling for a leadership review on O'Toole's leadership to the Conservative caucus chair,Scott Reid. In the letter, Benzen criticized O'Toole's reversal on repealing the Liberal government's carbon tax and assault weapons ban.[54] On February 2, 2022, O'Toole was removed as leader by a margin of 73 to 45 votes.[55]
Then-deputy leader of the Conservative PartyCandice Bergen was elected interim leader the same day O'Toole was ousted,[56] and aleadership election was subsequently scheduled for September 10, 2022. Conservative MP and former cabinet ministerPierre Poilievre,[57][58] Conservative MP and former leadership candidateLeslyn Lewis,[59] Independent (formerly Progressive Conservative) Member of Ontario Provincial ParliamentRoman Baber,[60] former leader of the now-defunctProgressive Conservative Party of Canada and formerPremier of QuebecJean Charest,[61] former MP, former leader of theProgressive Conservative Party of Ontario, and Mayor ofBramptonPatrick Brown,[62] former Conservative MPLeona Alleslev,[63] former BC MLA and Conservative MPMarc Dalton, and formerHuntsville mayor and Conservative MPScott Aitchison announced their candidacies for the leadership.[64] On May 2, 2022, the Party announced that the six verified candidates for the leadership would be Aitchison, Baber, Brown, Charest, Lewis, Poilievre.[65]
On July 6, 2022, the Party announced that Patrick Brown had been disqualified "due to 'serious allegations of wrongdoing' that 'appear' to violate Canadian election law."[66] In response, Brown hired lawyerMarie Henein, who requested the Party's dispute resolution appeal committee be convened.[67]
On September 10, 2022,Pierre Poilievre won the leadership on the first ballot in a landslide, winning over 68% of the points.[68] On September 12, Poilievre gave his first speech to his caucus as leader.[69] On April 28, 2025, the party would lose the2025 Canadian federal election, despite making parliamentary gains through victories in places such asOntario, such as the province's 905 area and southwestern region, and receiving over 40% of the popular vote for the first time in party history.[70][71] In addition, Poilievre would lose his seat ofCarleton to the Liberals.[72] The Conservatives also formed the largest Official Opposition in Canadian history. He howeverlost his seat of Carleton to Liberal candidateBruce Fanjoy, one of the few times a major party leader in Canada has been defeated in his own riding.[73] There were also calls for Poilievre to resign as Conservative leader grew following the election result.[74][75] Despite this, there was reportedly limited interest from the party's caucus in replacing him immediately after the election given their party's increase in the share of the vote, expansion of its political base in theGreater Toronto Area, and his own popularity with such across the country.[76] Prominent Conservative Party MPs includingAndrew Scheer,Shannon Stubbs, and former cabinet ministersJason Kenney andJames Moore also publicly supported his continued leadership after the election.[77] Despite this, he was criticized by veteran and senior party members for his demeanour and campaign management that they cited as a reason for the party's loss of the election.[78] Poilievre returned to Parliament in August 2025, following his victory in theBattle River—Crowfoot by-election.
