Pierre Poilievre | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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.jpg) Poilievre in 2023 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Leader of the Opposition | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Assumed office August 18, 2025 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Deputy | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Andrew Scheer | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| In office September 10, 2022 – April 28, 2025 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Deputy |
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| Preceded by | Candice Bergen | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Andrew Scheer | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Leader of the Conservative Party | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Assumed office September 10, 2022 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Deputy |
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| Preceded by | Candice Bergen (interim) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Member of Parliament | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Assumed office August 18, 2025 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Damien Kurek | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Constituency | Battle River—Crowfoot | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| In office June 28, 2004 – April 28, 2025 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | David Pratt | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Bruce Fanjoy | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Constituency | Nepean—Carleton (2004–2015) Carleton (2015–2025) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal details | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | Pierre Marcel Poilievre (1979-06-03)June 3, 1979 (age 46)[1] Calgary, Alberta, Canada | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Political party | Conservative (since 2003) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Other political affiliations | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Spouse | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Children | 2 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Residence(s) | Greely, Ontario, Canada[2] Stornoway | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Alma mater | University of Calgary (BA) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Signature |  | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Website | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Pierre Marcel Poilievre[b] (born June 3, 1979) is a Canadian politician who has served as theleader of theConservative Party andleader of the Official Opposition since 2022.[c] First elected in2004, he has been themember of Parliament (MP) forBattle River—Crowfoot sinceAugust 2025, and previously representedCarleton untilApril 2025.
Poilievre was born and raised inCalgary, Alberta, and moved toOttawa in 2000 to work forCanadian Alliance leaderStockwell Day. He was first elected in the2004 federal election, initially representing the riding ofNepean—Carleton before it was reconfigured asCarleton. In 2008, Poilievre graduated with a bachelor's degree ininternational relations from theUniversity of Calgary. Under Prime MinisterStephen Harper, he held various parliamentary secretary roles from 2006 to 2013 before serving asminister for democratic reform from 2013 to 2015 and concurrently asminister of employment and social development in 2015. From 2017 to 2022, he was theConservative Party'sshadow minister for finance and was briefly shadow minister for jobs and industry.
Poilievre ran in the2022 Conservative Party leadership election, winning a landslide on the first ballot. As leader of the Opposition, Poilievre has primarily focused on economic issues, especially thecost of living in Canada. His policy positions include reducing the budgetdeficit, cuttingpersonal income taxes, defunding theCanadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), and repealing what he describes as"anti-energy" laws, including thefederal carbon tax on both consumers and industries. He is considered to be part of theBlue Tory faction within the Conservative Party, and has been described as apopulist.
Poilievre led the Conservatives in the2025 Canadian federal election, in which the party increased their seat total from 120 to 144 seats and achieved the largest share of the popular vote since its founding in 2003; however, Poilievrelost his seat toLiberal candidateBruce Fanjoy, and the governing Liberal Party led byMark Carney was re-elected with a minority government. After losing his seat in Carleton, Poilievre contested the riding ofBattle River—Crowfoot in Alberta, where aby-election was triggered following the resignation of Conservative MPDamien Kurek. Poilievre won theby-election on August 18.
Poilievre was born on June 3, 1979,[1][6] inCalgary, Alberta, to 16-year-old high school student Jacqueline Farrell, whose mother had recently died.[3][7] Farrell had planned to name him Jeff, a name he is still occasionally called in adulthood, before placing him foradoption.[8][9] He was adopted by two schoolteachers, Marlene and Donald Poilievre, shortly after being born.[3][10] Donald isFransaskois, aFrench-Canadian from Saskatchewan.[11] The couple later also adopted his younger biological half-brother, Patrick.[8] The boys were raised in suburban Calgary, playingice hockey and going on camping trips.[9][12] Pierre was raised as aCatholic.[13]
Growing up, Poilievre worked as apaperboy for theCalgary Sun.[14] He attendedHenry Wise Wood High School[15] and was on awrestling team until he was forced to stop due to a temporaryshoulder tendinitis injury at age 14. Following the injury, Poilievre attended an Alberta Tory riding-association meeting as a new hobby.[9] As a result, he became interested in politics and started reading political books, includingMilton Friedman'sCapitalism and Freedom, a book that greatly influenced his politics.[9]
Poilievre became active in theReform Party and theProgressive Conservative Association of Alberta by participating in meetings of both parties.[9][16] At age 16, he sold Reform Party memberships forJason Kenney and didtelephone canvassing for him.[17] He also knocked on doors for political campaigns and served on ariding association. Shortly after turning 17, he was a delegate to the Reform Party 1996 national convention inVancouver, British Columbia. Poilievre graduated fromHenry Wise Wood High School in 1997.[18]
Poilievre's adoptive parents, who had married in 1971, separated when he was in his mid-teens. His father, Donald, later came out as gay.[9] In his early twenties, Poilievre met both his biological mother, a nurse inNorth Carolina, and his maternal grandfather for the first time.[7]
As a teenager, Poilievre had a job atTelus doing corporate collections by calling businesses.[12] He later worked briefly as a journalist forAlberta Report, a conservative weekly magazine.[12] At theUniversity of Calgary, he studiedinternational relations, graduating in 2008.[19][20][21] At age 19, he staged a protest against a student union that tried to prevent campusReform Party supporters from campaigning for their candidate in anAlberta Senate election. He was one of many Reform members on campus in conflict with the federalProgressive Conservative Party of Canada, which they believed to be unprincipled.[9]
In 1999, as a second-year student, Poilievre submitted an essay toMagna International's "Asprime minister, I Would..." essay contest. His essay, "Building Canada Through Freedom", focused on individual freedom and, among other things, argued for a two-term limit for members of Parliament. As a finalist, Poilievre won $10,000 and a four-month internship at Magna, with the essay published in the book that collected the essays,@Stake — "As Prime Minister, I Would..."[9][22][23]
Poilievre was president of the University of Calgary's Young Conservatives Club, which was composed of both Progressive Conservative and Reform members focused on Alberta politics. He clashed withPatrick Brown, at the time the president of the nationalProgressive Conservative Youth Federation. Their dispute was over Progressive Conservative leaderJoe Clark, whom Poilievre considered anti-youth.[24][why?] Concerned that anti-Clark members would be removed, as Brown was an executive for the Progressive Conservatives, Poilievre threatened to shift the Progressive Conservative club to theUnited Alternative. Media outlets obtained a leaked memo saying that Brown planned to remove anti-Clark youth leaders, but Brown denied it, leading Poilievre to back down from his threat.[24]
In 2000, Poilievre was an organizer on a website calledOrganization to Draft Stockwell Day, seeking to recruit Alberta TreasurerStockwell Day as leader of theCanadian Alliance party.[25][18] With Day running in theleadership election, Poilievre and his colleagues made phone calls to canvass and raise money, dubbing themselves the "Fight Club".[9][18]
