Prime Minister Mark Carney’s Liberals started with a minority government after the 2025 election but have upgraded to a majority government through floor crossings and three byelection wins last night. This shift gives the government full control of Parliament without needing opposition support. Confused? Let’s get into it!
What’s a majority government anyway?
We’ve covered this extensively in Social Studies lesson one and two, but here’s a refresher: A minority government holds fewer than half the seats in Parliament and must partner with other parties to pass laws or survive all-important confidence votes that a government must win in order to retain power. A majority government, on the other hand, is when one party occupies over half the seats in the House of Commons, allowing it to pass legislation without the support of opposition Members of Parliament and serve a full term in power, up to five years.
How did this government switch from minority to majority?
For the first time in our nation’s history, the government upgraded their minority to a majority without a general election. Here’s how it happened:
- In the last few months, five MPs switched party affiliation, joining the governing Liberals. This is known as floor crossing – elected representatives literally cross the floor of the House of Commons, moving from the benches of the party they ran with in the last election to the benches of a new party. Though controversial, it’s a legitimate and legal option in a Westminster constitutional government like ours.
- Byelections fill vacant seats, and they’re called when MPs resign, pass away, or leave office. Three occurred on April 13, 2026 – in University-Rosedale, Scarborough Southwest (both Ontario Liberal strongholds in the Toronto region) and Terrebonne (Quebec) – due to vacancies. Liberals won all three and, combined with the five floor crossings, moved from the 169 seats they won in the last election to 174 – two more than the 172 required for a majority.
Controlling committees is why majority governments matter
Committees review bills (at the Committee Stage of our legislative process) and often determine the speed with which legislation passes (or fails) in the House of Commons. In a minority government, the opposition often chairs committees and holds the balance of power, slowing government work. A majority lets the government re-assign committee seats proportionally via a House vote to change Standing Orders (rules structuring committees). Alternatively, proroguing Parliament – a controversial if legal shutdown and re-set of government – would also dissolve existing committee structures and create new membership based on the seat changes in the House of Commons.
What does a majority government mean to you?
With majority, the Carney-led government can now easily pass economic, trade, and crisis-response legislation, (in theory) strengthening Canada’s hand during upcoming negotiations with the US over free trade. It also ends the government’s reliance on opposition support to pursue their agenda, boosting stability and (likely) delaying the next election until 2029.