The New Democratic Party (NDP; , ) is a federal
political party in Canada. Widely described as
social democratic
Social democracy is a Social philosophy, social, Economic ideology, economic, and political philosophy within socialism that supports Democracy, political and economic democracy and a gradualist, reformist, and democratic approach toward achi ...
,
[The party is widely described as social democratic:
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
* The Editors of ''Encyclopædia Britannica'' (April 28, 2025).]
"New Democratic Party"
''Encyclopædia Britannica''. Retrieved April 28, 2025 the party sits at the
centre-left
Centre-left politics is the range of left-wing political ideologies that lean closer to the political centre. Ideologies commonly associated with it include social democracy, social liberalism, progressivism, and green politics. Ideas commo ...
to
left-wing
Left-wing politics describes the range of Ideology#Political ideologies, political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy either as a whole or of certain social ...
of the Canadian
political spectrum
A political spectrum is a system to characterize and classify different Politics, political positions in relation to one another. These positions sit upon one or more Geometry, geometric Coordinate axis, axes that represent independent political ...
, generally to the left 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. For example, while the political systems ...
. The party was founded in 1961 by the
Co-operative Commonwealth Federation
The Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF; , FCC) was a federal democratic socialism, democratic socialistThe following sources describe the CCF as a democratic socialist political party:
*
*
*
*
*
* and social democracy, social-democ ...
and the
Canadian Labour Congress. As of 2025, it is the fourth-largest party in the House of Commons, with seven seats.
The federal and provincial (or territorial) level NDPs are more integrated than other political parties in Canada, and have shared membership.
The NDP has never won the largest share of seats at the federal level and thus has never formed government. From 2011 to 2015, it formed the
Official Opposition; apart from this, it has been the third or fourth-largest party in the
House of Commons
The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, 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 ...
. However, the party has held the
balance of power, and with it considerable influence, during periods of Liberal
minority government
A minority government, minority cabinet, minority administration, or a minority parliament is a government and cabinet formed in a parliamentary system when a political party or coalition of parties does not have a majority of overall seats in ...
s. Sub-national branches of the NDP have formed the government in six provinces (
Ontario
Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...
,
Manitoba
Manitoba is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada at the Centre of Canada, longitudinal centre of the country. It is Canada's Population of Canada by province and territory, fifth-most populous province, with a population ...
,
Saskatchewan
Saskatchewan is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada. It is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and to the south by the ...
,
Alberta
Alberta is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Canada. It is a part of Western Canada and is one of the three Canadian Prairies, prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to its west, Saskatchewan to its east, t ...
,
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...
, and
Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada, located on its east coast. It is one of the three Maritime Canada, Maritime provinces and Population of Canada by province and territory, most populous province in Atlan ...
) and the territory of
Yukon
Yukon () is a Provinces and territories of Canada, territory of Canada, bordering British Columbia to the south, the Northwest Territories to the east, the Beaufort Sea to the north, and the U.S. state of Alaska to the west. It is Canada’s we ...
. The NDP supports a
mixed economy
A mixed economy is an economic system that includes both elements associated with capitalism, such as private businesses, and with socialism, such as nationalized government services.
More specifically, a mixed economy may be variously de ...
, broader
welfare,
LGBTQ rights,
international peace,
environmental stewardship, and expanding
Canada's universal healthcare system to include dental care, mental health care, eye and hearing care, infertility procedures, and prescription drugs.
History
20th century
Origins and early history
In 1956, after the birth of the
Canadian Labour Congress (CLC) by a merger of two previous labour congresses, negotiations began between the CLC and the
Co-operative Commonwealth Federation
The Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF; , FCC) was a federal democratic socialism, democratic socialistThe following sources describe the CCF as a democratic socialist political party:
*
*
*
*
*
* and social democracy, social-democ ...
(CCF) to bring about an alliance between
organized labour and the
political left in Canada. In 1958 a joint CCF-CLC committee, the National Committee for the New Party (NCNP), was formed to create a new social democratic political party, with ten members from each group. The NCNP spent the next three years laying down the foundations of the
New Party, the party's interim name pending a national convention. During this process, a large number of New Party Clubs were established to allow like-minded Canadians to join in its founding, and six representatives from New Party Clubs were added to the National Committee. In 1961, at the end of a five-day long founding convention which established its principles, policies and structures, the New Democratic Party was born, and
Tommy Douglas
Thomas Clement Douglas (20 October 1904 – 24 February 1986) was a Scottish-born Canadian politician who served as the seventh premier of Saskatchewan from 1944 to 1961 and leader of the New Democratic Party from 1961 to 1971. A Bap ...
, the long-time CCF
Premier of Saskatchewan, was elected as its first leader.