In 2002, after Day's tenure asLeader of the Official Opposition, Poilievre left Calgary and university without graduating to work as an advisor to Day, but he completed online coursework throughAthabasca University to earn aBachelor of Arts degree from the University of Calgary in 2008.[8][26] AfterJean Chrétien announced he would retire as prime minister in 2002, Poilievre andEzra Levant, who practised law at the time,[27] wrote an op-ed advocating the merger of the Canadian Alliance and the Progressive Conservative parties.[18] Poilievre was campaign communication director during Levant's campaign to replacePreston Manning in the 2002Calgary Southwest by-election, until Levant withdrew to allowStephen Harper to run.[28]
In 2003, Poilievre founded 3D Contact Inc. with business partnerJonathan Denis,[29] who became anAlberta Cabinet minister years later. 3D Contact provided political communications, polling and research services.[30] After founding the company, Poilievre ran for MP as a member of theConservative Party of Canada, which had recently been formed from a merger of the Canadian Alliance and Progressive Conservatives.[31]
With preparations being made for the2004 Canadian federal election, the 24-year oldManordale resident Poilievre won the Conservative nomination in the riding ofNepean—Carleton againstLiberal incumbentDavid Pratt.[32] Though Pratt was a two-term incumbent andcabinet minister, the election was projected to be close between the two.[33] Poilievre won his riding, and the Conservatives formed theOfficial Opposition to a Liberalminority government. Poilievre entered the38th Canadian Parliament at the age of 25 along withAndrew Scheer as the youngest members of the Conservative caucus.[34] Poilievre introduced himself and his young colleagues to media outlets as "libertarian-minded" members of the party.[35][36] Poilievre was given the nickname "Skippy" early in his political career.[3][37][38]
Poilievre took up the cause of theQueensway Carleton Hospital, which was in the midst of an expansion project while facing provincial funding reductions for operations and an increase in rent as its lease with theNational Capital Commission was set to expire in 2013. Seeking to eliminate the rent the hospital paid, Poilievre introduced, on June 20, 2005, a private member Bill C-414, titledAn Act to prevent the Government of Canada from charging rent to non-profit hospitals.[39] The bill was defeated in a vote of 165–111[40] but withNepean—CarletonMPPJohn Baird they advocated the hospital only pay a $1 per year rent[41] and implemented that once Baird becamePresident of the Treasury Board the next year.[42]
Poilievre also sponsored private member Bill C-383, introduced on May 11, 2005, to create a means torecall Members of Parliament through a petition,[43] and Bill C-456, on November 24, 2005, to insertparental responsibility into theCriminal Code by making it an offence for a parent to contribute through negligence, inappropriate action or lack of appropriate action to behaviour that results in their child committing an offence.[44]
Poilievre voiced opposition to the appointment ofMichaëlle Jean as theGovernor General of Canada by taking an issue with Jean's past support of theQuebec sovereignty movement.[45] Poilievre took out a petition asking theQueen of Canada to dismiss Jean. After thedeath of Elizabeth II in 2022, Jean said that the Queen dismissed Poilievre's petition over the Queen's belief that she cannot intervene in Canadian affairs.[46]
Poilievre won re-election with over 50% of the vote in the2006 federal election, by which the Conservative party formed a minority government. Entering the39th Canadian Parliament at the age of 26, he remained the youngest MP in the House of Commons.[47] Prime MinisterStephen Harper appointed Poilievre to act as Parliamentary Secretary to the President of the Treasury Board, who was his fellow Nepean-area Conservative MP John Baird. Poilievre's parliamentary work included overseeing the drafting and adoption of theFederal Accountability Act.[48]
Addressing the prime minister's apology on behalf of the Canadian government for theIndian residential school system and planned reparations, Poilievre stated he did not think Canada was "getting value for all this money", instead suggesting "we need to engender the values of hard work and independence and self-reliance."[49] Poilievre apologized in Parliament the next day, saying, "Mr. Speaker, I rise today to offer a full apology to aboriginal people, to the House and to all Canadians. Yesterday, on a day when the House and all Canadians were celebrating a new beginning, I made remarks that were hurtful and wrong. I accept responsibility for them, and I apologize."[50][51]
In the2008 federal election, Poilievre, then aBarrhaven resident, was again re-elected with over 50% of the vote in his Nepean–Carleton riding with his party forming another minority government. For the40th Canadian Parliament, Prime Minister Harper appointed Poilievre asparliamentary secretary to the prime minister. After Harper decided Canada would boycott theDurban Review Conference due to concerns of anti-Semitism, Poilievre and Liberal Party MPIrwin Cotler were sent toGeneva, Switzerland, to attend the alternative Conference Against Racism, Discrimination, and Persecution.[52] Poilievre went on toPoland for theMarch of the Living.[53] He was assigned to be a member of the Special Panel on Employment Insurance, tasked by Harper and Liberal Party leaderMichael Ignatieff to find an interparty compromise to address the2008 financial crisis.[54] He was also assigned to theInformation, Privacy and Ethics Committee where he expressed concern over camera surveillance, likeGoogle Street View, and called for CEO of GoogleEric Schmidt to testify.[55]
Poilievre became known as the Conservative Party's "attack dog".[56][57][58] Following the2009 Liberal Party leadership election, he sent a letter to theCommissioner of Canada Elections alleging contraventions of federal fundraising regulations.[59] In 2010, a police probe was triggered after Poilievre drove through a Parliament Hill screening gate without being permitted entry by the RCMP. Instead, he pressed the entrance button himself and drove his vehicle through. After Poilievre was identified as the driver and the incident was reported on in the media, he apologized.[60] As in 2006 and 2008, in2011 Poilievre won re-election in Nepean–Carleton with over 50% of the vote. For this41st Canadian Parliament, the Conservative Party formed amajority government, and Prime Minister Harper appointed Poilievre as Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Transport, Infrastructure and Communities (Denis Lebel) and for the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario (FedDev Ontario) — assistingGary Goodyear andSteven Fletcher.[61]
In early September 2012, while serving on the FedDev Ontario, Poilievre echoed then-Ontario MPPRandy Hillier's calls for ending workers' mandatory union payments.[62][63] When asked in 2012 if his advocacy was akin toright-to-work laws implemented in parts of theUnited States, Poilievre described it as an "enhancement of workers rights and freedoms".[64][65] In early 2013, both Poilievre, at the federal level, and Hillier, at the provincial level, called for greater transparency regarding union finances, citing the way in which the National Capital Region branch of thePublic Service Alliance of Canada supported theParti Québécois in the 2012 provincial elections, and how unions had supported student protests using union funds.[66][67] Poilievre wrote forcefully against the 1946Rand formula used inCanadian labour law, which stems from a Supreme Court ruling that allows unions to collect mandatory dues from workers they represent.[68][69] Union supporters believed deprivation of mandatory dues would weaken unions.[70]
Russ Hiebert's private member's bill, C-377,An Act to Amend the Income Tax Act (labour organizations), was passed into law in June 2015, making union fees optional.[71] One of the last pieces of legislation passed under Harper's premiership, the measure was repealed by the42nd Canadian Parliament in June 2017, with its provisions having never come into effect.[72]
In July 2013, Harper shuffled hiscabinet, adding several new members, including Poilievre to replaceTim Uppal asMinister of State (Democratic Reform).[73] With the2011 Canadian federal election voter suppression scandal concluding, theCanadian Senate expenses scandal unfolding, and theSenate Reform Act (to allow each province to recommend Senate candidates and impose a maximum 9-year term limit) paused at second reading to hear from theSupreme Court of Canada as to itsconstitutionality,[74] this position was seen by the media as one of the most difficult and consequential in the cabinet.[75] After the Supreme Court unanimously ruled that theSenate Reform Act would require substantial provincial consent, and Harper ruled out the use of a national referendum, reform efforts were abandoned.[76] AfterJustin Trudeau, leader of the Liberal Party, which controlled thesecond most Senate seats, began implementing his Senate reform plan of making senators independent with a non-partisan appointment process, Poilievre dismissed the measures, maintaining that Senators should be elected.[77]