As a relatively young party with a mixed political heritage and history, the federal Conservatives are often described as a "big tent" party[79] in a similar manner to the federal Canadian Liberals by encompassing members and voters who hold a variety of philosophies, ideas and stances, albeit sitting within thecentre-right to theright-wing of the political spectrum.[80][81][82][2] Broadly, the party is defined as practicing the Canadian model ofconservatism and fiscal conservatism. Some political observers have noted the two most dominant wings of the party traditionally representedRed Tory andBlue Tory ideologies,[83] whereas others have argued that the party has become less internally defined by these labels and that the terms tend to be used by outsiders.[84] Other smaller but visible factional beliefs espoused by individuals within the party have been described by media commentators asliberal conservative,social conservative,right-wing populist andlibertarian conservative.[85]
In an effort to create a cohesive platform following its creation, the Conservative Party declared its founding core philosophies and principles to be fiscal accountability, upholding individual rights and freedom, belief in constitutional monarchy, the institutions of Parliament and Canada's democratic process, support for strong national defence, law and order, and Canada's history and traditions, and equal treatment for all Canadians.[86]
In recent years, the Conservative Party has repeatedly campaigned on the following policies:
In its current platform, the Conservative Party states that its core objectives are to protect the lives and property of ordinary citizens, promote democratic accountability and reform thesenate to make it a fully elected chamber. While the party platform states it is open to debate over electoral reform, it also claims it will not support changing the current electoral system.[88]
The party calls for a "restoration of a constitutional balance between the federal andprovincial and territorial governments" in regards to Canadian federalism. The Conservative Party also advocates offering tax incentives, increased business investment and more political autonomy to assist and integrateIndigenous Canadian communities over stateaffirmative action.[88]
Historically, Conservative MPs were divided on the issue ofsame-sex marriage in Canada, with individuals in the party arguing for and against.[89] During debates on Bill C-38 in 2004 which would redefine the legal definition of marriage in Canada, a majority of Conservative MPs voted against when then leaderStephen Harper allowed afree vote. Under Harper's premiership, the party proposed reopening the debate into same-sex marriage but following a defeat of the motion in the House of Commons stated it would not seek to reopen it.[90]
In 2016, the Conservatives amended the party constitution to recognize and support same-sex marriage.[91][92]
The Conservative leadership has supported changing the law to allowmen who have sex with men to donate blood.[93]
The party wants to keep the "Fiscal Balance" (which it introduced in its 2007 Budget while in government) in place and eliminate national debt. It also supports more simplified tax codes, controls on government spending and reductions in both personal and business taxes.[88] Former party leaderErin O'Toole has listed economic recovery following theCOVID-19 pandemic as a core priority for Canada.[94] The party also supports abolishing the Carbon Tax.[88][95]
At the party's March 2021 policy convention, delegates voted to reject a proposal to expand the party's existing climate change policies to include a statement thatclimate change is real.[96][97][98]
The Conservative Party presently supports Canada's involvement inNATO and international trade agreements, including aCANZUK agreement that would enable mobilization of goods, trade and people betweenCanada,Australia,New Zealand and theUnited Kingdom. The party is also supportive ofIsrael; Conservative leadersAndrew Scheer andErin O'Toole have both expressed support for moving Canada's embassy toJerusalem.
The party also supports taking a tough stance against thePeople's Republic of China and has pledged to prevent China from entering Canada's 5G Networks.
The party also calls on Canada to encourage other Western nations to prevent Chinese government backed corporations from accessing and taking control of important media, energy, internet, defence and security related infrastructure.[99][100][101][88]
The party supports maintaining the Official Languages Act ensuring that English and French have equality of status in Canada. It also calls for the protection of Canada's history, culture and heritage. It also supports the re-establishment of the Office of Religious Freedom.[88] The Conservative Party constitution also supports maintaining the constitutionalMonarchy of Canada.[102]
The party has called for an immigration system that is "non-partisan, welcoming and well-managed" that encourages merit-based immigration and enticement of skilled workers to Canada to boost the economy while also taking a zero tolerance stance on illegal immigration and ensuring that immigrants speak English or French. The Conservatives also want to streamline the process of granting Canadian citizenship to foreign born children adopted by Canadian nationals, speed up the validation of refugee claims and give help to persecuted religious and sexual minorities while ensuring those who do not meet refugee status are escorted out of the country. Some MPs within the party have proposed aCanadian values test for prospective immigrants and long-term visitors, although this has not been adopted as a policy as a whole.