David Lewis
At the
1971 leadership convention, an activist group called
the Waffle
The Waffle (officially known as the Movement for an Independent Socialist Canada after 1972) was a radical wing of Canada's New Democratic Party (NDP) in the late 1960s and early 1970s. It later transformed into an independent political party, ...
tried to take control of the party but was defeated by
David Lewis with the help of the union members. The following year, most of The Waffle split from the NDP and formed their own party. The NDP itself supported the minority government formed by the
Pierre Trudeau
Joseph Philippe Pierre Yves Elliott Trudeau (October 18, 1919 – September 28, 2000) was a Canadian politician, statesman, and lawyer who served as the 15th prime minister of Canada from 1968 to 1979 and from 1980 to 1984. Between his no ...
–led Liberals from 1972 to 1974, although the two parties never entered into a
coalition
A coalition is formed when two or more people or groups temporarily work together to achieve a common goal. The term is most frequently used to denote a formation of power in political, military, or economic spaces.
Formation
According to ''A G ...
. Together, they succeeded in passing several socially progressive initiatives into law such as pension indexing and the creation of the crown corporation
Petro-Canada
Petro-Canada (colloquially known as Petro-Can) is a retail and wholesale marketing brand subsidiary of Suncor Energy. Until 1991, it was a federal Crown corporation (a state-owned enterprise). In August 2009, Petro-Canada merged with Suncor En ...
.
In 1974, the NDP worked with the Progressive Conservatives to pass a motion of non-confidence, forcing an
election
An election is a formal group decision-making process whereby a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold Public administration, public office.
Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative d ...
. However, it backfired as Trudeau's Liberals regained a majority government, mostly at the expense of the NDP, which lost half its seats. Lewis lost his own riding and resigned as leader the following year.
Ed Broadbent
Under
Ed Broadbent (1975–1989) the NDP attempted to find a more populist image to contrast with the governing parties, focusing on more pocketbook issues than on ideological fervour. The party played a critical role during
Joe Clark's minority government of 1979–1980, moving the
non-confidence motion on
John Crosbie
John Carnell Crosbie (January 30, 1931 – January 10, 2020) was a Canadian provincial and federal politician who served as the 12th lieutenant governor of Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. Prior to being lieutenant governor, he served as a ...
's
1979 budget that brought down the
Progressive Conservative government and forced the
1980 election that brought the Liberal Party back to power.
In the
1984 election, which saw the Progressive Conservatives under
Brian Mulroney
Martin Brian Mulroney (March 20, 1939 – February 29, 2024) was a Canadian lawyer, businessman, and politician who served as the 18th prime minister of Canada from 1984 to 1993.
Born in the eastern Quebec city of Baie-Comeau, Mulroney studi ...
win the most seats in Canadian history, the NDP won 30 seats, while the governing Liberals fell to 40 seats.
The NDP set a then-record of 43
members of parliament (MPs) elected to the house in the
election of 1988. The Liberals, however, had reaped most of the benefits of opposing the
Canada–United States Free Trade Agreement to emerge as the dominant alternative to the ruling PC government. In 1989, Broadbent stepped down after 14 years as federal leader of the NDP.
Audrey McLaughlin
At the
party's leadership convention in 1989, former
BC Premier Dave Barrett
David Barrett (October 2, 1930 – February 2, 2018) was a Canadian politician and social worker in British Columbia. A member of the British Columbia New Democratic Party (BCNDP), he was the 26th premier of British Columbia from 1972 to 1 ...
and
Yukon
Yukon () is a Provinces and territories of Canada, territory of Canada, bordering British Columbia to the south, the Northwest Territories to the east, the Beaufort Sea to the north, and the U.S. state of Alaska to the west. It is Canada’s we ...
MP Audrey McLaughlin were the main contenders for the leadership. During the campaign, Barrett argued that the party should be concerned with
western alienation, rather than focusing its attention on
Quebec
Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...
. The Quebec wing of the NDP strongly opposed Barrett's candidacy, with
Phil Edmonston, the party's main spokesman in Quebec, threatening to resign from the party if Barrett won. McLaughlin ran on a more traditional approach, and became the first woman to lead a major federal political party in Canada.
Although enjoying strong support among organized labour and rural voters in the Prairies, McLaughlin tried to expand their support into Quebec without much success. Under McLaughlin, the party did manage to win an election in Quebec for the first time when Edmonston won the
1990 Chambly by-election.
McLaughlin and the NDP were routed in the
1993 election, where the party won only nine seats, three seats short of
official party status in the House of Commons. This was, until
2025
So far, the year has seen the continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudanese civil war, and the Gaza war. Internal crises in Bangladesh post-resignation v ...