On February 4, 2014, Poilievre introduced Bill C-23, known as theFair Elections Act, into the House of Commons, which was eventually passed.[78] Among other provisions, the bill expanded the types of acceptable personal identification for voting, and eliminated the vouching system, whereby a voter could vote without ID if a voter with ID vouched for their identity. The bill was opposed by former chief electoral officerJean-Pierre Kingsley,[79] former auditor generalSheila Fraser,[80] and dozens of Canadian,[81] as well as international,[82] political experts — Poilievre stepped up his attacks onMarc Mayrand, thechief electoral officer ofElections Canada at the time, by accusing him of wanting "more power, a bigger budget and less accountability".[83]
Poilievre introduced Bill C-50, known as theCitizen Voting Act, into the House of Commons in December 2014. The bill was the government's response to anOntario Superior Court ruling, which was later upheld by theSupreme Court inFrank v Canada (AG), which had determined thedisfranchisement ofexpatriates who have lived abroad for more than five years was unconstitutional.[84] Bill C-50 proposed to insert additional documentation requirements for expatriates to be able to vote.[85]
In a small cabinet shuffle, instigated by the decision of Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird to not seek re-election, the prime minister promoted Poilievre, on February 9, 2015, to a ministerial position. He replacedJason Kenney asminister of employment and social development and took on Baird's role as minister responsible for theNational Capital Commission while keeping his duties as the minister responsible for democratic reform.[86] Also at that time, the National Capital Commission was pursuing the development of theMemorial to the Victims of Communism – Canada, a Land of Refuge and trying to decide where to locate it; Poilievre advocated for the site adjacent to the Supreme Court of Canada building.[87]
In July 2015, Poilievre announced an expansion of a child care benefit program. During the announcement, he wore a Conservative Party of Canada shirt, stated that the payments were from "our Conservative government", and said that "if the Liberals and NDP were to take office they would take the benefits away and raise taxes."[88] Later in 2017, the elections commissioner determined that the occasion was akin to a Conservative party campaign event, rather than a Government of Canada announcement.[89] As the government spent approximately $4,800 related to the event, it was essentially "a de facto non-monetary contribution" to the Conservative party.[88] The commissioner ruled that this was a campaign finance violation, as Poilievre had "knowingly circumvent[ed] the prohibition on contributions to a registered party by ineligible contributors." Poilievre was ordered to post a link to the ruling on his social media.[90]
Poilievre‘s riding was split in half in the2012 Canadian federal electoral redistribution. The more urban western half, includingNepean, was carved out of his riding to become the revivedNepean riding. Poilievre moved fromBarrhaven toGreely to seek election in the more ruralCarleton, essentially his old riding's eastern half.[2] Poilievre narrowly won the seat in the election for the42nd Canadian Parliament but the Conservatives only won enough seats to form theOfficial Opposition to a Liberal majority government.[91] Following Harper's resignation as leader, interim party leaderRona Ambrose made Poilievre theConservative Party critic on issues relating to theTreasury Board until October 2016 when she moved him to critic on issues relating to Employment, Labour and Work Opportunity.[citation needed]
In August 2017, new party leaderAndrew Scheer selected Poilievre to be critic of theMinister of Finance, withTom Kmiec as deputy critic.[92] In that role Poilievre introduced his third private member's bill (Bill C-395) which sought to amend theFederal–Provincial Arrangements Act in such a way that it would eliminate personal income taxes and payroll taxes that apply to persons with disabilities.[93] Although it gained the support of theNew Democratic Party (NDP), the bill was defeated at consider of 2nd Reading with both the Liberal Party andBloc Québécois/Québec debout voting against.[94] During this parliament, Poilievre travelled toDieppe as part of a Canadian delegation to commemorate the 75th anniversary ceremonies of theDieppe Raid.[95] In the lead-up to the next election, Poilievre used all the House of Commons time allotted for debating the2019 Canadian federal budget to deliver one 4-day long speech to remark upon theSNC-Lavalin affair.[96][97]
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Poilievre wasre-elected in 2019 to the43rd Canadian Parliament, this time by a wider margin of the vote compared to his 2015 victory.[98] After Scheer's resignation as party leader, Poilievre was initially considered to be one of the front-runners to winthe subsequent leadership election. Poilievre considered a bid and started to assemble a campaign team, though he announced he would not run on January 23, 2020, citing his desire to spend more time with his family.[99]
During theWE Charity scandal surrounding the Liberal Party, Poilievre was one of the Conservative Party's primary interrogators. Poilievre repeatedly questioned Prime Minister Trudeau in a virtual conference in July, asking for the exact dollar figure that his family was paid by the WE Charity. Trudeau responded that he did not know the number on hand.[100] In August, Poilievre revealed to journalists WE Charity memos that had been blacked-out by the Liberal government, tossing each of them aside.[101] After Poilievre pressuredFinance MinisterBill Morneau to resign for his involvement in the scandal, Morneau announced his resignation on August 17.[102][103]
WhenBill C-10(An Act to amend the Broadcasting Act) was introduced, Poilievre opposed it alongside the rest of the Conservative caucus. He described the bill as "censorship" and used his social media to start anonline petition against the bill.[104][105] Scheer's successor,Erin O'Toole, kept Poilievre as finance critic until February 10, 2021, when he was replaced withEd Fast. Poilievre then became critic for jobs and industry, though he only held this position for a short time as he regained his old position as finance critic on November 9, 2021.[106]
Poilievre won re-election in Carleton in the2021 federal election to the44th Canadian Parliament. After O'Toole was ousted as leader through aleadership review on February 2, 2022, there was speculation of Poilievre enteringthe leadership election to succeed him.[107] On February 5, 2022, Poilievre implicitly declared his intention to run in the leadership election, stating "I'm running for Prime Minister".[108][109] Political commentators and journalists described Poilievre as thefrontrunner in the leadership race.[110][111] Poilievre's campaign was described as being centred on freedom and reducing thecost of living.[112] He stated his desire to make Canada the "freest country in the world".[113]
Poilievre had been critical of fellow leadership candidatesJean Charest andPatrick Brown, who were seen to be part of the moderate faction of the Conservative Party; Poilievre accused Charest of being aLiberal and stated that Brown's support for acarbon tax is "disqualifying".[114][115][116] From the end of June to early July, Poilievre's campaign aired attack ads on Brown in local Toronto television stations, criticizing his policies asmayor of Brampton.[117] Poilievre's campaign paid the legal fees of a whistleblower who claimed that Brown had broken election laws, leading to Brown's disqualification from the race.[118]
On June 4, Poilievre's campaign announced they sold 311,958[119] out of the 678,708 total memberships during the leadership race.[120] Poilievre had beenendorsed for the leadership by 62 Conservative MPs, more than half of the party's then 119-member caucus in the House of Commons. On July 25, Poilievre received an endorsement from former Prime MinisterStephen Harper.[121] On August 2, Poilievre's campaign announced they fundraised $4,042,717 through 36,804 individual donors in the second quarter of the leadership race; this amount was more than half of the $7,538,549 fundraised by the six candidates combined.[122] On September 10, Poilievre won the leadership on the first ballot, with 68.15% of points and 70.7% of the vote share. It was the first first-ballot victory since the party's2004 leadership election. Poilievre also won 330 out of 338electoral districts.[123][124]
During the2025 Canadian election campaign,Robert Fife ofThe Globe and Mail reported that the CSIS believed that agents affiliated with government ofIndia assisted Poilievre's leadership bid in 2022 by fundraising and organizing support for Poilievre.[125][126] While the agency did not believe it would impact the result of the leadership race, they believe agents did it as part of a campaign to gain support from politicians in all parties and Poilievre's decision not to obtain a security clearance prevented him from being notified of this information.[125][127] Poilievre responded by defending his decision not to obtain a security clearance.[126]
