Election 2025: Which Prominent MPs Lost, How Star Candidates Fared

Elections Canada signage is seen as voters arrive at a polling station on Election Day in Halifax, April 28, 2025. Darren Calabrese/The Canadian Press via AP

There was no overall change in terms of the Liberals getting re-elected, but some key shifts will take place in the next House of Commons, with new star candidates making an entry and prominent players losing their seats.

Conservative Party Leader Pierre Poilievre speaks to his supporters alongside his wife Anaida Poilievre after losing the Canadian Federal Election in Ottawa on April 29, 2025. Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images

The biggest upset was Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre losing the Ottawa-area riding of Carleton he had held since 2004. The upset didn’t come as a major surprise, with media reports suggesting the seat was at risk in the days leading up to the election.

Poilievre had won the riding by over 10,000 votes in 2021, and had easily captured the party leadership in 2022. The Tories saw their fortunes significantly improve in this election under his helm, gaining a preliminary 25 seats and increasing their vote share by over 7 percent. This wasn’t enough to stem the red tide sweeping the Ottawa area.

“It will be an honour to continue to fight for you and to be a champion of your cause as we go forward,” Poilievre said in his concession speech, suggesting he would stay on as leader.

New Democratic Party Leader Jagmeet Singh addresses supporters at his campaign headquarters on election night, in Burnaby, B.C., on April 28, 2025. The Canadian Press/Ethan Cairns

NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh took a different approach, resigning immediately on election night following a collapse in NDP support.

Polls had suggested Singh would lose his B.C. seat and that the NDP would face an electoral setback. Preliminary results have the NDP winning seven seats, a sharp drop from their 25 total seats in the 2021 election. Singh, who lost his seat to the Liberals, said he would stay on until an interim leader is appointed.

Before election day, Singh said he stood by his decision to not make the minority Liberal government fall when he had the chance.

“While we could have won lots of seats, it would have meant a Pierre Poilievre majority Conservative government, and I could not stomach that,” Singh told the Toronto Star before election day.

NDP member of Parliament Peter Julian rises during question period in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Dec. 6, 2024. The Canadian Press/Sean Kilpatrick

The NDP lost another leader in this election with incumbent Peter Julian losing in the riding of New Westminster-Burnaby-Maillardville. Julian, who had held the riding under previous configurations since 2004, was also bested by a Liberal. He had served as NDP House leader in the previous Parliament.

Bloc Quebecois MP for La Prairie Alain Therrien rises during Question Period in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Dec. 5, 2024. The Canadian Press/Patrick Doyle

The Bloc Québécois also lost a number of seats, seeing its preliminary seat count drop from 32 to 23. The party also lost its House leader of the previous Parliament with Alain Therrien losing to a Liberal by over 6,000 votes in the Montreal-area riding of La Prairie-Atateken.

Kamal Khera, Minister of Diversity, Inclusion and Persons with Disabilities, rises during question period in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, on Sept. 17, 2024. The Canadian Press/Sean Kilpatrick

It wasn’t all winning for the Liberals. Most ministers in Prime Minister Mark Carney’s cabinet were re-elected, but Kamal Khera lost to a Conservative in Brampton West. Khera was a minister under former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and had been appointed health minister by Carney in his first cabinet.

Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard Diane Lebouthillier rises during Question Period in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, on Nov. 7, 2024. The Canadian Press/Spencer Colby

Former Trudeau ministers Diane Lebouthillier and Ya'ara Saks were also defeated in Quebec and Ontario respectively.

Federal Minister of Mental Health and Addictions Ya’ara Saks speaks to reporters following the Federal-Provincial-Territorial Health Ministers’ Meeting in Halifax on Jan. 30, 2025. The Canadian Press/Darren Calabrese

On the Conservative side, several incumbent MPs who held shadow cabinet roles were defeated, including Rick Perkins and Stephen Ellis in Nova Scotia, Michelle Ferreri and Ryan Williams in Ontario, and Marty Morantz in Manitoba.

Conservative MP Rick Perkins rises during Question Period in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Oct. 4, 2024. The Canadian Press/Justin Tang

Star Candidates

The Liberals and Tories had fielded a number of candidates who were known personalities from the world of politics, advocacy, and media. Many of them were successful in their bids to win a House of Commons seat.

Gun control advocate and survivor of the 1989 Ecole Polytechnique massacre Nathalie Provost speaks at a press conference on new measures to strengthen gun control in Ottawa on Dec. 5, 2024. The Canadian Press/ Patrick Doyle

On the Liberal side, former TV journalist Evan Solomon won the Toronto Centre riding by a large margin. Gun control advocate and survivor of the École Polytechnique massacre Nathalie Provost also won in a landslide in a Montreal-area riding.

Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson speaks during a transit funding announcement in Surrey, B.C., on Sept. 4, 2018. The Canadian Press/Darryl Dyck

Former Vancouver mayor Gregor Robertson also handily won the riding of Vancouver Fraserview-South Burnaby. The current mayor of Edmonton, Amarjeet Sohi, didn’t have the same fortune and lost his bid to win the riding of Edmonton Southeast. Conservatives won the riding, along with most of the rest of the province of Alberta, taking 34 of 37 seats.

Enoch Cree Nation chief Billy Morin poses at the nation's River Cree Resort and Casino, outside of Edmonton, on June 7, 2022. Photo by Cole Burston/AFP via Getty Images

Conservatives also had politicians from other levels running with some success. The Tories added to their MP roster former chief of Enoch Cree Nation Billy Morin, who will represent Edmonton Northwest.

Former Haisla First Nation chief councillor Ellis Ross, who will run as a Liberal Party candidate in the Skeena riding in the provincial election, waves as candidates are introduced prior to a keynote address by British Columbia Premier Christy Clark at the B.C. Liberal Party convention, in Vancouver on Nov. 6, 2016. The Canadian Press/Darryl Dyck

Another former First Nations chief and former B.C. MLA Ellis Ross is projected to win in Skeena-Bulkley Valley, which would unseat incumbent New Democrat Taylor Bachrach.

Candidate Roman Baber makes a point at the Conservative Party of Canada English leadership debate in Edmonton, on May 11, 2022. The Canadian Press/Jeff McIntosh

The Tories will also welcome in their ranks former Ontario Progressive-Conservative MPP Roman Baber, who had been expelled from caucus by Premier Doug Ford over his stance critical of COVID-19 restrictions. Baber, who had run for party leadership in 2022, defeated Saks in York Centre.

Alberta Premier True North journalist Andrew Lawton speaks during the Canada Strong and Free Network event in Ottawa, April 12, 2024. The Canadian Press/Spencer Colby

Along with experienced politicians, some media personalities who were Conservative candidates also won their races. Filmmaker Aaron Gunn took the Vancouver Island riding of North Island-Powell River from the NDP and former broadcaster and author Andrew Lawton won in the Ontario riding of Elgin-St. Thomas-London South.