, the NDP's lowest seat total in any election since the party's founding in 1961; the election also resulted in the lowest-ever total number of votes ever received by the NDP in a federal election. The loss was blamed on the unpopularity of NDP provincial governments under
Bob Rae
Robert Keith Rae (born August 2, 1948) is a Canadian diplomat and former politician who is the current Canadian Ambassador to the United Nations since 2020. He previously served as the 21st premier of Ontario from 1990 to 1995, leader of the ...
in Ontario and
Mike Harcourt in British Columbia and the loss of a significant portion of the Western vote to the
Reform Party, which promised a more decentralized and democratic federation along with right-wing economic reforms.
Alexa McDonough
McLaughlin resigned in 1995 and was succeeded by
Alexa McDonough
Alexa Ann McDonough ( Shaw; August 11, 1944 – January 15, 2022) was a Canadian politician who served as leader of the New Democratic Party from 1995 to 2003. She was the first woman to lead a major, recognized political party in Nova Scotia ...
, the former leader of the
Nova Scotia NDP. In contrast to traditional Canadian practice, where an MP for a safe seat stands down to allow a newly elected leader a chance to enter Parliament via a
by-election
A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, or a bypoll in India, is an election used to fill an office that has become vacant between general elections.
A vacancy may arise as a result of an incumben ...
, McDonough opted to wait until the next election to enter Parliament.
The party recovered somewhat in
the 1997 election, electing 21 members. The NDP made a breakthrough in
Atlantic Canada
Atlantic Canada, also called the Atlantic provinces (), is the list of regions of Canada, region of Eastern Canada comprising four provinces: New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island. As of 2021, the landma ...
, a region where they had been practically nonexistent at the federal level. Before 1997, they had won only three seats in Atlantic Canada. However, in 1997 they won eight seats in that region. The party was able to harness the discontent of voters in Atlantic Canada, who were upset over cuts to
employment insurance and other social programs implemented by
Jean Chrétien
Joseph Jacques Jean Chrétien (; born January 11, 1934) is a retired Canadian politician, statesman, and lawyer who served as the 20th prime minister of Canada from 1993 to 2003. He served as Leader of the Liberal Party of Canada, leader of t ...
's Liberal majority government.
In the November
2000 election, the NDP campaigned primarily on the issue of Medicare but lost significant support. The governing Liberals ran an effective campaign on their economic record and managed to recapture some of the Atlantic ridings lost to the NDP in the 1997 election. The initial high electoral prospects of the
Canadian Alliance under new leader
Stockwell Day also hurt the NDP as many supporters strategically voted Liberal to keep the Alliance from winning. The NDP finished with 13 MPs—just barely over the threshold for official party status. McDonough announced her resignation as party leader for family reasons in June 2002 (effective upon her successor's election).
21st century
Jack Layton
A Toronto city councillor and recent President of the
Federation of Canadian Municipalities
The Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM, ''Fédération canadienne des municipalités'') is an advocacy group representing over 2000 Canadian municipalities. It is an organization with no formal power but significant ability to influence ...
,
Jack Layton was elected at the party's
leadership election in Toronto on January 25, 2003.
The
2004 election produced mixed results for the NDP. It increased its total vote by more than a million votes; however, despite Layton's optimistic predictions of reaching 40 seats, the NDP only gained five seats in the election, for a total of 19. The party was disappointed to see its two
Saskatchewan
Saskatchewan is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada. It is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and to the south by the ...
incumbents defeated in close races by the new
Conservative Party (created by merger of the Canadian Alliance and Progressive Conservative parties), perhaps because of the unpopularity of the NDP provincial government.
The Liberals were re-elected, though this time as a
minority government
A minority government, minority cabinet, minority administration, or a minority parliament is a government and cabinet formed in a parliamentary system when a political party or coalition of parties does not have a majority of overall seats in ...
. Combined, the Liberals and NDP had 154 seats – one short of the total needed for the balance of power. As has been the case with Liberal minorities in the past, the NDP were in a position to make gains on the party's priorities, such as fighting health care
privatization
Privatization (rendered privatisation in British English) can mean several different things, most commonly referring to moving something from the public sector into the private sector. It is also sometimes used as a synonym for deregulation w ...
, fulfilling Canada's obligation to the
Kyoto Protocol
The was an international treaty which extended the 1992 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) that commits state parties to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, based on the scientific consensus that global warming is oc ...
, and
electoral reform
Electoral reform is a change in electoral systems that alters how public desires, usually expressed by cast votes, produce election results.
Description
Reforms can include changes to:
* Voting systems, such as adoption of proportional represen ...
