1963 Canadian federal election

1963 Canadian federal election

← 1962 April 8, 1963 1965 →
← outgoing members elected members →
265 seats in the House of Commons 133 seats needed for a majority
Opinion polls
Turnout	79.2%[1] (0.2pp)
First party Second party   Leader Lester B. Pearson John Diefenbaker Party Liberal Progressive Conservative Leader since January 16, 1958 December 14, 1956 Leader's seat Algoma East Prince Albert Last election 99 seats, 36.97% 116 seats, 37.22% Seats won 128 95 Seat change 29 21 Popular vote 3,276,996 2,591,613 Percentage 41.48% 32.80% Swing 4.51pp 4.42pp   Third party Fourth party   Leader Robert N. Thompson Tommy Douglas Party Social Credit New Democratic Leader since July 7, 1961 August 3, 1961 Leader's seat Red Deer Burnaby—Coquitlam Last election 30 seats, 11.61% 19 seats, 13.57% Seats won 24 17 Seat change 6 2 Popular vote 940,703 1,044,701 Percentage 11.91% 13.22% Swing 0.30pp 0.35pp
The Canadian parliament after the 1963 election
Prime Minister before election John Diefenbaker Progressive Conservative Prime Minister after election Lester B. Pearson Liberal

The 1963 Canadian federal election was held on April 8, 1963 to elect members of the House of Commons of Canada of the 26th Parliament of Canada. It resulted in the defeat of the minority Progressive Conservative (Tory) government of Prime Minister John Diefenbaker, with the Liberals returning to power for the first time in 6 years, where they would remain for twenty of the next twenty-one years (winning every election except the 1979 election until their landslide defeat in 1984). For the Social Credit Party, despite getting their highest ever share of the vote, the party lost 6 seats compared to its high-water mark in 1962.