2015 Canadian federal election facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
2015 Canadian federal election

← 2011 October 19, 2015 (2015-10-19) 2019 →
← List of House members of the 41st Parliament of Canada List of House members of the 42nd Parliament of Canada →
All 338 seats in the House of Commons 170 seats needed for a majority
Opinion polls
Turnout	68.3% (7.2pp)
First party Second party Third party   Leader Justin Trudeau Stephen Harper Thomas Mulcair Party Liberal Conservative New Democratic Leader since April 14, 2013 March 20, 2004 March 24, 2012 Leader's seat Papineau Calgary Heritage Outremont Last election 34 seats, 18.91% 166 seats, 39.62% 103 seats, 30.63% Seats before 36 159 95 Seats won 184 99 44 Seat change 148 60 51 Popular vote 6,943,276 5,613,614 3,470,350 Percentage 39.47% 31.89% 19.71% Swing 20.56pp 7.73pp 10.92pp   Fourth party Fifth party   Leader Gilles Duceppe Elizabeth May Party Bloc Québécois Green Leader since June 10, 2015 August 27, 2006 Leader's seat Ran in Laurier—Sainte-Marie (lost) Saanich—Gulf Islands Last election 4 seats, 6.04% 1 seat, 3.91% Seats before 2 2 Seats won 10 1 Seat change 8 1 Popular vote 821,144 602,944 Percentage 4.66% 3.45% Swing 1.38pp 0.46pp
Popular vote by province, with graphs indicating the number of seats won within that province. (Because seats are awarded by the popular vote in each riding, the provincial popular vote does not necessarily translate to more seats.)
Prime Minister before election Stephen Harper Conservative Prime Minister after election Justin Trudeau Liberal

The 2015 Canadian federal election was a big election held in Canada on October 19, 2015. During this election, Canadians voted for people to represent them in the House of Commons. This is where laws are made for the whole country. The election also decided who would become the next Prime Minister.

The official start of the election was on August 4, 2015, announced by the Governor General, David Johnston. This election was one of the longest in Canada's history.

The Liberal Party, led by Justin Trudeau, won the election. They won enough seats to form a majority government. This meant they had more than half of the seats in the House of Commons. Justin Trudeau became the new Prime Minister of Canada on November 4, 2015.

Election Results Explained

In an election, people vote for a candidate in their local area, called a riding. The candidate who gets the most votes in that riding wins a "seat" in the House of Commons. The party that wins the most seats usually forms the government.

Here's how the main parties did in the 2015 election:

• Liberal Party: They won 184 seats. This was a big jump from the 36 seats they had before. They also got 39.5% of all the votes across Canada.
• Conservative Party: Led by Stephen Harper, they won 99 seats. They had 31.9% of the votes.
• New Democratic Party (NDP): Led by Thomas Mulcair, they won 44 seats and 19.7% of the votes.
• Bloc Québécois (BQ): This party focuses on Quebec. Led by Gilles Duceppe, they won 10 seats and 4.7% of the votes.
• Green Party: Led by Elizabeth May, they won 1 seat and 3.4% of the votes.

The total number of seats in the House of Commons was 338. To form a majority government, a party needed to win at least 170 seats. The Liberal Party won 184 seats, which was more than enough.

Images for kids

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  A polling station on election day

See also

In Spanish: Elecciones federales de Canadá de 2015 para niños