Who are Canada’s longest and shortest-serving Prime Ministers

Since Canada was founded in 1867, 24 people have served as Prime Minister of Canada, all except one — Kim Campbell — have been men. Unlike countries such as the United States and France, which have term limits for the leaders of their respective governments, Canada has no such restrictions. Based on data from the Parliament of Canada, excluding the current Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, the average tenure of a Canadian Prime Minister is 2,501 days. That’s works out to 6 years and 311 days, about 2 months shy of 7 years. Since Confederation, four prime ministers have served less than one year, while four have served more than 15 years.

The longest tenure belongs to William Lyon Mackenzie King, who served as prime minister of Canada for 21 years and 154 days over three non-consecutive terms. That’s a total of 4,772 days as prime minister. Mackenzie King was first elected prime minister on December 29, 1921, and served until June 28, 1926, a total of 1643 days. He was re-elected to a second term, which began on September 25, 1926, and ended on August 6, 1930. Mackenzie King was defeated in 1930 and served in opposition for the next five years. On October 19, 1935, Mackenzie King was elected to his third and final term as prime minister, a position he’d hold on to for the next 13 years. Mackenzie King’s reign as prime minister ended in 1948 upon his retirement.

Meanwhile, the shortest tenure belongs to Charles Tupper, who served as prime minister for 69 days (May 1, 1896 to July 8, 1896). Tupper was designated prime minister by the Governor General of Canada following the resignation of Mackenzie Bowell. An election was called shortly after Tupper assumed the role of Prime Minister, which his Conservative Party went on to lose to the Liberal Party led by Wilfred Laurier.

Which Canadian Prime Minister served the longest consecutive term?

Let’s look at the question of longest tenure differently. Rather than comparing the total days in office, let’s look at which prime minister served the longest uninterrupted term. According to the Parliament of Canada, a Ministry or term begins the day the Prime Minister takes office and ends on the day they pass away or resign from office. Throughout Canada’s history, five prime ministers have served more than one term: Sir John A. Macdonald, Pierre Elliott Trudeau, William Lyon Mackenzie King, Robert Borden, and Arthur Meighen. Looking at the length of each term, Wilfred Laurier’s 15 consecutive years as the prime minister of Canada puts him at the top of the list.