Following the2019–20 Hong Kong protests, several members of the party including former leaderErin O'Toole called on the Canadian government to grant asylum to fleeing Hong Kong pro-democracy protesters facing extradition orders to China. The party also proposes eliminating birthright citizenship unless one of the parents of a child born in Canada has permanent residency or Canadian citizenship.[88]
Incumbent Conservative leaderPierre Poilievre has vocally criticized the immigration policies ofJustin Trudeau's Liberal government and supports significantly restricting numbers of temporary residents and asylum seekers coming into Canada.[103][87][104][105]
The Conservative Party has promised to reduce the number ofnew permanent residents admitted to Canada to 250,000 per year,[106] down from nearly 500,000 admitted to Canada in 2024.[107] Poilievre instead argues that immigration intake should be linked to housing supply and that the Conservatives will introduce a cap on the number of foreign workers and further border control and background screening measures of immigrants.[108][109]
The Conservatives also support a stricter policy onillegal immigration by amending the "Safe Third Country Agreement" and the reintroduction of visa requirements for Mexico.[110][111][112]
The Conservative Party generally supports a tough law and order stance. Presently, the party argues for a national register for convicted child sexual offenders, stricter sentences against repeat offenders, ending early release for violent felons and believes that victims of violent crime should have a say in National Parole Board decisions. The party also supports the creation of a cross-federal task force to tackle organized crime, human trafficking and threats to national security.[88] Some Conservative MPs are in favour ofthe death penalty which is currently abolished in Canada.[113]
The Conservative Party has both members and MPs who favourabortion rights and members who oppose them. In the past, more Conservative members have been against abortion.[114][115]
However, the party's policy book states that the party "will not support any legislation to regulate abortion" while in government,[116] and the party's current leader, Pierre Poilievre, has stated that "no laws or rules will be passed that restrict women's reproductive choices" if he becomes prime minister.[117]
The party states that it supports responsible gun ownership and will "not deprive Canadian Citizens of legally owned firearms" but also calls for cost-effective gun control programs including screening all individuals wishing to purchase firearms and increased enforcement against arms trafficking.[88]
The Conservative Party does not have any provincial wings. However, it often works closely with the former federal Progressive Conservative Party's provincial affiliates as well as other small "c" conservative and centre-right provincial parties, such as theSaskatchewan Party.
Cross-support between federal and provincial Conservatives is more tenuous in some other provinces. In Alberta, relations were sometimes strained between the federal Conservative Party and theprovincial Progressive Conservative Party. The federal Tories' loss in the 2004 election was often blamed, in part, on then-PremierRalph Klein's public musings on health care late in the campaign. Klein had also called for areferendum onsame-sex marriage.[118][119] With the impending 2006 election, Klein predicted another Liberal minority, though this time the federal Conservatives won a minority government. Klein's successorEd Stelmach tried to avoid causing similar controversies; however, Harper's surprise pledge to restrictbitumen exports drew a sharp rebuke from the Albertan government, who warned such restrictions would violate both theConstitution of Canada and theNorth American Free Trade Agreement.[120][121][122] The rise of theWildrose Party caused a further rift between the federal Conservatives and the Albertan PCs, as some Conservative backbench MPs endorsed Wildrose. For the2012 Alberta election, Prime Minister Harper remained neutral and instructed federal cabinet members to also remain neutral while allowing Conservative backbenchers to back whomever they chose if they wish. Wildrose candidates for the concurrentSenate nominee election announced they would sit in the Conservative caucus should they be appointed to the Senate.
After the 2007 budget was announced, the Progressive Conservative governments in Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador accused the federal Conservatives of breaching the terms of theAtlantic Accord.[123]
As a result, relations worsened between the federal government and the two provincial governments, leading Newfoundland and Labrador PremierDanny Williams to denounce the federal Conservatives, which gave rise to his ABC (Anything But Conservative) campaign in the 2008 election.