. The party used Prime Minister
Paul Martin
Paul Edgar Philippe Martin (born August 28, 1938), also known as Paul Martin Jr., is a Canadian lawyer and retired politician who served as the 21st prime minister of Canada and the leader of the Liberal Party of Canada from 2003 to 2006.
Th ...
's politically precarious position caused by the
sponsorship scandal to force investment in multiple federal programs, agreeing not to help topple the government provided that some major concessions in the federal budget were ceded to.
On November 9, 2005, after the findings of the
Gomery Inquiry were released, Layton notified the Liberal government that continued NDP support would require a ban on private healthcare. When the Liberals refused, Layton announced that he would introduce a motion on November 24 that would ask Martin to call a federal election in February to allow for several pieces of legislation to be passed. The Liberals turned down this offer. On November 28, 2005, Conservative leader
Stephen Harper's motion of no confidence was seconded by Layton and it was passed by all three opposition parties, forcing an election.
During the
election
An election is a formal group decision-making process whereby a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold Public administration, public office.
Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative d ...
, the NDP won 29 seats, a significant increase of 10 seats from the 19 won in 2004. It was the fourth-best performance in party history, approaching the level of popular support enjoyed in the 1980s. The NDP kept all of the 18 seats it held at the dissolution of Parliament. While the party gained no seats in Atlantic Canada, Quebec, or the Prairie provinces, it gained five seats in British Columbia, five more in Ontario and the
Western Arctic riding of the
Northwest Territories
The Northwest Territories is a federal Provinces and territories of Canada, territory of Canada. At a land area of approximately and a 2021 census population of 41,070, it is the second-largest and the most populous of Provinces and territorie ...
.
The Conservatives won a minority government in the 2006 election, and initially the NDP was the only party that would not be able to pass legislation with the Conservatives. However, following a series of
floor crossings, the NDP also came to hold the balance of power. The NDP voted against the government in all four confidence votes in the 39th parliament, the only party to do so. However, it worked with the Conservatives on other issues, including in passing the
Federal Accountability Act and pushing for changes to the
Clean Air Act.
Following that election, the NDP caucus rose to 30 members with the victory of NDP candidate
Thomas Mulcair in a
by-election in Outremont. This marked the second time ever (and first time in seventeen years) that the NDP won a riding in Quebec. The party won 37 seats in the
2008 federal election, the best performance since the 1988 total of 43. This included a breakthrough in the riding of
Edmonton-Strathcona, only the second time the NDP had managed to win a seat in Alberta in the party's history.
In the
2011 federal election, the NDP won a record 103 seats, becoming the
Official Opposition for the first time in the party's history. The party had a historic breakthrough in
Quebec
Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...
, where they won 59 out of 75 seats, dominating
Montreal
Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...
and sweeping
Quebec City
Quebec City is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Quebec. As of July 2021, the city had a population of 549,459, and the Census Metropolitan Area (including surrounding communities) had a populati ...
and the
Outaouais
Outaouais (, ; also commonly called The Outaouais) is a region of western Quebec, Canada. It includes the city of Gatineau, the municipality of Val-des-Monts, the municipality of Cantley, Quebec, Cantley and the Papineau Regional County Municipal ...
. This meant that a majority of the party's MPs now came from a province where they had only ever had two candidates elected in the party's history. The NDP's success in Quebec was mirrored by the collapse of the
Bloc Québécois, which lost all but four of its 47 seats, and the collapse of the Liberal Party nationally, which was cut down to just 34 seats, its worst-ever result. This also marked the first time in history where the Liberal Party was neither the government nor the Official Opposition, as the NDP had taken over the latter role. The NDP was now the second largest party in the House of Commons opposing a Conservative majority government.
In July 2011, Layton announced that he was suffering from a new cancer and would take a leave of absence, projected to last until the resumption of Parliament in September. He would retain his position of NDP Leader and Leader of the Opposition. The party confirmed his suggestion of
Hull—Aylmer MP
Nycole Turmel to carry out the functions of party leader in his absence. Layton
died from his cancer on August 22, 2011.
Tom Mulcair

In his final letter, Layton called for a
leadership election to be held in early 2012 to choose his successor, which was held on March 24, 2012, and elected new leader
Tom Mulcair.
Despite early campaign polls which showed the NDP in first place, the party lost 59 seats in the
2015 election and fell back to third place in Parliament. By winning 44 seats, Mulcair was able to secure the second best showing in the party's history, winning one more seat than Ed Broadbent managed in the 1988 election, but with a smaller share of the popular vote.
