List of Canadian federal shadow cabinets

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In the House of Commons of Canada, the non-governing political parties establish shadow cabinets, which are teams of frontbench MPs that scrutinise the policies and actions of the Cabinet of Canada.

Contents

Although shadow cabinets have existed throughout most of Canadian parliamentary history, this list of shadow cabinets begins with the shadow cabinets of the 39th Canadian Parliament, as parliamentary records and media coverage on the composition of shadow cabinets was less common prior to the 2006 Canadian federal election, making a complete list difficult to produce.

Shadow cabinets by parliament

Party key
Conservative
Liberal
New Democratic
Bloc Québécois

2006–present

Parliament Leader of the Opposition Official Opposition Shadow Cabinet(s) Government Other opposition
39th Parliament
(2006–2008)
Stéphane Dion Dion I Harper
(28th Ministry)
  Duceppe V
  Layton III
40th Parliament
(2008–2011)
Stéphane Dion Dion II, Ignatieff I   Duceppe VI
  Layton IV
Michael Ignatieff [a]
41st Parliament
(2011–2015)
Jack Layton Layton V, Turmel, Mulcair I   Rae, J. Trudeau
  Barbot, Paillé, Bellavance, Fortin I, Beaulieu I [b]
Nycole Turmel [c]
Tom Mulcair
42nd Parliament
(2015–2019)
Rona Ambrose [d] Ambrose, Scheer I J. Trudeau
(29th Ministry)
  Mulcair II, Singh I
  Fortin II, Ouellet, Beaulieu II, Blanchet I
Andrew Scheer
43rd Parliament
(2019–2021)
Andrew Scheer Scheer II, O'Toole I   Blanchet II
  Singh II
Erin O'Toole
44th Parliament
(2021–2025)
Erin O'Toole O'Toole II, Bergen, Poilievre I   Blanchet III
  Singh III
Candice Bergen [d]
Pierre Poilievre
Carney
(30th Ministry)
45th Parliament
(2025–present)
Andrew Scheer [e] Poilievre II   Blanchet IV
  Davies
Pierre Poilievre
  1. Interim leader of the Liberal Party from December 10, 2008 to May 2, 2009. Permanent leader from May 2, 2009 to May 25, 2011.
  2. From December 16, 2013 to June 25, 2014, the Bloc Québécois's leadership position was vacant, with André Bellavance and later Jean-François Fortin serving as parliamentary leaders.
  3. Interim leader of the New Democratic Party
  4. 1 2 Interim leader of the Conservative Party
  5. From May 6, 2025 to August 18, 2025, Andrew Scheer served as leader of the Opposition due to Pierre Poilievre losing his seat in the 2025 Canadian federal election.

Shadow cabinets by party

Bloc Québécois

ParliamentShadow CabinetParty leaderLegislative role
39th Canadian Parliament (2006–2008) Duceppe V Gilles Duceppe Third party
40th Canadian Parliament (2008–2011) Duceppe VI Third party
41st Canadian Parliament (2011–2015) Barbot Vivian Barbot (interim)Fourth party
Paillé Daniel Paillé
Bellavance / Fortin I vacant
Beaulieu I Mario Beaulieu
Duceppe VII Gilles Duceppe
42nd Canadian Parliament (2015–2019) Fortin II Rhéal Fortin (interim)Fourth party
Oullet Oullet
Beaulieu II Mario Beaulieu
Blanchet I Yves-François Blanchet
43rd Canadian Parliament (2019–2021) Blanchet II Third party
44th Canadian Parliament (2021–2025) Blanchet III Third party
45th Canadian Parliament (2025–present) Blanchet IV Third party

Conservative Party

ParliamentShadow CabinetParty leaderLegislative role
39th Canadian Parliament (2006–2008)Governing party
(Harper ministry)
40th Canadian Parliament (2008–2011)
41st Canadian Parliament (2011–2015)
42nd Canadian Parliament (2015–2019) Ambrose Rona Ambrose (interim)Official Opposition
Scheer I Andrew Scheer
43rd Canadian Parliament (2019–2021) Scheer II Official Opposition
O'Toole I Erin O'Toole
44th Canadian Parliament (2021–2025) O'Toole II Official Opposition
Bergen Candice Bergen (interim)
Poilievre I Pierre Poilievre
45th Canadian Parliament (2025–present) Poilievre II Official Opposition

Liberal Party

ParliamentShadow Cabinet Party leader Legislative role
39th Canadian Parliament (2006–2008) Dion I Stéphane Dion Official Opposition
40th Canadian Parliament (2008–2011) Dion II Official Opposition
Ignatieff Michael Ignatieff
41st Canadian Parliament (2011–2015) Rae Bob Rae (interim)Third party
J. Trudeau Justin Trudeau
42nd Canadian Parliament (2015–2019)Governing party
(J. Trudeau ministry)
(Carney ministry)
43rd Canadian Parliament (2019–2021)
44th Canadian Parliament (2021–2025)
45th Canadian Parliament (2025–present)

New Democratic Party

ParliamentShadow Cabinet Party leader Legislative role
39th Canadian Parliament (2006–2008) Layton III Jack Layton Fourth party
40th Canadian Parliament (2008–2011) Layton IV Fourth party
41st Canadian Parliament (2011–2015) Layton V Official Opposition
Turmel Nycole Turmel (interim)
Mulcair I Tom Mulcair
42nd Canadian Parliament (2015–2019) Mulcair II Third party
Singh I Jagmeet Singh
43rd Canadian Parliament (2019–2021) Singh II Fourth party
44th Canadian Parliament (2021–2025) Singh III Fourth party [a]
45th Canadian Parliament (2025–present) Davies Don Davies (interim)Fourth party

Notes

  1. Confidence and supply agreement with the Liberal government from 2022 to 2024.

See also