The National Council of the CPC is its "highest governing body".[124] Stephen Barber has served as President of the National Council since 2023.[125] The National Council has 21 seats, including four from Ontario, three from Quebec, two from British Columbia, two from Alberta, two from Saskatchewan, two from Manitoba, four from Atlantic Canada, and one from each of the three territories.[124]
The Conservative Party has historically been strongest in the inlandWest as well as ruralOntario.[126][127] The party is strongest particularly in the provinces ofAlberta,Manitoba andSaskatchewan, where it holds 30 out of 34 and all 14 federal seats respectively.[128] It tends to be weaker inQuebec andAtlantic Canada, particularlyNewfoundland and Labrador andPrince Edward Island.[129][130]
There is no officialyouth wing of the Conservative Party of Canada. There have been several attempts to create one, but all have failed. Despite this the party sets its minimum membership andvoting age at 14. The party does however have several affiliated campus clubs at various universities.[131][132][133]
| Leader | Term start | Term end | Constituency | Notes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Interim |  | John Lynch-Staunton (June 19, 1930 – August 17, 2012) | December 8, 2003 | March 20, 2004 | Senator forGrandville, Quebec | Interim leader, served concurrently asSenate Opposition Leader. |
 | Stephen Harper (b. April 30, 1959) | March 20, 2004 | October 19, 2015 | Calgary Southwest, Alberta | Served asLeader of the Official Opposition from 2004 to 2006, andPrime Minister from 2006 to 2015. | |
| Interim | .png) | Rona Ambrose (b. March 15, 1969) | November 5, 2015 | May 27, 2017 | Sturgeon River—Parkland, Alberta | Interim leader, served concurrently asLeader of the Official Opposition. |
.jpg) | Andrew Scheer (b. May 20, 1979) | May 27, 2017 | August 24, 2020 | Regina—Qu'Appelle, Saskatchewan | Served concurrently asLeader of the Official Opposition. | |
.png) | Erin O'Toole (b. January 22, 1973) | August 24, 2020 | February 2, 2022 | Durham, Ontario | Served concurrently asLeader of the Official Opposition. | |
| Interim | .jpg) | Candice Bergen (b. September 28, 1964) | February 2, 2022 | September 10, 2022 | Portage—Lisgar, Manitoba | Interim leader, served concurrently asLeader of the Official Opposition. |
| Pierre Poilievre (b. June 3, 1979) | September 10, 2022 | Incumbent | PreviouslyCarleton, Ontario. CurrentlyBattle River—Crowfoot, Alberta. | Served concurrently asLeader of the Official Opposition until April 28, 2025, and again from August 18, 2025.Andrew Scheer served asparliamentary leader of the Conservative caucus and Leader of the Opposition from May 6, 2025, to August 18, 2025. | |
The Deputy Leader is appointed by the Leader.
| Deputy Leader | Term start | Term end | Constituency | Appointed by | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Peter MacKay | March 22, 2004 | November 5, 2015 | Central Nova, Nova Scotia | Stephen Harper | |
 | Denis Lebel | November 18, 2015 | July 21, 2017 | Lac-Saint-Jean, Quebec | Rona Ambrose (2015–2017) Andrew Scheer (2017) | |
_(cropped)2.jpg) | Lisa Raitt | July 21, 2017 | November 28, 2019 | Milton, Ontario | Andrew Scheer | |
.jpg) | Leona Alleslev | November 28, 2019 | July 12, 2020 | Aurora—Oak Ridges—Richmond Hill, Ontario | Andrew Scheer | |
_(cropped).jpg) | Candice Bergen | September 2, 2020 | February 2, 2022 | Portage—Lisgar, Manitoba | Erin O'Toole | |
 | Luc Berthold | February 6, 2022 | September 12, 2022 | Mégantic—L'Érable, Quebec | Candice Bergen | |
_(cropped).jpg) | Melissa Lantsman | September 13, 2022 | Incumbent | Thornhill, Ontario | Pierre Poilievre | Serving withTim Uppal |
 | Tim Uppal | Edmonton Mill Woods, Alberta | Serving withMelissa Lantsman | |||
The Conservative Party's senatecaucus is the only political Senate Group that is formally linked to a federal political party. Unlike theIndependent Senators Group,Canadian Senators Group and theProgressive Senate Group, which are unaffiliated with any party in the House of Commons, Conservative senators form part of the national Conservative parliamentary caucus made up of members of both houses of parliament, though the senators do meet separately to discuss Senate-specific issues.
The caucus was created following the establishment of the modern Conservative Party of Canada on February 2, 2004, as a result of the merger of theCanadian Alliance and theProgressive Conservative Party of Canada. All but three Progressive Conservative Senators joined the Conservative Party and were redesignated as Conservative senators.
