2004 Canadian Federal Election

Canada held a snap parliamentary election on June 28, 2004. All 308 seats in the House of Commons were up for election, and a party needed at least 155 seats to secure a majority government. The total number of seats in the House of Commons increased to 308 from 301 in the 2000 election.

Prime Minister Paul Martin called the election in hopes of leading the Liberal Party to a fourth majority government. His party, hurt by the ongoing sponsorship scandal, saw its electoral fortunes fall sharply. Martin ultimately won 135 seats, forming government but falling 20 seats short of a majority.

This was the first election contested by the newly formed Conservative Party. The centre-right vote had previously been split among several parties; in the last election, the two major right-leaning parties were Alliance (formerly Reform) and the Progressive Conservatives.

All told, all major parties but the Liberals added seats in Parliament. Martin's Liberals lost 37 seats, mostly to the Conservatives in Ontario and the Bloc Québécois in Quebec.

The minority government would only survive for 17 months before being toppled by a no-confidence vote amid the sponsorship scandal.