The Canadian federal election of 1878 was held on September 17 to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons

Canadian House of Commons

The House of Commons of Canada is a component of the Parliament of Canada, along with the Sovereign and the Senate. The House of Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 308 members known as Members of Parliament...

 of the 4th Parliament

4th Canadian Parliament

The 4th Canadian Parliament was in session from February 13, 1879 until May 18, 1882. The membership was set by the 1878 federal election on September 17, 1878, and it changed only somewhat due to resignations and by-elections until it was dissolved prior to the 1882 election.It was controlled by...

 of Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

. It resulted in the end of Prime Minister

Prime Minister of Canada

The Prime Minister of Canada is the primary minister of the Crown, chairman of the Cabinet, and thus head of government for Canada, charged with advising the Canadian monarch or viceroy on the exercise of the executive powers vested in them by the constitution...

 Alexander Mackenzie

Alexander Mackenzie

Alexander Mackenzie, PC , a building contractor and newspaper editor, was the second Prime Minister of Canada from November 7, 1873 to October 8, 1878.-Biography:...

's Liberal

Liberal Party of Canada

The Liberal Party of Canada , colloquially known as the Grits, is the oldest federally registered party in Canada. In the conventional political spectrum, the party sits between the centre and the centre-left. Historically the Liberal Party has positioned itself to the left of the Conservative...

 government after only one term in office. Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

 suffered an economic depression during Mackenzie's term, and his party was punished by the voters for it. The Liberals' policy of free trade

Free trade

Under a free trade policy, prices emerge from supply and demand, and are the sole determinant of resource allocation. 'Free' trade differs from other forms of trade policy where the allocation of goods and services among trading countries are determined by price strategies that may differ from...

 also hurt their support with the business establishment in Toronto

Toronto

Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...

 and Montreal

Montreal

Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...

.

Sir John A. Macdonald

John A. Macdonald

Sir John Alexander Macdonald, GCB, KCMG, PC, PC , QC was the first Prime Minister of Canada. The dominant figure of Canadian Confederation, his political career spanned almost half a century...

 and his Conservative

Conservative Party of Canada (historical)

The Conservative Party of Canada has gone by a variety of names over the years since Canadian Confederation. Initially known as the "Liberal-Conservative Party", it dropped "Liberal" from its name in 1873, although many of its candidates continued to use this name.As a result of World War I and the...

/Liberal-Conservative party was returned to office after having been defeated five years before amidst scandals

Pacific Scandal

The Pacific Scandal was a political scandal in Canada involving allegations of bribes being accepted by the Conservative government in the attempts of private interests to influence the bidding for a national rail contract...

 over the building of the Canadian Pacific Railway

Canadian Pacific Railway

The Canadian Pacific Railway , formerly also known as CP Rail between 1968 and 1996, is a historic Canadian Class I railway founded in 1881 and now operated by Canadian Pacific Railway Limited, which began operations as legal owner in a corporate restructuring in 2001...

.

Voter turn-out: 69.1%

National results

Party		Party leader	# of candidates	Seats			Popular vote
				1874 Canadian federal election, 1874 The Canadian federal election of 1874 was held on January 22, 1874, to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 3rd Parliament of Canada. Sir John A...	Elected	Change	#	%	Change	Conservative Conservative Party of Canada (historical) The Conservative Party of Canada has gone by a variety of names over the years since Canadian Confederation. Initially known as the "Liberal-Conservative Party", it dropped "Liberal" from its name in 1873, although many of its candidates continued to use this name.As a result of World War I and the...	John A. Macdonald John A. Macdonald Sir John Alexander Macdonald, GCB, KCMG, PC, PC , QC was the first Prime Minister of Canada. The dominant figure of Canadian Confederation, his political career spanned almost half a century...	101	38	85	+118.4%	143,192	26.28%	+7.80%	Liberal-Conservative	60	26	49	+76.9%	85,999	15.78%	+3.50%	Liberal Liberal Party of Canada The Liberal Party of Canada , colloquially known as the Grits, is the oldest federally registered party in Canada. In the conventional political spectrum, the party sits between the centre and the centre-left. Historically the Liberal Party has positioned itself to the left of the Conservative...	Alexander Mackenzie Alexander Mackenzie Alexander Mackenzie, PC , a building contractor and newspaper editor, was the second Prime Minister of Canada from November 7, 1873 to October 8, 1878.-Biography:...	121	126	63	-54.8%	180,074	33.05%	-7.74%	Independent		11	4	5	+25%	14,783	2.71%	-0.48%	Independent Conservative		2	2	2	-	1,001	0.18%	-0.76%	Unknown		117	-			114,043	20.93%	-1.93%	Independent Liberal		4	1	1	+100%	5,388	0.99%	-	Nationalist Conservative Nationalist Conservative The label Nationalist Conservative was used by several Quebec Members of the Canadian Parliament and several unsuccessful candidates. They used this label in order to distinguish themselves from the British imperialist reputation of the Conservative Party or as a result of disputes with the...		1	*	1	*	401	0.07%	*
Total			417	197	206	+3.6%		100.0%	-
Sources: http://www.elections.ca -- History of Federal Ridings since 1867

