1972 Canadian federal election

1972 Canadian federal election

← 1968 October 30, 1972 1974 →
← outgoing members elected members →
264 seats in the House of Commons 133 seats needed for a majority
Opinion polls
Turnout	76.7%[1] (1.0pp)
First party Second party   Leader Pierre Trudeau Robert Stanfield Party Liberal Progressive Conservative Leader since April 6, 1968 September 9, 1967 Leader's seat Mount Royal Halifax Last election 155 seats, 45.37% 72 seats, 31.36% Seats before 147 73 Seats won 109 107 Seat change 38 34 Popular vote 3,717,804 3,388,980 Percentage 38.42% 35.02% Swing 6.95pp 3.59pp   Third party Fourth party   Leader David Lewis Réal Caouette Party New Democratic Social Credit Leader since April 24, 1971 October 9, 1971 Leader's seat York South Témiscamingue Last election 22 seats, 16.96% 14 seats, 5.28%1 Seats before 25 15 Seats won 31 15 Seat change 6 0 Popular vote 1,725,719 730,759 Percentage 17.83% 7.55% Swing 0.87pp 2.27pp
Results by electoral district, shaded by winners' vote share Results by province and territory
The Canadian parliament after the 1972 election
Prime Minister before election Pierre Trudeau Liberal Prime Minister after election Pierre Trudeau Liberal

The 1972 Canadian federal election was held on October 30, 1972, to elect members of the House of Commons of Canada of the 29th Parliament of Canada. It resulted in a slim victory for the governing Liberal Party led by Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, which won 109 seats, compared to 107 seats for the opposition Progressive Conservatives led by Robert Stanfield. Trudeau's Liberals experienced a decline in support as a result of rising unemployment.

A further 48 seats were won by other parties and independents. On election night, the results appeared to give 109 seats to the Tories, but once the counting had finished the next day, the final results gave the Liberals a minority government and left the New Democratic Party led by David Lewis holding the balance of power.

This was the first national election held in Canada after the voting age was lowered from 21 to 18 in 1970.^[2]