On September 12, Poilievre gave his first speech to his caucus as leader.[128] The following day on September 13, he unveiled his House of Commons leadership team with nine members, including new deputy leadersMelissa Lantsman andTim Uppal.[129] On October 12, Poilievre unveiled a71-member shadow cabinet, including former leadership rivalsLeslyn Lewis andScott Aitchison.[130]
In October 2022, the Conservatives under Poilievre voted in favour of the Liberal government's Bill C-30 (which doubled thegoods and services tax rebate) but voted against Bill C-31 (which introduced a public dental care program for children under 12 in low income families and a one-time allowance worth $500 for low-income renters), citing concerns that the level of spending in the latter bill's measures would increaseinflation.[131][132] In November 2022, Poilievre and the Conservatives put forward a motion to audit federal COVID-19 spending, including theArriveCAN app. The motion passed resulting in an audit of the federal government's spending. The auditor found that "overpayments of $4.6 billion were made to ineligible individuals" and "at least $27.4 billion in payments to individuals and employers" to be further investigated. In December, Liberal MPs criticized the audit for being done for partisan reasons and "political games" while Conservative MPs defended the independence of the auditor.[133]
In January 2023, Poilievre called for a parliamentary probe into the Liberal government's relationship withMcKinsey & Company due to a report showing value of federal contracts increased from $2.2 million to $66 million after the Liberals formed government.[134] On June 19, 2023, Poilievre and his caucus voted in support of the Liberal government's legislation for long term funding to a Canada-wide early learning and child-care system.[135]
In November 2023, Poilievre and the Conservative caucus voted against a bill that implements an update to a free trade agreement withUkraine.[136][137][138][139] Poilievre said that his opposition was based on language that would "impose [Justin Trudeau's] carbon tax ideology onto those poor people",[136] despite Ukraine already having a price on carbon and the urging of the Ukrainian ambassador to pass the bill.[138][137] Liberal government house leaderKarina Gould described the reasoning as a "red herring,"[138] and the president of theUkrainian Canadian Congress called on the Conservative Party to rethink their position.[140]
On April 30, 2024, Poilievre was ejected from the House of Commons after referring to Trudeau as a "wacko prime minister", when criticizing Trudeau's past support forBritish Columbia's decriminalization of hard drug use in public spaces. After Poilievre refused to withdraw the adjective, House SpeakerGreg Fergus removed Poilievre from the chamber on the grounds that he usedunparliamentary language.[141]
On June 12, 2024, theNational Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians released a report onforeign interference by the governments such asIndia andChina in Canadian elections such as the2022 Conservative Party of Canada leadership election.[142] It also mentioned that some members of parliament were witting[clarification needed] participants in foreign-interference efforts.[142] Poilievre demanded that the names of the member of parliament should be publicly released.[143] Previously, Poilievre has resisted any attempts in obtaining asecurity clearance since becoming leader and this report did not change his mind because he believes that the clearance would be used to silence his criticism of the government on this issues.[142] In October 2024, Prime Minister Trudeau told the foreign interference commission that he has seen the names of Conservative parliamentarians and candidates who were a clear risk of foreign interference and directed theCanadian Security Intelligence Service to pass that information along to Poilievre, but said Poilievre's lack of security clearance prevent him from seeing this information.[143] Poilievre responded by accusing Trudeau of lying and demanded that the prime minister release the names.[143]
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On October 6, 2022, it was reported that between 2018 and 2022, Poilievre's team-managed YouTube channel posted hundreds of videos with a hidden tag labelled "MGTOW", referencing the misogynistic online community.[144] Poilievre condemned MGTOW, said he was unaware of the tags, and had his team immediately remove the tags.[144] Responding to a reporter's question on June 27, 2023, Poilievre criticized Trudeau for weighing in on New Brunswick'sPolicy 713 regarding LGBT students, calling it a "provincial policy" and saying that "The prime minister has no business in decisions that should rest with provinces and parents".[145]
In September 2023, a video posted on social media showed Poilievre going door-knocking in suburban neighbourhoods to support his campaign forthe next election. In the video, Poilievre can be heard agreeing with a woman that Justin Trudeau's father,Pierre Trudeau, "put [Canada] down", then adding himself that both Justin and Pierre Trudeau are "Marxists".[146]
On October 20, 2023, in an emailed statement, Poilievre "encouraged Albertans to stay in the CPP" amidst ongoing debate in Alberta on whether to leave theCanada Pension Plan. Poilievre stated that "The division today on the CPP is entirely the result of Justin Trudeau attacking the Alberta economy".[147]
Under Poilievre's leadership, the Conservatives won sixby-elections, with four retained seats,[d] and two gained seats.[e][148] On June 24, 2024, the Conservatives won the previously Liberal-held riding ofToronto—St. Paul's ina federal by-election, marking the first time under Poilievre's leadership that the Conservatives won a riding that was previously held by another party. This particular by-election victory gained national attention, as the Liberal Party had held the riding since the1993 Canadian federal election.[149] The Conservatives won another former Liberal seat inCloverdale—Langley City on December 16, 2024.[150] Poilievre's first year as leader saw the Conservatives holding a narrow lead over the Liberals according tomost opinion polls. During the summer of 2023, the Conservatives experienced a surge in polling support,[151] with their lead increasing to double-digit margins. Most pollsters began writing off the Liberals at this point, with most of them projecting a decisive Conservative victory had Trudeau led them into the election.[152] Poilievre made repeated calls for a general election.[153] The Conservative polling lead disappeared afterTrudeau's resignation in January 2025 and the election ofMark Carney as Liberal leader in March. This period also coincided with Trump advancing plans to tariff Canada, a development believed to have disadvantaged Poilievre and advanced the Liberals' standing with the Canadian electorate.[154][155][156][157]
On March 23, Carney visited Governor GeneralMary Simon and asked to dissolve parliament and call an election for April 28, ahead of the required election date in October.[158] Poilievre entered theelection trailing Carney's Liberal Party in most opinion polls. During the campaign, he promised that his government would reduce the lowest income tax bracket from 15% to 12.75%[159] and invokeSection 33 of theCanadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, also known as thenotwithstanding clause, to overturnR v Bissonnette and restore judges' discretion to order parole ineligibility periods for multiple murders be served consecutively.[160]
In the election, Poilievrelost his seat of Carleton to Liberal candidateBruce Fanjoy,[161][162] one of the few times a major party leader in Canada has been defeated in his own riding.[163] Poilievre received 39,585 votes for a vote share of around 46%, while Fanjoy received 43,900 votes for a vote share of around 51%.[164][165] There were a record-equaling 91 candidates in Poilievre's Carleton riding in 2025, due to theLongest Ballot Committee encouraging adding candidates to promote independentelection reforms.[163] Poilievre conceded the election and congratulated Prime Minister Mark Carney in his speech.[166]
Shortly after the election, Conservative MPDamien Kurek, re-elected with over 80% of the vote in the Alberta riding ofBattle River—Crowfoot, one of the party's safest ridings, announced his intention to resign in order to allow Poilievre to run inthe succeeding by-election. Carney stated that the by-election would be held as soon as possible.[167] Kurek intends to run in the Battle River—Crowfoot riding in the next general election.[168] Until Poilievre returned to the House, he was ineligible to continue as Leader of the Opposition. He continued to lead the Conservatives outside of Parliament until he won the August 18th by-election; former Conservative leaderAndrew Scheer was appointed interim parliamentary leader, and hence Leader of the Opposition, at least until the by-election.[169] By law, Kurek could not resign until 30 days after the publication of the election result in theCanada Gazette,[170] which occurred on May 15, 2025.[171] Additionally, while Carney promised to advise Simon to issue thewrit for a by-election as quickly as possible, it could not be dropped sooner than 11 days and no later than 180 days after thechief electoral officer is officially notified of a vacancy via a warrant issued by theSpeaker. Under the Canada Elections Act, the minimum length of a campaign is 36 days between dropping the writ and election day.[172] Kurek officially resigned on June 17. Simon issued the writ on June 30, for a by-election date of August 18, 2025.[171]
