# List of perennial candidates in Canada

A perennial candidate is a political candidate who frequently runs for public office without a reasonable chance of winning. While there is no generally accepted "number" of times a candidate must run before being considered "perennial", contemporary sources note that two or three failed candidacies, followed by another attempt, qualifies a candidate as perennial.
In Canada, perennial candidates may run with the support of small or fringe political parties, may attempt to become involved with mainstream parties without the backing of that party's membership and/or leadership executive, or may run municipally, where the influence of political parties is diminished.
There are few residency requirements for elected office in Canada. Candidates may run federally in any electoral district as long as they are a Canadian citizen over the age of 18 who is not disqualified based on profession (federal judges, provincial and territorial elected representatives, the Chief Electoral Officer, or Governor General), status as an incarcerated person, or after failing to submit a campaign financial return after a previous campaign. There is no requirement for a candidate to reside in the electoral district where they seek election. Provincial and municipal elections rules generally require a candidate reside within the jurisdiction broadly, but do not require a candidate to reside in the direct electoral district in which they seek elected office.
These lax rules allow perennial candidates to seek elected office across Canada. John Turmel, the Canadian perennial candidate who, according to Guinness World Records holds the records for the most elections contested and for the most elections lost, has sought the offices of Mayor, Member of Provincial Parliament, and Member of Parliament in 71 different jurisdictions across Ontario, Quebec, and Nova Scotia, since 1979.

## List of perennial candidates in Canada

| Candidate | Candidate | Primary place of residence | Primary place of residence | Notable Partisan Affiliation | Notable Partisan Affiliation | Municipal campaigns | Provincial campaigns | Federal campaigns | Incomplete campaigns | Total | Total |
| Candidate | Candidate | Municipality | Province | Notable Partisan Affiliation | Notable Partisan Affiliation | Municipal campaigns | Provincial campaigns | Federal campaigns | Incomplete campaigns | Total complete campaigns | Overall total |
| Enza "Supermodel" Anderson | | Toronto | Ontario | | Canadian Alliance | 3 | - | - | 1 | 3 | 4 |
| Donald Clarke Andrews | | Toronto | Ontario | | Nationalist Party of Canada | 10 | - | - | - | 10 | 10 |
| Michael Baldasaro | | Hamilton | Ontario | | Marijuana Party of Canada | 9 | 1 | 5 | 2 | 15 | 17 |
| Harry Bradley | | Toronto | Ontario | | Independent | 27 | - | - | - | 27 | 27 |
| José Breton | | Quebec City | Quebec | | Independent | - | 5 | - | - | 5 | 5 |
| David W. Bylsma | | West Lincoln | Ontario | | Christian Heritage | 2 | 0 | 7 | - | 9 | 9 |
| Douglas Campbell | | Toronto | Ontario | | Ontario New Democratic Party | 6 | 2 | 2 | - | 10 | 10 |
| Kevin Clarke | | Toronto | Ontario | | The Peoples Political Party | 11 | 10 | 6 | - | 27 | 27 |
| Ross Dowson | | Toronto | Ontario | | League for Socialist Action | 9 | - | 2 | - | 11 | 11 |
| Terry Duguid | | Winnipeg | Manitoba | | Liberal | 3 | 1 | 6 | - | 10 | 10 |
| Jim Enos | | Hamilton | Ontario | | Christian Heritage | 1 | 4 | 4 | - | 9 | 9 |
| Paul Fromm | | Hamilton | Ontario | | Canadians' Choice Party | 8 | 2 | 2 | - | 12 | 12 |
| Henri-Georges Grenier | | Montreal | Quebec | | various | - | - | 13 | - | 13 | 13 |
| Larry Heather | | Calgary | Alberta | | Christian Heritage | 6 | 8 | 13 | - | 27 | 27 |
| Ben Kerr | | Toronto | Ontario | | Independent | 7 | - | - | - | 7 | 7 |
| Yaqoob Khan | | Toronto | Ontario | | Independent | 7 | - | 1 | - | 8 | 8 |
| Simonne Lizotte | | Nicolet | Quebec | | Independent | 4 | 2 | - | - | 6 | 6 |
| Anne C. McBride | | Toronto | Ontario | | Independent | 5 | - | 9 | - | 14 | 14 |
| Patricia Métivier | | Montreal | Quebec | | various | 7 | 5 | 8 | 1 | 24 | 25 |
| Régent Millette | | Laval | Quebec | | Parti démocratie chrétienne | 4 | 15 | 7 | 1 | 26 | 27 |
| David Popescu | | Sudbury | Ontario | | Independent | 7 | 7 | 6 | - | 20 | 20 |
| Naomi Rankin | | Edmonton | Alberta | | Communist | - | 9 | 10 | - | 19 | 19 |
| Bob Smith | | Toronto | Ontario | | Nationalist Party of Canada | 8 | 1 | 1 | - | 10 | 10 |
| John Turmel | | Brantford | Ontario | | Pauper | 14 | 49 | 45 | 1 | 108 | 109 |
| Alex Tyrrell | | Montreal | Quebec | | Parti Vert | - | 10 | - | 1 | 10 | 11 |
| Don Woodstock | | Winnipeg | Manitoba | | Liberal | 2 | 3 | 1 | | 6 | 6 |
| Nathalie Xian Yi Yan | | Hamilton | Ontario | | Independent | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 8 | 10 |