NDP seat gains in Saskatchewan and British Columbia were offset by numerical losses in almost every other region, while in Alberta and Manitoba the party maintained its existing seat counts. The party was locked out of Atlantic Canada and the Territories, and lost over half of its seats in Ontario, including all of its seats in Toronto. In Quebec, the NDP lost seats to all three of the other major parties, namely the Liberals, Conservatives, and Bloc Québécois, though it managed to place second in both vote share (25.4%) and seats (16) behind the Liberals in the province. The election resulted in a Liberal majority government.
Mulcair's leadership faced criticism following the election, culminating in his losing a
leadership review vote held at the NDP's policy convention in
Edmonton
Edmonton is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Alberta. It is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Central Alberta ...
,
Alberta
Alberta is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Canada. It is a part of Western Canada and is one of the three Canadian Prairies, prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to its west, Saskatchewan to its east, t ...
on April 10, 2016. This marked the first time in Canadian federal politics that a leader was defeated in a confidence vote. Consequently, his successor was to be chosen at a
leadership election to be held no later than October 2017, with Mulcair agreeing to remain as leader until then.
Jagmeet Singh
On October 1, 2017,
Jagmeet Singh, the first person of a
visible minority group to lead a major Canadian federal political party on a permanent basis, won the leadership vote to head the NDP on the first ballot.
In the
2019 federal election, the NDP won only 24 seats in its worst result since 2004, shedding 15 seats.
Alexandre Boulerice, who was elected to his third term in
Rosemont—La Petite-Patrie, was the only NDP candidate to win a seat in Quebec, while the party lost all three of its Saskatchewan ridings (
Desnethé—Missinippi—Churchill River,
Regina—Lewvan, and
Saskatoon West) to the Conservatives.
The party remained shut out of Toronto and lost two of its MPs (
Cheryl Hardcastle in
Windsor—Tecumseh and
Tracey Ramsey in
Essex
Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...
) in the rest of Ontario, while making small or no gains in the popular vote in Manitoba, Newfoundland and Labrador, Alberta and Nunavut. In British Columbia, the NDP lost three seats (
Kootenay—Columbia,
Port Moody—Coquitlam, and, after having lost it at
a by-election,
Nanaimo—Ladysmith); however, they retained most of their support in the province.
Following the election, the NDP held the balance of power as the Liberals won a minority government, although it fell back to fourth place behind the resurgent Bloc Québécois. During the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
, the NDP used its leverage to lobby the Liberals to be more generous in their financial aid to Canadians, including by extending of the
Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) program, which was a key demand in order to provide confidence to the government in the autumn of 2020.
In the
snap 2021 federal election, the NDP made minor gains in both vote share and seat count, winning in 25 ridings. The party won a second seat in Alberta for the first time when
Blake Desjarlais picked up
Edmonton Griesbach and
Heather McPherson won her second term at
Edmonton Strathcona. The party also picked up two seats in British Columbia with
Lisa Marie Barron reclaiming Nanaimo—Ladysmith and
Bonita Zarrillo
Bonita M. Zarrillo (born ) is a Canadian politician and who was the Member of Parliament for Port Moody—Coquitlam (federal electoral district), Port Moody—Coquitlam elected in the 2021 Canadian federal election. She had previously narrowly l ...
reclaiming Port Moody—Coquitlam. These gains were offset by losses to the Liberals in
St. John's East and
Hamilton Mountain, where incumbent NDP MPs
Jack Harris and
Scott Duvall did not stand for re-election. Overall, the election resulted in no change to the balance of power in the House of Commons.
In March 2022, the NDP agreed to a
confidence and supply
In parliamentary system, parliamentary democracies based on the Westminster system, confidence and supply is an arrangement under which a minority government (one which does not control a majority in the legislature) receives the support of one ...
deal with the Liberal Party, led by
Prime Minister
A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...
Justin Trudeau. Among the policies included in the deal were the establishment of a national
dental care program for low income Canadians, progress towards a national
pharmacare program, labour reforms for federally regulated workers, and new taxes on financial institutions.
In September 2024, the NDP faced two competitive by-elections in
Elmwood—Transcona in
Manitoba
Manitoba is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada at the Centre of Canada, longitudinal centre of the country. It is Canada's Population of Canada by province and territory, fifth-most populous province, with a population ...
and
LaSalle—Émard—Verdun in
Quebec
Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...
. The NDP successfully defended the Elmwood—Transcona seat, with
Leila Dance elected as MP with a much reduced margin. This was the NDP's first by-election victory in five years. However, the party finished a close third in LaSalle—Émard—Verdun, behind the Liberals and the Bloc Québécois. Further to this, the NDP ended their confidence and supply agreement with the Liberal Party. The deal had run from March 2022 but was pulled nine months early.