Poilievre spoke as party leader on May 13 stating that he would look for common ground with the Liberal government and that he wanted them to continue to "steal" his ideas, referencing proposals on the carbon tax among other issues.[173] On May 25, Poilievre reaffirmed that he would work with the government to end theUnited States trade war with Canada and informed Prime Minister Mark Carney that he and his party were "happy to cooperate any way we can".[174] On June 20, Poilievre's Conservatives voted in favour to pass Liberal Bill C-5 which aimed to remove interprovincial trade barriers.[175][176]
On August 18, Poilievre returned to Parliament by winning theBattle River—Crowfootby-election with almost 81 percent of the vote. No other candidates reached 10 percent and the Liberals dropped to third place behind independentBonnie Critchley.[177]
Before returning for the fall session of the 45th Parliament, Poilievre proposed introducing three Conservative bills, theCanadian Sovereignty Act,[178] theStand On Guard Act,[179] and theJail Not Bail Act.[180]
In October, he claimed that scandals under the Trudeau government should have resulted in jail time for the then-Prime Minister, that the RCMP covered it up, and that former RCMP commissionerBrenda Lucki was "despicable" and participated in "deception and political interference" in favour of the Liberal government.[181][182][183] Other parties called in the House of Commons for him to apologize, but he doubled down and asserted the Liberal party was "trying to distract from their inflation, rising cost of living, by talking about their corruption". After the presentation of the2025 federal budget, Conservative MPChris d'Entremont crossed the floor to join the Liberal caucus, citing issues with Poilievre's leadership.[184][185][186][187]
Poilievre has described himself as a "true conservative",[115] and is widely considered to be part of theBlue Tory faction within the party.[188] Journalists have described him as "libertarian"[189][190][191][192] as well as "populist".[193][194][195][196][197] He has largely campaigned on economic issues, calling for Canada to be the "freest country on Earth".[198]
Poilievre argues that large budgetdeficits are the reason for risinginflation.[199] Poilievre proposes implementing apay-as-you-go law, requiring the government to offset any new spending with a cut elsewhere.[200][201][202] He referred to the success of pay-as-you-go balancing the budget in the United States under theClinton administration.[203][204] Poilievre owns and usescryptocurrency, and purchased ashawarma inLondon, Ontario, withBitcoin to show support for it.[205] He supports normalizing cryptocurrencies including Bitcoin, which he believes is aninflation hedge.[205] He stated he wants to make Canada the "blockchain capital of the world" and believed theJustin Trudeau government was bringing down the value of theCanadian dollar.[206]
Poilievre has criticized theBank of Canada, accusing it of being "financially illiterate" for forecasting that there would bedeflation as opposed toinflation,[207] after his warning to them about inflation in 2020.[208] The bank's deputy governorPaul Beaudry responded by stating "The aspect that we should be held accountable is exactly right", and also listed theRussian invasion of Ukraine and supply-chain bottlenecks due to theCOVID-19 pandemic as the most significant influences on inflation.[209] Poilievre has said that the bank's governorTiff Macklem, is Prime Minister Trudeau's "personalATM" in terms of printing money to fund deficit spending for the pandemic. Poilievre stated that a government led by him would dismiss Macklem, audit the bank, and ban the bank's potentialdigital currency.[210][211]
Poilievre has pledged to cutpersonal income taxes.[212] Following theRogers-Shaw merger, Poilievre stated that Canada needed more telecommunications competition and proposed for there to be at least "four competitors in every single marketplace".[213] Poilievre supports defunding theCanadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), stating the federal government could save a billion dollars, or 0.9%[214] of the annual federal budget, by doing so.[112] He has been a critic of what he believes to be biased support for the government within the CBC, referring to the CBC as the "biasedpropaganda arm of theLiberal Party" in a response to reporters inEdmonton in 2023;[215] however, he would continue to support the CBC's French programming.[215] He proposes to convert the CBC's headquarters into affordable housing and other federal buildings into condominium housing.[202][216]
Poilievre has supported bringingright-to-work laws to Canada,[217] and voted multiple times against reinstating and increasing the federal minimum wage to $15/hour.[218][219] Poilievre supported the new replacement workers bill, also known as Bill C-58.[220] The bill, introduced by the Liberal government, would ban the use ofreplacement workers during strikes and lock-outs in most federally regulated workplaces.[221] In February 2024, Poilievre and his caucus voted alongside Liberal, NDP, and Bloc MPs in favour of Bill C-58, which banned replacement workers.[220]
Poilievre stated that a government led by him would permit a runway expansion atBilly Bishop Toronto City Airport, allowing jets to fly in and out of the airport. Poilievre cited increased competition in the aviation industry and travellers being provided with an alternative toToronto's Pearson International Airport which had dealt with congestion and flight delays surpassing 50% around the month of July 2022.[222]
Poilievre blames bureaucracy for a lack of new housing and proposes requiring big cities withunaffordable housing to increase their number of new homes built by 15 per cent annually, in order to continue receiving full federal infrastructure money.[223] Big cities that fail to keep up with the construction target would be withheld funds by the percentage they fall short, while those that meet the target would also be compensated up to $10,000 for every additional new home built.[224] He also proposes compensating other smaller cities for building extra housing.[202]
Poilievre plans to sell off 15 per cent of the government's 37,000 buildings he considers to be under-utilized, so that they can be converted into affordable housing instead.[225] Poilievre has also criticized "wealthy investors who borrow it (money) and bid up housing prices".[226] The Conservatives under Poilievre voted against Bill C-31 (which introduced a one-time affordability allowance worth $500 for low-income renters), citing inflation concerns.[131][132] In September 2023, Poilievre put forward a bill aiming to increase homebuilding, titled Bill C-356(Building Homes Not Bureaucracy Act).[227][228]
On October 28, 2024, Poilievre proposed eliminating theGST on houses under $1 million while stating that it would save $40,000 on a $800,000 house and incentivize construction of 30,000 additional homes. Poilievre proposed to fund this GST elimination by cutting the Housing Accelerator Fund and the Housing Infrastructure Fund which he described as being unsuccessful in constructing infrastructure and homes.[229][230]
Poilievre is in favour of addressingclimate change by usinggreen technology and placing targets to reduce carbon-related emissions, as opposed to using taxes.[231] One of the technologies he plans to incentivize iscarbon capture and storage.[232] Poilievre also plans to increase the production ofelectric cars by greenlighting more mining oflithium,cobalt andcopper required to produce the cars and batteries.[233][234][235] When speaking inQuebec, he called for less "red tape" and stated that he would permit more construction ofhydro-electric dams.[234][236] Poilievre believes Canadian energy is cleaner than that of other countries, and proposes a ban on importing foreign oil and a review of all pipeline projects cancelled by the current government.[237]
Poilievre pledges to repeal theLiberal government'scarbon tax if the Conservatives form government under him, and has characterized the carbon tax as being "inflationary".[238] Poilievre favours repealing two laws that he describes as "anti-energy":Oil Tanker Moratorium Act (a law prohibiting oil tankers of a certain size from docking along the north coast ofBritish Columbia) andImpact Assessment Act (a law assessing Canada's environment).[239] He also supports theEnergy East pipeline.
