Next Green Party of Canada leadership election

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Next Green Party of Canada leadership election
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  2025 TBD

Incumbent leader

Elizabeth May



Next Green Party leadership election
DateTBD
Resigning leader Elizabeth May & Jonathan Pedneault
Green leadership elections
1996 · 1998 · 2000 · 2002 · 2004 · 2006 · 2020 · 2022 · 2025 (co-leadership) · Next

The Green Party of Canada will hold a co-leadership election on an undetermined date. The party is yet to announce a leadership contest.

Contents

Timeline

2025

Future

Background

Elizabeth May was elected as the leader of the Green Party in the 2022 leadership election, while Jonathan Pedneault was ratified as co-leader in the 2025 co-leadership election. [4]

In the 2025 Canadian federal election, the Green Party won only one seat, one less than the previous election, receiving the party's worst popular vote since 2000. Its national vote share was 1.2%, a drop of 1.13 percentage points from 2.33% in 2021. The only seat secured was in the British Columbia riding of Saanich—Gulf Islands, where party leader Elizabeth May was re-elected. Meanwhile, co-leader Jonathan Pedneault failed to win in the riding of Outremont, coming in at 5th place.

After the election results were announced, Green Party co-leader May expressed her gratitude for once again earning the trust and support of voters in her riding, and voiced her hopefulness about the party retaining a seat in the context of a minority government. She acknowledged that although the Green Party's overall national performance was disappointing, with a historically low share of the vote, she remains committed to the importance of environmental and social justice issues and will continue to advocate for them in Parliament. May emphasized that an individual victory is not an endpoint, but part of a broader effort to advance national environmental policy and democratic reform. She also expressed openness to taking on a more active role in Parliament in the future. [5]

Green Party co-leader Pedneault expressed regret that the party had won only one seat and failed to gain broad support from voters. He acknowledged that the Greens had not achieved the breakthrough they had hoped for in this election. Pedneault stated that, as co-leader, he bore political responsibility for the outcome and thus chose to resign from his leadership position. He emphasized that this decision was not driven by personal disappointment, but by a commitment to responsible party leadership. [1]

On August 19, May announced her intention to resign as party leader before the next federal election. [2] May said that she intended to continue as the MP for Saanich—Gulf Islands and to remain party leader following a required leadership review, saying she will resign when a new leader or co-leaders are chosen. [2] [3] [6] She said she wishes to remain leader "at least until 2026". [7]

Electoral system

In February 2024, party members were to vote on motions which, if passed, would have amended the party's constitution to implement a co-leadership model. [8] However, the proposed constitutional amendment was not voted upon due to disagreement within the party. [9] Before the 2025 federal election, the motion was brought up again and was approved on February 4, 2025, in a landslide. [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] Candidates can either put themselves forward as individuals or as a co-leadership team of two people. Members running on a joint-leadership ticket must not be of the same gender.

Rules

To be eligible, a candidate:

All Party members age 14 and older were eligible to vote. [16]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Caruso-Moro, Luca (April 30, 2025). "Green Party co-leader Jonathan Pedneault resigns". CP24 .
  2. 1 2 3 Major, Darren (August 19, 2025). "Elizabeth May says she won't lead Green Party in next election". CBC News . Retrieved September 2, 2025.
  3. 1 2 @ElizabethMay (August 20, 2025). "I hope to receive strong support from our membership in the leadership review, and commit that I will stay on as MP..." (Tweet) via Twitter.
  4. Ramzy, Mark (August 19, 2025). "Elizabeth May says she will step down as Green Party leader before next election". Toronto Star . Retrieved September 2, 2025.
  5. Pawson, Chad (April 29, 2025). "Green co-Leader Elizabeth May holds B.C. seat for 5th term". CBC News .
  6. Morrison, Catherine (August 19, 2025). "Elizabeth May says she won't lead Green Party into next federal election". Global News . Retrieved September 2, 2025.
  7. DeRosa, Katie (August 20, 2025). "Elizabeth May to step down as leader of the federal Green Party — eventually". CBC News . Retrieved September 4, 2025.
  8. Campbell, Ian (November 20, 2023). "One year after leadership vote, Greens yet to amend constitution, but still moving towards co-leadership". The Hill Times . Retrieved January 15, 2024.
  9. Ramzy, Mark (July 9, 2024). "Deputy leader stepping down from bid to co-lead federal Green Party after internal debate". Toronto Star . Retrieved July 9, 2024.
  10. The Canadian Press (January 27, 2025). "Pedneault plans return as Green Party co-leader after 6-month pause". CBC News . Retrieved February 14, 2025.
  11. Lachance Nové, Fabrice (February 4, 2025). "Historic Vote: Greens Choose Co-Leadership". Green Party of Canada. Retrieved February 14, 2025.
  12. Benson, Stuart (February 11, 2025). "Greens can tap into global network as Canada finds itself with few friends amid U.S. threats, say co-leaders". The Hill Times . Retrieved February 14, 2025.
  13. Thurton, David (February 18, 2025). "Green Party adopts green dot emoji 🟢 as new logo". CBC News . Retrieved February 18, 2025.
  14. "Green Party Finally Publishes Voter Turnout—And It's Shockingly Low". Global Green News. February 5, 2025. Retrieved February 21, 2025.
  15. "Leadership Contest Rules". Green Party of Canada. Archived from the original on June 28, 2022. Retrieved July 1, 2022.
  16. Thurton, David (September 29, 2022). "Green party downsizes its leadership race after resignations". CBC News. Archived from the original on October 1, 2022. Retrieved October 1, 2022.