Leader of the Liberal Party of Canada

The leader of the Liberal Party of Canada (French: chef du parti libéral) is the highest position within the federal Liberal Party of Canada. The current holder of the position is Mark Carney, who was elected to the position on March 9, 2025, following his victory in the party's leadership election.^[1]

Leader of the Liberal Party
Chef du Parti libéral
Incumbent Mark Carney since March 9, 2025
Status	Party leader
Member of	Liberal Party of Canada
Appointer	Elected by members of the party
Inaugural holder	Alexander Mackenzie
Formation	March 6, 1873
Deputy	Deputy Leader

List of leaders

Leaders

No.	Portrait	Name	Term start	Term end	Tenure	Date of birth	Date of death	Notes
—		George Brown	1867	1867	<365 days	November 29, 1818	May 9, 1880	Unofficial (The leader of the Clear Grits, a forerunner of the federal Liberal Party)
—		Edward Blake	1869	1870	<365 days	October 13, 1834	March 1, 1912	Unofficial
1		Alexander Mackenzie	March 6, 1873	April 27, 1880	2609 days	January 28, 1822	April 17, 1892	2nd Prime Minister (1st Liberal Prime Minister)
2		Edward Blake	May 4, 1880	June 2, 1887	2585 days	October 13, 1833	March 1, 1912	Leader of the Opposition
3		Wilfrid Laurier	June 23, 1887	February 17, 1919	11561 days	November 20, 1841	February 17, 1919	7th Prime Minister
—		Daniel Duncan McKenzie	February 17, 1919	August 7, 1919	171 days (interim)	January 8, 1859	June 8, 1927	Interim leader, Leader of the Opposition
4		William Lyon Mackenzie King	August 7, 1919	August 7, 1948	10593 days	December 17, 1874	July 22, 1950	10th Prime Minister
5		Louis St. Laurent	August 7, 1948	January 16, 1958	3449 days	February 1, 1882	July 25, 1973	12th Prime Minister
6		Lester B. Pearson	January 16, 1958	April 6, 1968	3733 days	April 23, 1897	December 27, 1972	14th Prime Minister
7		Pierre Trudeau	April 6, 1968	June 16, 1984	5915 days	October 18, 1919	September 28, 2000	15th Prime Minister
8		John Turner	June 16, 1984	June 23, 1990	2198 days	June 7, 1929	September 18, 2020	17th Prime Minister
9		Jean Chrétien	June 23, 1990	November 14, 2003	4892 days	January 11, 1934	living	20th Prime Minister
10		Paul Martin	November 14, 2003	March 19, 2006	856 days	August 28, 1938	living	21st Prime Minister
—		Bill Graham	March 19, 2006	December 2, 2006	258 days (interim)	March 17, 1939	August 7, 2022	Interim leader, Leader of the Opposition
11		Stéphane Dion	December 2, 2006	December 10, 2008	739 days	September 28, 1955	living	Leader of the Opposition
12		Michael Ignatieff	December 10, 2008 (elected on May 2, 2009)	May 25, 2011	896 days (total) 143 days (interim) 753 days (permanent)	May 12, 1947	living	Interim leader until May 2, 2009 (when ratified as leader), Leader of the Opposition
—		Bob Rae	May 25, 2011	April 14, 2013	690 days (interim)	August 2, 1948	living	Interim leader
13		Justin Trudeau	April 14, 2013	March 9, 2025	4347 days	December 25, 1971	living	23rd Prime Minister
14		Mark Carney	March 9, 2025	Incumbent	161 days	March 16, 1965	living	24th Prime Minister

Source:^[2]

Deputy Leaders

• Herb Gray 1989–1990^[3]
• Sheila Copps 1991–1993^[4]
• Lucienne Robillard 2006^[5]
• Michael Ignatieff 2006–2008^[6]
• Ralph Goodale 2010–2015^[7]

Presidents

• Vincent Massey 1932–1935
• Norman Platt Lambert 1936–1941
• Vacant 1941–1943
• Norman Alexander McLarty 1943 (acting)
• Wishart McLea Robertson 1943–1945
• James Gordon Fogo 1946–1952
• Duncan Kenneth MacTavish 1952–1958
• Bruce Matthews 1958–1961
• John Joseph Connolly 1961–1964
• John Lang Nichol 1964–1968
• Richard Stanbury 1968–1973
• Gildas Molgat 1973–1976
• Alasdair Graham 1976–1980
• Norman MacLeod 1980–1982
• Iona Campagnolo 1982–1986
• J. J. Michel Robert 1986–1990
• Don Johnston 1990–1994
• Dan Hays 1994–1998
• Stephen LeDrew 1998–2003
• Michael Eizenga 2003–2006
• Marie Poulin 2006–2008
• Doug Ferguson 2008–2009
• Alfred Apps 2009–2012
• Mike Crawley 2012–2014
• Anna Gainey 2014–2018
• Suzanne Cowan 2018–2023
• Sachit Mehra 2023–present^[8]

See also

• History of the Liberal Party of Canada
• Liberal Party of Canada leadership elections
• Leader of the Conservative Party of Canada
• Leader of the New Democratic Party