The Canadian federal election of 1949 was the first election in Canada in almost thirty years in which the Liberals were not led by William Lyon Mackenzie King. King had retired in 1948, and was replaced as Liberal leader by Louis St. Laurent. The Liberal party was re-elected with its fourth consecutive majority government, winning just under 50% of the vote.
The Progressive Conservative Party, led by former Premier of Ontario George Drew, gained little ground in this election.
Smaller parties, such as the social democratic Cooperative Commonwealth Federation, and Social Credit, a party that advocated monetary reform, lost support to the Liberals, and to a lesser extent, the Conservatives.
National results
| Party
| Party Leader
| # of candidates
| Seats
| Popular Vote
|
| Before
| After
| % Change
| #
| %
| Change
|
| Liberal
| | 258
|
| 191
|
| 2,874,813
| 49.15%
| +9.37%
|
| Progressive Conservative
| <center> George Drew
| 249
|
| 41
|
| 1,734,261
| 29.65%
| +2.03%
|
| Cooperative Commonwealth
| <center> M.J. Coldwell
| 180
|
| 13
|
| 784,770
| 13.42%
| -2.13%
|
| Social Credit
| <center> Solon Low
| 28
|
| 10
|
| 135,217
| 2.31%
| -1.74%
|
| Independent
| <center>
| 28
|
| 4
|
| 119,827
| 2.05%
| -2.84%
|
| Independent Liberal
| <center>
| 15
|
| 1
|
| 30,407
| 0.52%
| -1.27%
|
| Liberal-Labour
| <center>
| 2
|
| 1
|
| 11,730
| 0.20%
| +0.19%
|
| Liberal-Progressive
| <center>
| 1
|
| 1
|
| 9,192
| 0.16%
| +0.04%
|
| Union of Electors
| <center>
| 56
|
| 0
|
| 86,087
| 1.47%
| +1.46%
|
| Labour Progressive
| <center> Tim Buck
| 17
|
| 0
|
| 32,623
| 0.56%
| -1.58%
|
| Independent PC
| <center>
| 6
|
| 0
|
| 8,195
| 0.14%
| -0.14%
|
| Farmer-Labour
| <center>
| 1
|
| 0
|
| 6,161
| 0.11%
| -0.07%
|
| National Unity
| <center> Adrien Arcand
| 1
|
| 0
|
| 5,590
| 0.10%
| n.a.
|
| Nationalist
| <center>
| 1
|
| 0
|
| 4,994
| 0.09%
| n.a.
|
| Independent SC
| <center>
| 2
|
| 0
|
| 4,598
| 0.08%
| n.a.
|
| Labour
| <center>
| 2
|
| 0
|
| 415
| 0.01%
| x
|
| Socialist Labour
| <center>
| 1
|
| 0
|
| 271
| x
| n.a.
|
| Total
| <center>
| <center> 851
| <center>
| <center> 262
| <center>
| <center> 5,849,151
| <center> 100.00%
| <center>
|
| Sources: http://www.elections.ca -- History of Federal Ridings since 1867 (http://www.parl.gc.ca/information/about/process/house/hfer/hfer.asp?Language=E)
|
Notes:
n.a. = not applicable - the party was not recognized in the previous election
x - less than 0.005% of the popular vote
Results by province
| Party Name
| BC
| AB
| SK
| MB
| ON
| QC
| NB
| NS
| PE
| NL
| Terr
| Total
|
| Liberal
| Seats:
| 11
| 5
| 14
| 11
| 55
| 68
| 8
| 10
| 3
| 5
| 1
| 191
|
| Popular Vote:
| 36.7
| 33.8
| 43.4
| 45.1
| 45.1
| 60.4
| 53.8
| 52.7
| 49.2
| 71.9
| 49.0
| 49.1
|
| Progressive Conservative
| Seats:
| 3
| 2
| 1
| 1
| 25
| 2
| 2
| 2
| 1
| 2
| -
| 41
|
| Vote:
| 27.9
| 16.8
| 14.4
| 22.0
| 37.4
| 24.5
| 39.4
| 37.5
| 48.4
| 27.9
|
| 29.7
|
| Cooperative Commonwealth
| Seats:
| 3
| -
| 5
| 3
| 1
| -
| -
| 1
| -
| -
| -
| 13
|
| Vote:
| 31.5
| 10.0
| 40.9
| 25.9
| 15.2
| 1.1
| 4.2
| 9.9
| 2.4
| 0.2
| 17.0
| 13.4
|
| Social Credit
| Seats:
| -
| 10
| -
|
| -
|
|
|
|
|
|
| 10
|
| Vote:
| 0.5
| 37.4
| 0.9
|
| 0.2
|
|
|
|
|
|
| 2.3
|
| Independent
| Seats:
| 1
|
|
| -
| -
| 3
| -
|
|
|
|
| 4
|
| Vote:
| 2.6
|
|
| 2.1
| 0.1
| 6.1
| 0.2
|
|
|
| 34.0
| 2.1
|
| Independent Liberal
| Seats:
|
|
|
|
| 1
| -
| -
|
|
|
|
| 1
|
| Vote:
|
|
|
|
| 0.3
| 1.3
| 1.4
|
|
|
|
| 0.5
|
| Liberal-Labour
| Seats:
|
|
|
|
| 1
| -
|
|
|
|
|
| 1
|
| Vote:
|
|
|
|
| 0.6
| xx
|
|
|
|
|
| 0.2
|
| Liberal-Progressive
| Seats:
|
|
|
| 1
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| 1
|
| Vote:
|
|
|
| 2.9
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| 0.2
|
| Total Seats
|
| 18
| 17
| 20
| 16
| 83
| 73
| 10
| 13
| 4
| 7
| 1
| 262
|
| Parties that won no seats:
|
| Union of Electors
| Vote:
|
|
|
|
| 0.1
| 5.1
| 1.0
|
|
|
|
| 1.5
|
| Labour Progressive
| Vote:
| 0.8
| 0.7
| 0.4
| 2.0
| 0.7
| 0.3
|
|
|
|
|
| 0.6
|
| Independent PC
| Vote:
|
|
|
|
| xx
| 0.5
|
|
|
|
|
| 0.1
|
| Farmer-Labour
| Vote:
|
|
|
|
| 0.3
|
|
|
|
|
|
| 0.1
|
| National Unity
| Vote:
|
|
|
|
|
| 0.4
|
|
|
|
|
| 0.1
|
| Nationalist
| Vote:
|
|
|
|
|
| 0.3
|
|
|
|
|
| 0.1
|
| Independent Social Credit
| Vote:
|
| 1.4
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| 0.1
|
| Labour
| Vote:
|
|
|
|
| xx
| xx
|
|
|
|
|
| xx
|
| Socialist Labour
| Vote:
|
|
|
|
| xx
|
|
|
|
|
|
| xx
|
xx - less than 0.05% of the popular vote