Following the appointment of
Mark Carney
Mark Joseph Carney (born March 16, 1965) is a Canadian politician and economist who has served as the 24th and current Prime Minister of Canada, prime minister of Canada since 2025. He has served as Leader of the Liberal Party of Canada, lead ...
as prime minister, the NDP suffered poor polling. At the
2025 federal election, the NDP has suffered its worst seat result in its history, losing 17 of their 24 seats to both Liberal and Conservative candidates, and lost
official party status in the
House of Commons
The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, 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 ...
. Singh lost his own riding of
Burnaby Central,
and announced that he would resign as party leader after the selection of an interim leader. He was replaced by
Vancouver Kingsway MP
Don Davies
Donald Vincent Davies (born January 16, 1963) is a Canadian politician who has served as the interim leader of the New Democratic Party since 2025 and as the Member of Parliament (Canada), member of Parliament for Vancouver Kingsway since 20 ...
on an interim basis until
a new party leader is elected.
Ideology and policies
The NDP evolved in 1961 from a merger of the
Canadian Labour Congress (CLC) and the
Co-operative Commonwealth Federation
The Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF; , FCC) was a federal democratic socialism, democratic socialistThe following sources describe the CCF as a democratic socialist political party:
*
*
*
*
*
* and social democracy, social-democ ...
(CCF). The CCF grew from
populist,
agrarian and
socialist
Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ...
roots into a modern social democratic party. Although the CCF was part of the
Christian left and the
Social Gospel movement, the NDP is
secular
Secularity, also the secular or secularness (from Latin , or or ), is the state of being unrelated or neutral in regards to religion. The origins of secularity can be traced to the Bible itself. The concept was fleshed out through Christian hi ...
and pluralistic. It has broadened to include concerns of the
New Left
The New Left was a broad political movement that emerged from the counterculture of the 1960s and continued through the 1970s. It consisted of activists in the Western world who, in reaction to the era's liberal establishment, campaigned for freer ...
, and advocates issues such as
LGBT rights
Rights affecting lesbian, Gay men, gay, Bisexuality, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) people vary greatly by country or jurisdiction—encompassing everything from the legal recognition of same-sex marriage to the Capital punishmen ...
,
international peace, and
environmental stewardship. The NDP also supports a
mixed economy
A mixed economy is an economic system that includes both elements associated with capitalism, such as private businesses, and with socialism, such as nationalized government services.
More specifically, a mixed economy may be variously de ...
and broader
welfare, and has a
left-wing
Left-wing politics describes the range of Ideology#Political ideologies, political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy either as a whole or of certain social ...
,
democratic socialist
Democratic socialism is a left-wing economic and political philosophy that supports political democracy and some form of a socially owned economy, with a particular emphasis on economic democracy, workplace democracy, and workers' self-mana ...
faction. The NDP is a member of the
Progressive Alliance
The Progressive Alliance (PA) is a political international of progressive and social democratic political parties and organisations founded on 22 May 2013 in Leipzig, Germany. The alliance was formed as an alternative to the existing Socia ...
, a
political international of progressive and social democratic parties.
Ideological orientation
The NDP's constitution states that both
social democracy
Social democracy is a Social philosophy, social, Economic ideology, economic, and political philosophy within socialism that supports Democracy, political and economic democracy and a gradualist, reformist, and democratic approach toward achi ...
and
democratic socialism
Democratic socialism is a left-wing economic ideology, economic and political philosophy that supports political democracy and some form of a socially owned economy, with a particular emphasis on economic democracy, workplace democracy, and wor ...
are influences on the party. Specific inclusion of the party's history as the continuation of the more radical Co-operative Commonwealth Federation, and specific identification of the "democratic socialist" tradition as a continuing influence on the party are part of the language of the preamble to the party's constitution:
Health care
The NDP states that it is committed to public health care. The party states that it fights for "a national, universal, public pharmacare program to make sure that all Canadians can access the prescription medicine they need with their health card, not their credit card – saving money and improving health outcomes for everyone". The party also states its support for expanding services covered under the national health care system to include dental care, mental health care, eye and hearing care, infertility procedures, and prescription drugs. Regarding dentistry, the NDP notes that "one in three Canadians has no dental insurance and over six million people don't visit the dentist every year because they can't afford to. Too many people are forced to go without the care they need until the pain is so severe that they are forced to seek relief in hospital emergency rooms".
Palestine
The NDP supports the
Palestinian state
Palestine, officially the State of Palestine, is a country in West Asia. Recognized by 147 of the UN's 193 member states, it encompasses the Israeli-occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip, collectively known as th ...
. In March 2024, an NDP motion on Palestine was passed after significant amendments were agreed with the Liberals. In particular, the motion called on the government to "officially recognize the State of Palestine"; however, this was amended to "work...towards the establishment of the State of Palestine as part of a negotiated
two-state solution."