During the spring and summer of 2020, Poilievre was critical of what he perceived as the Trudeau government's misplaced trust in theChinese Communist Party, which had cancelledCanSino's contract with Canada for its COVID vaccine,Convidecia. Poilievre insisted that Canada should create its own vaccine supply and make purchase agreements with more trustworthy governments.[240] Following accounts inCanadian Security Intelligence Service documents of Chinese election interference, first reported by theGlobe and Mail in 2023, Poilievre called for a public registry for agents of foreign governments who interfere in Canada's elections.[241] According toGlobal Affairs Canada, Poilievre has been a target of the Chinese government'sSpamouflagedisinformation operations.[242]
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In response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Poilievre stated that a government led by him would support Ukraine by bringing more Ukrainian refugees to Canada, by providing more weapons for Ukraine, and by supplying Europe with Canada's energy and oil throughLNG Canada to help reduce Europe's dependency on energy from Russia.[243] Poilievre disagreed with those advocating ano-fly zone for Ukraine, saying that he did not want to risk Canada going to war.[244][245] Poilievre opposed the 2023 update to theCanada–Ukraine Free Trade Agreement, claiming that it imposed a "carbon tax";[136] he instead proposed sendingCRV7 rockets to Ukraine as aid to be used against Russia.[246] Poilievre confirmed his cuts to foreign aid would not apply to Ukraine and that the country would continue to receive funding.[247] On the third anniversary of the Russian invasion, Poilievre insisted that any peace deal should involve Ukraine, and that its exclusion from agreements would be "unacceptable".[248]
Poilievre said that a government led by him would ban hisCabinet ministers from participating in theWorld Economic Forum (WEF), stating that the forum "is against the interests of our people".[249]
Poilievre condemned the actions ofHamas during the2023 Gaza war and stated that Israel has the right to defend itself.[251] He criticized South Africa'sgenocide case against Israel, calling the accusation a shameless and dishonest attack on Jewish people and the Jewish state.[252] In March 2024, Poilievre claimed his government would "defundantisemitism", and blamed the war on Iran, promising to ban theIslamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.[253] After the Israel-Hamas war broke out, Poilievre repeatedly accused the Liberal government of speaking from both sides of their mouth for political gain by "sending one group intosynagogues to say one thing toCanadian Jews, and then send another group of MPs tomosques to say exactly the opposite toCanadian Muslims", arguing that Canada like all countries only gets one vote at theUnited Nations and therefore a government can only take one position on every foreign policy issue.[253] During his speech at a Montreal-area synagogue in March 2024, Poilievre spoke for a "negotiatedtwo-state solution to theIsraeli–Palestinian conflict, withPalestinians andIsraelis living in peace and harmony, and where all of the Abrahamic peoples have unhindered access to their places of worship on the holy land."[254] Additionally, he stated that a government led by him would stand up for Israel's right to defend itself and that he would reject any anti-Israel motions and resolutions at the United Nations. He also stated that as prime minister, his government would defundUNWRA and ensure that "Canadian aid actually goes to the suffering Palestinian people and not to those promoting terrorism in UNRWA". Lastly, Poilievre declared that "common sense Conservatives under his leadership will be cutting back foreign aid to terrorist dictators and multinational bureaucracies and using the money to rebuild theCanadian Armed Forces."[255]
Some critics claim that Pierre Poilievre has demonstrated alignment withDonald Trump on certain issues,[256][257] while several journalists have dismissed comparisons to Trump due to Poilievre's positions on immigration, socialized healthcare, and support for abortion rights.[258][9][259] Poilievre himself has consistently rejected comparisons to the U.S. president.[260][261]
After Donald Trump won the2024 United States presidential election in November, Poilievre had called for retaliatory tariffs againstTrump's tariffs.[262][263][264] He also proposed incentivizing more interprovincial Canadian trade with standardized rules for truck drivers and to return additional tax revenue as bonuses to provinces that remove barriers.[265] In response to Trump's comments of Canada being the "51st state", Poilievre stated "Canada will never be the 51st state" and for Trump to "back off".[266][267]
Prior to the implementation of Trump's tariffs, Poilievre was willing to negotiate and had proposed increasing Canada's exports to the U.S., particularly in energy sectors such as liquefied natural gas (LNG) and electricity, suggesting that these initiatives could lead to mutually beneficial agreements.[268] Following the implementation of the tariffs, Poilievre proposed using LNG to trade more with Europe and Asia instead of America,[269] describing it as a way to stand up to Trump.[270]
He has echoed a similar phrase to "America First" by advocating for a "Canada First" approach, emphasizing the importance of strengthening Canada's economy through tax reductions, promoting free enterprise, and boosting energy and resource production.[259] This phrase as used by Pierre Poilievre was done with reference to the phrase by former Canadian prime ministerWilfrid Laurier.[271][272]
On April 29, Poilievre conceded that he lost the election, congratulated Prime MinisterMark Carney, and stated that he would work with all parties to reach a new trade deal that would end Donald Trump's tariffs.[166] Canadian journalists described the concession as an example of Canada's successful democracy and contrasted it from the turmoil surrounding elections in theUnited States.[273][274][275]
Poilievre supportsabortion rights and access toabortion in Canada.[276][9][277] He stated that a government led by him would not introduce and would not pass any legislation restricting access to abortion, though he would allow his caucus to havefree votes on legislation.[278] In 2010, he supported a bill that would have criminalized pressuring a person to get an abortion and a motion where Parliament would have studied when a fetus should be considered a human.[279] In 2020, he changed his position and said that a government led by him would never introduce a bill on the topic, and no private ones would be adopted.[280] In 2021, Poilievre opposed a private member bill prohibitingsex-selective abortion.[281]
Poilievre supportssame-sex marriage after previously opposing it; in a 2020 interview, he called it a "success" and stated: "I voted against it 15 years ago. But I learned a lot."[280] In 2005, he gave a speech opposing same-sex marriage while favouringcivil unions as an alternative and voted in favour on the motion to introduce legislation to reinstate anopposite-sex only definition of marriage in 2006.[9][282] He had also requested Finance MinisterJim Flaherty withhold money spent onsex reassignment surgery fromCanada Health Transfer payments.[283] In 2021, Poilievre voted in favour of banningconversion therapy in afree vote.[284]
In September 2023, Poilievre accused Trudeau of "demonizing concerned parents" after the prime minister released a statement in support of LGBTQ+ Canadians onTwitter in response toanti-gender movement protests.[285] Poilievre's comments were condemned from the executive director of LGBTQ+ advocacy groupEgale Canada.[286] In February 2024, when asked by reporters for his views on Premier of AlbertaDanielle Smith's transgender legislation and if he was against minors under 18 usingpuberty blockers to support medicalgender transition, Poilievre affirmed his support for the decision.[287] In response to reporters asking if he believes transgender women should be allowed in women's change rooms and washrooms, Poilievre stated that "Female spaces should be exclusively for females, not for biological males"; however, he also stated that federal jurisdiction would not have the reach to legislate on the matter.[288] In January 2025, when asked if he agreed with Donald Trump'sexecutive order which stated that the United States federal government will only recognize two genders, male and female, Poilievre said that he was only aware of two genders, but added that "we should have a government that just minds its own damn business and leaves people alone to make their own personal decisions. That's the kind of government I'm going to run."[289][290] Several Canadian LGBT rights organizations denounced Poilievre's comments for denying the existence of transgender people.[291] Poilievre has decried "woke culture".[292][293]
Poilievre supports maintaining thelegalization ofsoft drugs such asmarijuana,[294] while he opposes the decriminalization of "hard drugs",[295] stating: "We're not talking about marijuana here, we're talking about highly lethal drugs that can stop a person's heart."[296] This is after previously voting against the legalization of marijuana in 2017.[297] He advocated for moretreatment and recovery for those suffering from addictions which are "deadly" and that drug dealers should be facing "strong policing & tough sentences".[295] Poilievre plans to fund treatment and recovery for addicts by suing the pharmaceutical companies responsible for the opioid epidemic.[298]
Poilievre stated that he is in favour offreedom of expression and seeks to repealBill C-11 (Online Streaming Act) and the successor toBill C-36(Act to amend the Criminal Code and the Canadian Human Rights Act), describing them ascensorship.[299] Poilievre plans to remove the proposed "digital safety commissioner" position with the introduction of what he titles as theFree Speech Act and would leave enforcement of crimes committed online to law enforcement.[300] Poilievre stated a government led by him would scrap direct federal research and other grants to universities if they do not commit tosection 2(b) of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which protects freedom of expression. Poilievre also stated he would appoint a 'Free Speech Guardian' (on the condition that they are a former judge) that would ensure compliance to section 2(b), investigate claims of academic censorship, report to the federal government on the universities that refuse to uphold theCharter right, and recommend cuts to direct federal grants to universities that do not uphold the right.[301]
