The Opposition House Leader (french: Leader à la Chambre de l'opposition, link=no), officially known as Leader of the Official Opposition in the House of Commons of Canada, is a member of the Official Opposition, not to be confused with the Leader of the Official Opposition, but is generally a senior member of the

frontbench In many parliaments and other similar assemblies, seating is typically arranged in banks or rows, with each political party or caucus grouped together. The spokespeople for each group will often sit at the front of their group, and are then know ...

. The House Leader is responsible for questioning the

Government House Leader The leader of the government in the House of Commons (), more commonly known as the government house leader, is the Cabinet minister responsible for planning and managing the government's legislative program in the House of Commons of Canada. De ...

on the forthcoming business of the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. T ...

, negotiating with the Government House Leader and other parties' house leaders on the progress of business in the House, and managing the Official Opposition's business in the House of Commons. The position of Opposition House Leader evolved in the 1950s as each Opposition party began to designate a particular MP to question the Government House Leader on upcoming House business. The title of Opposition House Leader became official in 1963, and in 1974, a special annual indemnity was attached to the position of House Leader in each of the opposition parties. The House Leader also coordinates the Official Opposition's floor strategy, often with the House Leaders of smaller opposition parties. The position is particularly important when there is a minority government, or a government with a slim majority, which may be defeated by a

vote of no confidence A motion of no confidence, also variously called a vote of no confidence, no-confidence motion, motion of confidence, or vote of confidence, is a statement or vote about whether a person in a position of responsibility like in government or mana ...

if all opposition parties work together. Notable Opposition House Leaders include

Herb Gray Herbert Eser Gray (May 25, 1931 – April 21, 2014) was a Canadian lawyer who became a prominent federal politician. He was a Liberal member of parliament for the Windsor area over the course of four decades, from 1962 to 2002, making Gray o ...

of the

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a li ...

(also a Government House Leader) and

Erik Nielsen Erik Hersholt Nielsen (February 24, 1924 – September 4, 2008) was a Canadian lawyer and politician. He served as the longtime Progressive Conservative Member of Parliament for Yukon, and was Leader of the Opposition and the third deputy pr ...

of the Progressive Conservative Party. Notable third party House Leaders include

Stanley Knowles Stanley Howard Knowles (June 18, 1908 – June 9, 1997) was a Canadian parliamentarian. Knowles represented the riding of Winnipeg North Centre from 1942 to 1958 on behalf of the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF) and again from 1 ...

who was the House Leader for the NDP from 1962 to 1981, and

Bill Blaikie William Alexander Blaikie (June 19, 1951 – September 24, 2022) was a Canadian politician. He served as a member of Parliament (MP) from 1979 to 2008, representing Elmwood—Transcona and its antecedent ridings in the House of Commons of Canad ...

(1996–2003).

List of Official Opposition House Leaders

List of official third party House Leaders

New Democratic Party

1962–1984 *

Ian Deans Ian Deans (August 16, 1937 – May 3, 2016) was a politician in Ontario, Canada. He was a New Democratic member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1967 to 1979 and was a member of the House of Commons of Canada from 1980 to 1986. Ba ...

1984–1986 (acting 1981–1984) * Nelson Riis 1986–1994 * Len Taylor 1994–1996 *

1996–2003 * Libby Davies 2003–2011 *''Official Opposition 2011–2015'' *

Peter Julian Peter S. Julian (born April 16, 1962) is a Canadian Member of Parliament for the New Democratic Party (NDP), representing the riding of New Westminster—Burnaby. Personal life Julian was born on April 16, 1962, in New Westminster, British Col ...

2015–2016 * Murray Rankin 2016–2018 *

Ruth Ellen Brosseau Ruth Ellen Brosseau (born April 26, 1984) is a Canadian politician who represented the riding of Berthier—Maskinongé in the House of Commons from the 2011 federal election until her defeat in 2019. She is a member of the New Democratic Party ...

2018–2019 *

2019–present

Reform Party

Elwin Hermanson Elwin Norris Hermanson (born August 22, 1952) was a Canadian politician, best known for being the first full-time leader of the Saskatchewan Party. In 1993 he was elected as a Reform Member of Parliament in the Saskatchewan riding of Kindersl ...

1993–1995 * Raymond Speaker 1995–1997 *''Official Opposition after 1997''

Progressive Conservative Party

*''Government or Official Opposition before 1993'' *''None 1993–1997'' *

Peter MacKay Peter Gordon MacKay (born September 27, 1965) is a Canadian lawyer and politician. He was a Member of Parliament from 1997 to 2015 and has served as Minister of Justice and Attorney General (2013–2015), Minister of National Defence (2007� ...

1997–2002 *

Loyola Hearn Loyola Hearn, (born March 25, 1943) is a Canadian diplomat and former politician. Hearn is the former Canadian Ambassador to Ireland. He served as a Member of the House of Commons of Canada from 2000 to 2008, and as Minister of Fisheries and Oc ...

2002–2004

Bloc Quebecois

*''Official Opposition 1993–1997'' * Michel Gauthier 1997–2007 * Pierre Paquette 2007–2011 *

Louis Plamondon Louis Plamondon (born July 31, 1943) is a Canadian politician who has represented Bécancour—Nicolet—Saurel (formerly known as Bas-Richelieu—Nicolet—Bécancour and Richelieu) in the House of Commons since 1984, making him the Dean of ...

2011–2013 * André Bellavance 2013–2014 * Jean-François Fortin 2014 *

2014–2015 * Luc Thériault 2015–2019 *

Alain Therrien Alain Therrien (born July 6, 1966) is a Canadian politician who was elected to represent the riding of La Prairie in the 2019 federal election as a member of the Bloc Québécois. Prior to entering federal politics, he served as a member of th ...