Electoral achievements
Since its formation, the party has had a presence in the House of Commons. It was the third largest political party from 1965 to 1993, when the party dropped to fourth and lost
official party status. The NDP's peak period of policy influence in those periods was during the minority
Liberal governments of
Lester B. Pearson
Lester Bowles Pearson (23 April 1897 – 27 December 1972) was a Canadian politician, diplomat, statesman, and scholar who served as the 14th prime minister of Canada from 1963 to 1968. He also served as Leader of the Liberal Party of C ...
(1963–68) and
Pierre Trudeau
Joseph Philippe Pierre Yves Elliott Trudeau (October 18, 1919 – September 28, 2000) was a Canadian politician, statesman, and lawyer who served as the 15th prime minister of Canada from 1968 to 1979 and from 1980 to 1984. Between his no ...
(1972–74). The NDP regained official status in 1997, and played a similar role in the Liberal and Conservative minority governments of 2004–2006 and 2006–2011, respectively. Following the
2011 election, the party became the second-largest party and formed the
Official Opposition in the
41st Canadian Parliament.
Provincial New Democratic parties, which are organizationally sections of the federal party, have governed in six of the ten
provinces and one territory. As of 2025, the NDP governs the provinces of
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...
and
Manitoba
Manitoba is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada at the Centre of Canada, longitudinal centre of the country. It is Canada's Population of Canada by province and territory, fifth-most populous province, with a population ...
, forms the
Official Opposition in
Alberta
Alberta is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Canada. It is a part of Western Canada and is one of the three Canadian Prairies, prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to its west, Saskatchewan to its east, t ...
,
Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada, located on its east coast. It is one of the three Maritime Canada, Maritime provinces and Population of Canada by province and territory, most populous province in Atlan ...
,
Ontario
Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...
, and
Saskatchewan
Saskatchewan is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada. It is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and to the south by the ...
, and has sitting members in every provincial legislature except those of
New Brunswick
New Brunswick is a Provinces and Territories of Canada, province of Canada, bordering Quebec to the north, Nova Scotia to the east, the Gulf of Saint Lawrence to the northeast, the Bay of Fundy to the southeast, and the U.S. state of Maine to ...
,
Prince Edward Island
Prince Edward Island is an island Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. While it is the smallest province by land area and population, it is the most densely populated. The island has several nicknames: "Garden of the Gulf", ...
, and
Quebec
Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...
. The NDP has previously formed the government in the provinces of BC, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, Nova Scotia, and the
Yukon
Yukon () is a Provinces and territories of Canada, territory of Canada, bordering British Columbia to the south, the Northwest Territories to the east, the Beaufort Sea to the north, and the U.S. state of Alaska to the west. It is Canada’s we ...
Territory. The NDP has since its founding in 1961 had at least one sitting member in every provincial legislature except that of Quebec.
While members of the party are active in municipal politics, the party does not organize at that level. For example, though former Toronto mayor
David Miller was an NDP member during his successful 2003 and 2006 mayoral campaigns, his campaigns were not affiliated with the NDP. This is also the case with incumbent Toronto mayor
Olivia Chow, Hamilton mayor
Andrea Horwath
Andrea Lynn Horwath (; born October 24, 1962) is a Canadian politician who has served as the 58th List of mayors of Hamilton, Ontario, mayor of Hamilton since 2022. Horwath served as the leader of the Ontario New Democratic Party (NDP) from 200 ...
, and former Vancouver mayor
Kennedy Stewart.
Provincial and territorial wings

Unlike most other Canadian federal parties, the NDP is integrated with its provincial and territorial parties. Holding membership of a provincial or territorial section of the NDP includes automatic membership in the federal party, and this precludes a person from being a member of different parties at the federal and provincial levels. Membership lists are maintained by the provinces and territories. This has the effect of there being different minimum membership ages depending on the province, with age ranges from 12 to 14 years old.
There have been three exceptions:
Nunavut
Nunavut is the largest and northernmost Provinces and territories of Canada#Territories, territory of Canada. It was separated officially from the Northwest Territories on April 1, 1999, via the ''Nunavut Act'' and the Nunavut Land Claims Agr ...
, the
Northwest Territories
The Northwest Territories is a federal Provinces and territories of Canada, territory of Canada. At a land area of approximately and a 2021 census population of 41,070, it is the second-largest and the most populous of Provinces and territorie ...
, and
Quebec
Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...
. In Nunavut and in the Northwest Territories, whose territorial legislatures have non-partisan
consensus governments, the federal NDP is promoted by its riding associations, since each territory is composed of only one federal
riding.