Poilievre announced his support of those in theCanada convoy protest who were protesting peacefully, while denouncing individuals who were seen as promotingextremism.[302][303] Poilievre believes that the federal government abused its power by invoking theEmergencies Act during the convoy protests and proposes limiting its power to prevent it from being used similarly in the future.[304][305]
In 2022, Poilievre described himself as pro-immigration and put forward policies aiming to speed up processing times to reunite families, keep refugees safe, and get jobs filled in Canada.[306] Poilievre stated that a government led by him would negotiate agreements with provinces to license qualified professionals within 60 days of receiving applications, provide study loans to aid new immigrants in passing examinations, and permit immigrants to receive licences before moving to Canada.[307][201] Poilievre proposes establishing direct flights toAmritsar, India.[308] In June 2023, Poilievre, as well as NDP leaderJagmeet Singh, joined protesters in support of students who were facing deportation for being scammed into moving to Canada on fake admission letters to universities.[309][310]
Poilievre has since argued that Canada should pursue reductions on immigration and asylum intake. In 2024, he described Liberal Party's approach to immigration as "radical and out of control" and argued Trudeau's government has "destroyed our immigration system".[311] Poilievre argued that before Trudeau became prime minister, Canada maintained a multi-generational consensus on immigration, bringing in immigrants at a level that the housing market, job market, and healthcare system could absorb.[312] After data published by the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada (IRBC) showed a substantial rise in asylum cases from Mexico, Poilievre called on the Canadian government to reinstate visa requirements for Mexico which had been imposed by previous Conservative government before Trudeau abolished this policy in 2016. In January 2024, Poilievre argued that the removal of visa requirements had led to an increase in immigration fraud and abuses of the asylum process.[313][314]
In 2024, Poilievre stated that if he became prime minister he would significantly reduce the numbers of asylum seekers and temporary residents, citing the high amount of new arrivals compared to Canada's housing supply.[315] During a June 2024 speech inQuebec, Poilievre said that current levels of immigration into Canada are too high and in government he would link immigration numbers to the number of homes built, citing lack of accommodations and the capacity of the healthcare system to support current migrant numbers.[316][317] Poilievre also spoke in favour of smaller population growth by mitigating immigration numbers and in June 2025 stated that Canada needs "more people leaving than coming for the next couple years.".[312][318][319][320]
Poilievre has called for a tougher policy against illegal immigration and has accused the Trudeau government of allowing illegal border crossings atRoxham Road to continue. In 2023, he stated irregular border crossing points should be closed and loopholes allowing illegal migration to be ended by amending the "Safe Third Country Agreement".[321][322] In October 2024, he stated that a Conservative government under his leadership would introduce further border control and background screening measures of immigrants to stop foreign citizens with criminal and terrorism convictions from entering Canada.[323][324] In June 2025, Poilievre stated that the "border has been left wide open" and that it has caused "the free flow of drugs, illegal migration, human trafficking and much worse."[325]
In an interview with Juno News, Pierre Poilievre said that under his Conservative government he would go back to Stephen Harper era's Permanent Residence numbers of around 200k-250k and deport those who overstay on their temporary visa.[326] Saying that "It will be a lot more like the Harper era numbers that were the same basically for 40 years before Trudeau took office. We were bringing around 200-250k a year in citizens".[327] Down from the previously planned 500,000 Permanent Residence numbers from the Liberal government, in which they faced criticism for worsening Canada's housing crisis, putting pressure on Trudeau to state "we didn't get the balance quite right",[328] and announcing reduced numbers of 395k to 365k from 2025–2027,[329] higher than what Poilievre pledged.
In September 2025, Poilievre proposed ending the Temporary Foreign Worker Program.[330] On September 9, Poilievre stated that he does not blame the immigrants or the temporary foreign workers but instead blames government policies.[331] On the following day, he further stated "The international students and foreign workers themselves, they’re great people [...] But the Liberal government has so totally screwed up our immigration system".[332]
Poilievre supports Canada'spublic healthcare system, stating: "I believe everybody should be able to get public health care. That's the system I've relied on my whole life."[333] Poilievre plans to addresshealthcare shortages in Canada by implementinginterprovincial standardization for doctors and nurses which he would call the "Blue Seal" program and also by ensuring provinces expedite the approval of professional credentials of certified immigrants to increase the number of health care providers.[334][335] Poilievre pledged to uphold Prime Minister Trudeau's healthcare funding set in 2023 for the provinces but shared provincial premiers' criticisms of the funding being too low and he blamed Trudeau for overspending elsewhere.[336]
In June 2022, Poilievre introduced private members Bill C-278,Prevention of Government-imposed Vaccination Mandates Act, which would end federally enforcedCOVID-19 vaccine mandates.[337][338] In October 2022, Poilievre voted in support of a Conservative private member's bill to amend the Criminal Code, prohibiting the act ofcoercing health professionals to euthanize patients inmedical assistance in dying, with the aim of upholding "freedom of conscience" insection 2(a) of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.[339] The bill was defeated when all Liberal, NDP, and Bloc members voted against it.[340]
Poilievre opposes re-establishing thelong-gun registry, and opposes the May 1, 2020, and December 5, 2024,Orders in Council,[341] which banned over 1,324 models of firearms.[342] Poilievre states that the best civilian firearms policy for Canada is to improve policing ofgun smuggling and is opposed to placing further restrictions on licensed firearms owners andsports shooters.[343][344]
After moving to Ottawa, Poilievre dated Conservative political advisor and lobbyistJenni Byrne until 2011.[345]
In December 2017, Poilievre marriedAnaida Galindo, a Senate aide, in a ceremony in Portugal.[346] Their first child, a daughter, was born in October 2018.[347] In September 2021, the Poilievres welcomed their second child, a son.[348]
Poilievre and his family reside in theStornoway residence. Although this residence is normally reserved for the Leader of the Opposition, who must be a sitting MP, they were given permission to continue living there following the 2025 election by the interim opposition leader,Andrew Scheer, until Poilievre was re-elected.[349][350][351]
According to his disclosure statement to the federal ethics commissioner, Poilievre co-owns areal estate investment company that owns acondo in theCalgary area, which he rents out to a tenant.[352] His wife, Anaida Poilievre, also owns a rental property in theOttawa suburb of Orleans, which she bought in 2012 and took out a mortgage on in 2020. Poilievre has defended his investments, saying that he and his wife are "helping solve the problem by providing affordable rental accommodations to two deserving families". While residing at Stornoway, Poilievre said that his wife used theequity in her property to "maximize the best interests of her financial position."[353]
Poilievre isbilingual, speaking fluent English and French.[280] Poilievre'sFransaskois father, Donald, taught him to preserve his French speaking competency from an early age.[11]
Poilievre (he pronounces it 'paul-ee-EV')
[ˈpɒli.ɛv]
The simplest way for an Anglophone to say it is[ˈpɒli.ɛv] ['Poly-ev' in captions], but it has been said many different ways. [...] In France, [...][pwä.ljɛvʁ]
Mon père qui a des origines canadiennes-françaises et qui vient d'un village fransaskois m'a transmis l'importance de préserver le français dès mon plus jeune âge. [My father, who has French-Canadian origins and comes from a Fransaskois village, taught me the importance of preserving French from an early age].
As a teenager, he worked in corporate collections at Telus, calling businesses that hadn't paid their bills and helping them develop payment plans.
And Pierre Poilievre, the federal Conservative MP and frontrunner in his party's leadership race, scores huge applause at a weekend barbecue in Calgary, a city where he grew up and was a paperboy for the Calgary Sun.
'We're pretty similar politically,' said Poilievre, 'libertarian-minded and pretty much in line with the leader.'
Presumptive CPC frontrunner Pierre Poilievre's lawyer...
It's in this environment that Poilievre, the perceived frontrunner for the Conservative leadership...
Rayes said he thinks Charest would be the candidate representing the party's more progressive but economically conservative wing, capable of rallying the 'Blue Liberals,' a term in political jargon referring to liberals who tend to be fiscally more right-wing but socially progressive. Conversely, he described Poilievre as a libertarian politician and 'a bit more sensationalist.'