Note:

* Party did not nominate candidates in the previous election.

Acclamations

The following Members of Parliament were elected by acclamation;

• British Columbia: 1 Conservative, 1 Liberal-Conservative
• Manitoba: 2 Conservatives, 1 Liberal-Conservative
• Quebec: 1 Conservative, 2 Liberal-Conservatives, 1 Liberal
• New Brunswick: 1 Liberal, 1 Independent

Results by province

Party name			BC British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...	MB Manitoba Manitoba is a Canadian prairie province with an area of . The province has over 110,000 lakes and has a largely continental climate because of its flat topography. Agriculture, mostly concentrated in the fertile southern and western parts of the province, is vital to the province's economy; other...	ON Ontario Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....	QC Quebec Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....	NB New Brunswick New Brunswick is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the only province in the federation that is constitutionally bilingual . The provincial capital is Fredericton and Saint John is the most populous city. Greater Moncton is the largest Census Metropolitan Area...	NS Nova Scotia Nova Scotia is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the most populous province in Atlantic Canada. The name of the province is Latin for "New Scotland," but "Nova Scotia" is the recognized, English-language name of the province. The provincial capital is Halifax. Nova Scotia is the...	PE Prince Edward Island Prince Edward Island is a Canadian province consisting of an island of the same name, as well as other islands. The maritime province is the smallest in the nation in both land area and population...	Total	Conservative Conservative Party of Canada (historical) The Conservative Party of Canada has gone by a variety of names over the years since Canadian Confederation. Initially known as the "Liberal-Conservative Party", it dropped "Liberal" from its name in 1873, although many of its candidates continued to use this name.As a result of World War I and the...	Seats:	1	2	37	33	1	8	3	85	Popular vote (%):	-	49.6	25.5	35.0	5.9	21.7	31.6	26.3	Liberal-Conservative	Seats:	2	1	23	12	3	6	2	49	Vote (%):	39.6	-	15.8	13.2	14.3	22.7	12.0	15.8	Liberal Liberal Party of Canada The Liberal Party of Canada , colloquially known as the Grits, is the oldest federally registered party in Canada. In the conventional political spectrum, the party sits between the centre and the centre-left. Historically the Liberal Party has positioned itself to the left of the Conservative...	Seats:	2		27	17	9	7	1	63	Vote (%):	-		36.3	21.7	48.2	34.9	37.2	33.1	Independent	Seats:	1		1	1	2	-		5	Vote (%):	12.2		1.5	1.6	13.1	4.3		2.7	Independent Conservative	Seats:		1		1				2	Vote (%):		50.4		0.7				0.2	Unknown	Seats:									Vote (%):	48.2		19.9	27.4	14.8	14.7	19.3	20.9	Independent Liberal	Seats:					1	-		1	Vote (%):			1.0		3.7	1.7		1.0	Nationalist Conservative	Seats:				1		-		1	Vote (%):				0.3				0.1
Total seats			6	4	88	65	16	21	6	206

See also

• List of Canadian federal general elections
• 4th Canadian Parliament
  4th Canadian Parliament
  The 4th Canadian Parliament was in session from February 13, 1879 until May 18, 1882. The membership was set by the 1878 federal election on September 17, 1878, and it changed only somewhat due to resignations and by-elections until it was dissolved prior to the 1882 election.It was controlled by...