When in government, the leader of the caucus has been appointed by the national Conservative Party leader, serving as Prime Minister of Canada. When in Opposition the leader is elected by Conservative senators. Most recently,Don Plett was elected Senate Conservative leader on November 5, 2019, defeating one other candidate.[134]
The first leader of the senate caucus,John Lynch-Staunton, also served as interim leader of the Conservative Party of Canada until a leadership election could be held.
The Senate Conservative Caucus and the Conservative MPs in the House of Commons jointly constitute the national Conservative caucus. Nevertheless,Denise Batters was permitted to remain a member of the Senate Conservative Caucus despite being expelled from the national Conservative caucus on November 16, 2021, for publicly opposing the leadership of Erin O'Toole.[135]
| Leader | Term start | Term end | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| John Lynch-Staunton | December 8, 2003 | September 30, 2004 | Also national leader until election ofStephen Harper on March 20, 2004; served concurrently asLeader of the Opposition in the Senate |
 | Noël A. Kinsella | October 1, 2004 | February 6, 2006 | Leader of the Opposition in the Senate |
 | Marjory LeBreton | February 6, 2006 | July 14, 2013 | Leader of the Government in the Senate; also served as Minister without portfolio until January 4, 2007, and Secretary of State for Seniors from January 4, 2007, until July 4, 2013. |
| Claude Carignan | August 20, 2013 | March 21, 2017 | Leader of the Government in the Senate until November 4, 2015, then becameLeader of the Opposition in the Senate |
 | Larry Smith | April 1, 2017 | November 5, 2019 | Leader of the Opposition in the Senate |
 | Don Plett | November 5, 2019 | May 14, 2025 | Leader of the Opposition in the Senate |
_(cropped).jpg) | Leo Housakos | May 14, 2025 | Incumbent | Leader of the Opposition in the Senate |
| Election | Leader | Votes | % | Seats | +/– | Position | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | Stephen Harper | 4,019,498 | 29.63 | 99 / 308 | 21[d] |  2nd | Opposition |
| 2006 | 5,374,071 | 36.27 | 124 / 308 | 25 | 1st | Minority | |
| 2008 | 5,209,069 | 37.65 | 143 / 308 | 19 | 1st | Minority | |
| 2011 | 5,832,401 | 39.62 | 166 / 308 | 23 | 1st | Majority | |
| 2015 | 5,578,101 | 31.89 | 99 / 338 |  67 | 2nd | Opposition | |
| 2019 | Andrew Scheer | 6,239,227 | 34.34 | 121 / 338 | 22 | 2nd | Opposition |
| 2021 | Erin O'Toole | 5,747,410 | 33.74 | 119 / 338 | 2 | 2nd | Opposition |
| 2025 | Pierre Poilievre | 8,099,549 | 41.27 | 144 / 343 | 25 | 2nd | Opposition |
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Two historically dominant political parties have avoided ideological appeals in favour of a flexible centrist style of politics that is often labelled brokerage politics
...most Canadian governments, especially at the federal level, have taken a moderate, centrist approach to decision making, seeking to balance growth, stability, and governmental efficiency and economy...
Canada's party system has long been described as a "brokerage system" in which the leading parties (Liberal and Conservative) follow strategies that appeal across majorsocial cleavages in an effort to defuse potential tensions.
Some people sneeringly called a supporter of the Catholic Duke of York atoruighe ['outlaw']. But then the duke became Britain'sKing James II and everybody wanted to be atoruighe. A new political party sought to ride his coattails by calling themselves the Tory party. TheBritish Conservative Party formed in 1830, and it kept the old Tory as a nickname. Canada's Tories borrow both names.
The Conservative politician who's trying to take down Justin Trudeau said that if he's elected, he would link Canada's immigration levels to the number of homes being built.
«Ça va être beaucoup plus bas, surtout pour l'immigration temporaire. C'est impossible d'inviter 1,2 million de nouvelles personnes au Canada chaque année lorsqu'on bâtit 200 000 logements. C'est impossible. Il n'y a pas de place. Le Québec est au point de rupture», a déclaré le chef conservateur en entrevue au TVA Nouvelles.
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