All political stripes have housing villains, which typically fit our pre-set views on the world. Poilievre as a libertarian, so government is the villain.
As for Poilievre's obsession with 'freedom,' it's not entirely clear what he intends to free Canadians from or how he would transport them to his libertarian Utopia.
Poilievre has been largely campaigning on economic issues. He has shown a strong libertarian streak, with repeated calls for Canada to be the "freest country on earth."
His pay-as-you-go approach to budgeting used in the Clinton and Obama years would help keep the lid on spending and deficits.
Poilievre pointed out that US Congress also imposed a Pay-As-You-Go Law on the deficit-prone United States Federal Government in 1990, which remained in place throughout the Clinton administration. Within a few years of its introduction, America's deficit was gone and the country had its first balanced budget since 1969.
Bank of Canada says #Bitcoin-ers lack financial literacy. This from the same people who promised we'd have 'deflation' right before inflation hit a 30 year high. It is our central bank that is financially illiterate. Restore sound money.
Poilievre says he would introduce plans in Saskatchewan to incentivize carbon-reducing technology that would help fight climate change.
Carbon capture and 'green energy': We're going to go with technology instead of taxes. Instead of forcing our provinces to impose a tax on their citizens, we're going to incentivize them to enable more environmentally friendly technology, like carbon capture and storage. … We're going to export our clean, green energy to the world.
We will greenlight mining and manufacturing of minerals like lithium, cobalt and copper to make our electric cars and batteries.
'We must permit Quebec to build more hydroelectric dams to provide the electricity that will be needed to power electric cars,' the person calling himself Pierre Poilievre said. 'The future of our green economy depends on [critical] minerals and green electricity.'
'we should be mining lithium, cobalt, nickel and other minerals necessary for electrification — but do it right here in Canada, of course.'
Enfin, le chef de l'opposition officielle à Ottawa s'est engagé à réduire la bureaucratie et la « paperasserie » imposées aux entreprises afin de les rendre plus productives, notamment dans les secteurs minier et hydroélectrique, pour planifier la transition écologique.
He has been compared to former President Donald Trump for his populist overtures, but in terms of substance, he has largely confined himself to pocketbook issues. He is pro-immigration — his wife is a Venezuelan immigrant — and now calls himself pro-choice.
In several ways, Poilievre does not fit the mould of a new populist. For one, Poilievre is not new. He was a cabinet minister in the Stephen Harper government and he has been a member of Parliament for almost 20 years. For another, he is not your stereotypical reactionary. He is at ease with the non-traditional family, he is pro-choice, he is pro-immigration.
His rhetorical style evokes populists such as Donald Trump. But his enemies list is more circumscribed. Unlike Mr Trump, he favours immigration.
Moreover, in a way that distinguishes him from Trump and other right-wing populists, Poilievre's social policies are progressive. He is pro-choice and pro-LGBT rights and has actually criticised the Trudeau ministry for not being pro-immigration enough, belittling the inefficiencies of the current immigration system as yet another example of big government "gatekeeping".
The "Trump North" label has failed to stick because he has been consistently pro-choice, supports gay marriage and favours immigration.
But Torrance told The Daily Signal that one must avoid completely equating Poilievre with Trump [...] Torrance added that Poilievre borrows from Trump but differs on key issues, such as his support of socialized health care.
In a world where authoritarianism is rising, Canada, without violence, without extremism, with its very sovereignty threatened, calmly demonstrated how a successful democracy functions. The pivotal political act came not from who won, but from who lost. […] Pierre Poilievre is combative and partisan and some of his supporters are angry in ways that he fostered. But at the most delicate moment for a democracy, the results just in, Poilievre put Canada first.
Our election was violence-free. America had an assassination attempt, ballot box arson attempts in at least two states, and numerous threats against election workers around the country [...] Most importantly, all our political leaders publicly accepted the results on election night. There was no talk of "stealing" or "rigging" a free and fair election. Democracy requires both good winners and good losers if it is to serve the country. We had that on Monday night.
In one of many thorny exchanges, Poilievre shot back in both official languages that he's "pro-choix" and "pro-choice."
Longtime MP Pierre Poilievre stated that a government led by him wouldn't pass or introduce legislation restricting access to abortion.
il déclare qu'un éventuel gouvernement conservateur qu'il dirigerait ne présenterait jamais un projet de loi sur cet enjeu. Mais il irait plus loin en s'assurant qu'aucun projet de moi, même privé, ne soit adopté non plus. [he declares that a possible conservative government that he would lead would never present a bill on this issue. But he would go further by making sure that no project of mine, even private, was adopted either].
'Justin Trudeau does not have a right to impose his radical gender ideology on our kids and on our schools,' said Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre at a rally in Richmond Hill this week.
During a news conference on Parliament Hill, the federal Conservative Leader answered "yes" when asked by a journalist to confirm, in the context of Alberta's proposed policy, that he was against the use of puberty blockers for people under 18.
Federal Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre says transgender women should not be allowed in women's change rooms and public washrooms, but as prime minister he would not have the reach to introduce legislation implementing such a ban.
Poilievre said. "There will also be no change to the legal status of marijuana under a future Conservative government."
But when it comes to the federal government's decision to decriminalize possessing small amounts of "hard drugs," their opposition — and their hypocrisy — has been much more audible.
We're not talking about marijuana here we're talking about highly lethal drugs that can stop a person's heart.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre pledged Thursday to repeal the online streaming bill if he wins the next federal election, calling it a "censorship" law that will curb freedom of expression on the internet.
Also on the candidate's chopping block is the federal Liberal's Bill C-11, a new version of the controversial Bill C-10 that died on the order paper after the last federal election was called.
Poilievre's stump speech also references a forthcoming Liberal bill that will attempt to combat online hate. Rodriguez hasn't yet tabled the legislation, which is also a redo after the government's last attempt spawned serious concerns about "unintended consequences" for freedom of speech in Canada.
Pierre Poilievre said Wednesday that, as prime minister, he would introduce a "Free Speech Act" that would repeal Bill C-11, known as the Online Streaming Act, eliminate the proposed "digital safety commissioner" position created under the act and leave it to law enforcement to enforce the criminal code online.
He was emphatic in an interview with a Punjabi radio show last month: 'The Conservative party is pro-immigration.'
I am pro-immigration. My wife is a refugee to Canada from Venezuela. Canada needs immigration to fulfill its economic success and so our party will put forward a pro-immigration platform in the next election and we will fight for immigrants by pressuring the current government to remove the backlog and increase processing time so we can get families united, refugees safe, and jobs filled here in Canada.
Since becoming leader nearly a year ago, Poilievre has tailored some foreign-policy planks to diaspora communities in Canada, such as pledging to have an airline establish a direct flight from Canada to Amritsar, an Indian city that is the centre of the Sikh faith.
A week into the sit-in, Trudeau's political rivals, including left-leaning New Democrat Party Leader Leader Jagmeet Singh and Conservative Party Leader Pierre Polievere also took notice and visited the makeshift camp, speaking in support of their fight for status.
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.['It will be much lower, especially for temporary immigration. It is impossible to invite 1.2 million new people to Canada each year when we build 200,000 housing units. It is impossible. There is no room. Quebec is at the breaking point,' declared the Conservative leader in an interview with TVA Nouvelles.]
| Parliament of Canada | ||
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| Preceded by | Member of Parliament forBattle River—Crowfoot 2025–present | Incumbent |
| Preceded by | Member of Parliament forCarleton (Nepean—Carleton, 2004—2015) 2004–2025 | Succeeded by |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Minister of Employment and Social Development 2015 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Minister for Democratic Reform 2013–2015 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Leader of the Opposition 2022–2025 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Leader of the Opposition 2025–present | Incumbent |
| Party political offices | ||
| Preceded by Candice Bergen Interim | Leader of theConservative Party 2022–present | Incumbent |
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