In Quebec, the
historical New Democratic Party of Quebec was integrated with the federal party from 1963 until 1989, when the two agreed to sever their structural ties after the Quebec party adopted a
sovereigntist platform. For the next two decades, the federal NDP was represented in Quebec only by their Quebec Section, whose activities in the province were limited to the federal level. In 2014, the
New Democratic Party of Quebec (NDPQ) was re-established as a
federalist
The term ''federalist'' describes several political beliefs around the world. It may also refer to the concept of parties, whose members or supporters call themselves ''Federalists''.
History Europe federation
In Europe, proponents of deep ...
party, unaffiliated with the federal NDP. The NDPQ dissolved at the end of 2024.
The New Democratic Party currently forms government in British Columbia and Manitoba, and has previously formed government in Alberta, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Saskatchewan, and Yukon.
Current members of Parliament
Federal leadership
Leaders
A list of leaders (including interim leaders) since 1961.
; Notes
Presidents
The party president is the administrative chairperson of the party, chairing party conventions, councils and executive meetings.
*
Michael Kelway Oliver (1961–1963)
*
Merv Johnson (1963–1965)
*
Eamon Park (1965–1967)
*
James Renwick (1967–1969)
*
Allan Blakeney (1969–1971)
*
Donald C. MacDonald (1971–1975)
* Joyce Nash (1975–1977)
* Alvin Hewitt (1977–1981)
*
Tony Penikett (1981–1985)
*
Marion Dewar (1985–1987)
*
Johanna den Hertog (1987–1989)
* Sandra Mitchell (1989–1991)
* Nancy Riche (1991–1995)
*
Iain Angus (1995–1997)
*
Ed Tchorzewski (1997–1999)
* Dave MacKinnon (c. 1999–2000)
*
Adam Giambrone (2001–2006)
*
Anne McGrath (2006–2009)
*
Peggy Nash (2009–2011)
*
Brian Topp (2011)
*
Rebecca Blaikie (2011–2016)
*
Marit Stiles (2016–2018)
* Mathieu Vick (2018–2021)
* Dhananjai Kohli (2021–2023)
*
Mary Shortall (2023–present)
Federal secretaries and national directors
Federal secretaries
*
Terry Grier (1962–1966)
* Clifford Scotton (1966–1974)
*
Robin Sears (1974 – 1980)
* Mary Ellen McQuay ( –
)
*
Gerry Caplan (1982
–1984)
* Dennis Young ()
*
Bill Knight (1988–1989)
*
Dick Proctor (1989–1992)
*
Peter Julian
Peter S. Julian (born April 16, 1962) is a Canadian politician who was a Member of Parliament for the New Democratic Party (NDP) from 2004 to 2025. He represented the ridings of Burnaby—New Westminster from 2004 to 2015 and New Westminste ...
(acting; )
* David Woodbury ()
* Jill Marzetti (1997 – 2000)
* Chris Watson ()
* Eric Hébert-Daly (2004–2008)
National directors
*
Dick Proctor (interim; – 2009)
*
Brad Lavigne (2009–2011)
* Nathan Rotman (2012–2014)
*
Anne McGrath (2014–2015)
*
Karl Bélanger (interim; 2016)
* Robert Fox (2016–2018)
* Melissa Bruno (2018–2019)
*
Anne McGrath (2019–2024)
* Lucy Watson (since 2024)
Election results
House of Commons
Logos
See also
*
List of CCF/NDP MPs
Progressive think tanks:
*
Broadbent Institute
*
Douglas–Coldwell Foundation
Factions of the NDP:
*
Left Caucus
*
New Democratic Party Socialist Caucus
*
New Politics Initiative
Affiliated Provincial and Territorial parties:
*
BC NDP
*
Alberta NDP
*
Saskatchewan NDP
*
Manitoba NDP
*
Ontario NDP
*
New Brunswick NDP
*
Nova Scotia NDP
*
PEI NDP
*
Newfoundland and Labrador NDP
*
Yukon NDP
Notes
References
External links
*
New Democratic Party – Canadian Political Parties and Political Interest Groups– Web Archive created by the University of Toronto Libraries
Co-operative Commonwealth Federation and New Democratic Party fondsat
Library and Archives Canada
Library and Archives Canada (LAC; ) is the federal institution tasked with acquiring, preserving, and providing accessibility to the documentary heritage of Canada. The national archive and library is the 16th largest library in the world. T ...
{{Authority control
1961 establishments in Canada
Political parties established in 1961
Social democratic parties in Canada
Non-interventionist parties
Centre-left parties
Progressive Alliance
Socialism in Canada
Labour parties in Canada
Federal political parties in Canada
Progressivism in Canada