Historical rankings of prime ministers of Canada

Surveys have been conducted to construct historical rankings of individuals who have served as prime minister of Canada. These ranking systems are usually based on surveys of academic historians, economists and political scientists. The rankings focus on the achievements, leadership qualities, failures and faults in office.

Expert survey results Canadian custom is to count by the individuals who were prime minister, not by terms. Since Confederation, 24 prime ministers have been "called upon" by the governor general to form 30 Canadian ministries. Legend Blue backgrounds indicate first quartile. Green backgrounds indicate second quartile. Orange backgrounds indicate third quartile. Red backgrounds indicate fourth quartile.

Note: Click the "sort" icon at the head of each column to view the rankings for each survey in numerical order.

SequenceSequence listed by first term as prime minister. Prime Minister Political party Maclean's 1997Hillmer, Norman and Granatstein, J. L. "Historians rank the BEST AND WORST Canadian Prime Ministers" . Maclean's. April 21, 1997. Accessed July 9, 2012. Maclean's 2011Hillmer, Norman and Azzi, Stephen. "Canada's best prime ministers", Maclean's, June 10, 2011. Accessed July 9, 2012. Maclean's 2016Azzi, Stephen and Hillmer, Norman. "Ranking Canada's best and worst prime ministers" Maclean's, October 7, 2016. Accessed June 22, 2017. AggregateAggregate of all polls in the table using Copeland's method. Time in office (rank) 1 Conservative 2 2 3 03 2 2 Liberal 11 13 13 13 14 3 Served less than 2 years, 3 months as prime minister, while all others served for more than 4 years, 11 months. There is a strong correlation between time served in office and the poll rankings: the bottom quartile of the aggregate poll rankings are all in the bottom quartile of time served in office. Similarly, the top four prime ministers in terms of aggregate rankings are in the top four of time spent in office. Conservative 17 19 20 20 18 4 Conservative 10 14 16 15 16 5 Conservative 19 21 21 22 19 6 Conservative 16 18 19 19 23 7 Liberal 3 1 2 02 4 8 Conservative, Unionist 7 8 9 08 9 9 Conservative 14 16 17 17 17 10 Liberal 1 3 1 01 1 11 Conservative 12 12 14 14 12 12 Liberal 4 7 6 06 10 13 Progressive Conservative 13 10 12 12 11 14 Liberal 6 4 5 05 13 15 Liberal 5 5 4 04 3 16 Progressive Conservative 15 17 18 18 20 17 Liberal 18 20 22 21 22 18 Progressive Conservative 8 9 8 09 8 19 Progressive Conservative 20 22 23 23 21 20 Liberal 9Ranking calculated before the prime minister had left office. 6 7 07 5 21 Liberal — 15 15 16 15 22 Conservative — 11 11 11 6 23 Liberal — — 10 10 7

By public approval rating The following is a list of prime ministers of Canada by their highest and lowest approval rating during their term. The approval rating system came into effect when John Diefenbaker was prime minister (1957–1963).

Highest approval rating 1. Mark Carney — 70% (September 2026) 2. Jean Chrétien — 66% (September 1994) 3. Justin Trudeau — 65% (September 2016) 4. John Diefenbaker — 64% (June 1958) 5. Stephen Harper — 64% (March 2006) 6. Brian Mulroney — 61% (June 1985) 7. Paul Martin — 56% (September 2004) 8. Lester B. Pearson — 56% (January 1966) 9. Pierre Trudeau — 55% (September 1972) 10. Kim Campbell — 53% (July 1993)

Lowest approval rating 1. Brian Mulroney — 12% (November 1992) 2. Justin Trudeau — 21% (January 2025) 3. Stephen Harper — 23% (May 2013) 4. Joe Clark — 24% (January 1980) 5. Pierre Trudeau — 25% (September 1982) 6. John Diefenbaker — 34% (March 1963) 7. Jean Chrétien — 36% (June 2000) 8. Paul Martin — 41% (June 2005) 9. Lester B. Pearson — 41% (September 1965) 10. Mark Carney — 41% (March 2025)

Other surveys

Pre-2003 The Institute for Research on Public Policy undertook a survey to rank the prime ministers who had served in the 50 years preceding 2003.MacDonald, L. Ian. "The Best Prime Minister of the Last 50 Years — Pearson, by a landslide," Policy Options, June–July 2003. Accessed April 3, 2014. They ranked those nine prime ministers as follows:

Pearson Mulroney Pierre Trudeau St. Laurent Chrétien Diefenbaker Clark ^ Turner ^ Campbell ^

^ Served less than 10 months as prime minister, while all others served for more than 4 years, 11 months.

2016 Maclean's short vs. long-serving prime ministers In October 2016, Maclean's again ranked the prime ministers, this time splitting them into two lists. The long-serving prime ministers were ranked as follows: +Long-servingShort-term1. King1. Martin2. Laurier2. Thompson3. Macdonald3. Meighen4. Pierre Trudeau4. Clark5. Pearson5. Tupper6. St. Laurent6. Abbott7. Chrétien7. Bowell8. Mulroney8. Turner9. Borden9. Campbell10. Harper—11. Diefenbaker—12. Mackenzie—13. Bennett—

Research Co. 2020s Surveys

2023 The highest percentage of respondents (38%) said Justin Trudeau was the worst prime minister since 1968, 14% said Stephen Harper, 7% said Pierre Trudeau, and 6% said Kim Campbell. For best prime minister since 1968, Pierre Trudeau received the highest percentage (18%), Stephen Harper second (16%), Brian Mulroney third (15%), and Justin Trudeau fourth (10%).

2026 Conducted on April 11–13, 2026, respondents were asked to select four individuals they considered the best and worst from a list of all 24 officeholders since Confederation.

Best prime ministers Six prime ministers were identified by more than 20% of respondents as among the best: Pierre Trudeau (30%), Mark Carney (29%), Stephen Harper (29%), John A. Macdonald (27%), Jean Chrétien (27%), and Brian Mulroney (23%).

Older respondents more frequently selected Pierre Trudeau and Mulroney, while younger cohorts showed higher support for more recent leaders, including Carney and Justin Trudeau. Regional differences were also observed, with Macdonald leading in Ontario, Chrétien in Quebec, and Carney in Atlantic Canada.

Worst prime ministers Justin Trudeau was selected by 47% of respondents, followed by Harper and Pierre Trudeau (23% each), Carney (21%), and Kim Campbell (20%). Justin Trudeau ranked as the most frequently selected “worst” prime minister across all age groups and regions, with higher proportions in Alberta and Ontario.

Historical rankings of prime ministers of Canada

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