## Perennial candidates by region
### Quebec
#### Alex Tyrrell

| Level | Election | Office | Party | Votes | Percent | Place | Result |
| Provincial | 2012 | Member of the National Assembly for Jacques-Cartier | Green Party of Quebec | 1,522 | 4.54% | 3/8 | Not elected |
| Provincial | 2013 By-election | Member of the National Assembly for Outremont | Green Party of Quebec | 384 | 3.79% | 4/7 | Not elected |
| Provincial | 2014 | Member of the National Assembly for Notre-Dame-de-Grâce | Green Party of Quebec | 1,318 | 4.52% | 5/6 | Not elected |
| Provincial | 2016 By-election | Member of the National Assembly for Chicoutimi | Green Party of Quebec | 465 | 2.46% | 5/6 | Not elected |
| Provincial | May 2017 By-election | Member of the National Assembly for Gouin | Green Party of Quebec | 651 | 4.57% | 5/13 | Not elected |
| Provincial | October 2017 By-election | Member of the National Assembly for Louis-Hébert | Green Party of Quebec | 487 | 2.06% | 6/10 | Not elected |
| Provincial | 2018 | Member of the National Assembly for Verdun | Green Party of Quebec | 1,157 | 3.72% | 5/10 | Not elected |
| Provincial | 2018 By-election | Member of the National Assembly for Roberval | Green Party of Quebec | 80 | 0.52% | 7/7 | Not elected |
| Provincial | 2022 By-election | Member of the National Assembly for Marie-Victorin | Green Party of Quebec | 142 | 0.87% | 7/12 | Not elected |
| Federal leadership | 2022 | Leader of the Green Party of Canada | Green Party of Canada | - | - | - | Expelled from party during leadership bid |
| Provincial | 2022 | Member of the National Assembly for Notre-Dame-de-Grâce | Green Party of Quebec | 956 | 3.73% | 7/9 | Not elected |

### Ontario
#### Enza "Supermodel" Anderson

| Level | Election | Office | Party | Votes | Percent | Place | Result |
| Municipal | 2000 | Toronto Mayor | Non-partisan municipal | 13,595 | 2.25% | 3/26 | Not elected |
| Federal Leadership | 2002 | Leader, Canadian Alliance | Canadian Alliance | n/a | n/a | n/a | Withdrew candidacy |
| Municipal | 2003 | Toronto City Councillor, Ward 27 – Toronto Centre | Non-partisan municipal | 3,058 | 15.3% | 2/6 | Not elected |
| Municipal | 2010 | Toronto City Councillor, Ward 27 – Toronto Centre | Non-partisan municipal | 1,127 | 4.23% | 7/15 | Not elected |

#### Don Andrews

Donald Clarke Andrews (born Vilim Zlomislić) was the leader of the Nationalist Party of Canada, a white-supremacist unregistered political party active from the 1970s to the early 2000s. Andrews best result came in 1976, when he earned 5.3% of the vote for mayor of Toronto in a race against popular incumbent David Crombie. Andrews would often only contest those elections where he would be placed at the top of the ballot by virtue of his last name's alphabetical importance.
| Level | Election | Office | Party | Votes | Percent | Place | Result |
| Municipal | 1972 | Toronto Mayor | Non-partisan municipal | 1,960 | 1.02% | 5/7 | Not elected |
| Municipal | 1974 | Toronto Mayor | Non-partisan municipal | 5,662 | 4% | 2/11 | Not elected |
| Municipal | 1976 | Toronto Mayor | Non-partisan municipal | 7,126 | 5.3% | 2/10 | Not elected |
| Municipal | 1988 | Toronto Mayor | Non-partisan municipal | 5,690 | 4% | 4/9 | Not elected |
| Municipal | 1991 | Toronto Mayor | Non-partisan municipal | 1,968 | 1.01% | 4/9 | Not elected |
| Municipal | 1994 | Toronto Mayor | Non-partisan municipal | 2,839 | 1.74% | 5/11 | Not elected |
| Municipal | 1997 | Toronto Mayor | Non-partisan municipal | 1,985 | 0.26% | 5/11 | Not elected |
| Municipal | 2003 | Toronto Mayor | Non-partisan municipal | 1,220 | 0.18% | 10/44 | Not elected |
| Municipal | 2010 | Toronto Mayor | Non-partisan municipal | 1,032 | 0.13% | 19/40 | Not elected |
| Municipal | 2014 | Toronto Mayor | Non-partisan municipal | 1,012 | 0.1% | 7/65 | Not elected |

#### Michael Baldasaro

| Level | Election | Office | Party | Votes | Percent | Place | Result |
| Federal | 1984 | Member of Parliament, Hamilton West | Libertarian | 300 | 0.73% | 4/6 | Not elected |
| Municipal | 1988 | Hamilton Mayor | Non-partisan municipal | 7,528 | 9.12% | 2/2 | Not elected |
| Municipal | 1991 | Hamilton Mayor | Non-partisan municipal | 2,507 | 2.8% | 4/4 | Not elected |
| Municipal | 1994 | Hamilton Mayor | Non-partisan municipal | 3,521 | 4.4% | 3/5 | Not elected |
| Federal Leadership | 1998 | Leader, Progressive Conservative Party | Progressive Conservative Party | n/a | n/a | n/a | Failed to meet requirements |
| Federal Leadership | 2000 | Leader, Canadian Alliance | Canadian Alliance | n/a | n/a | n/a | Failed to meet requirements |
| Municipal | 2000 | Hamilton Mayor | Non-partisan municipal | 1,637 | 1.1% | 5/12 | Not elected |
| Federal | 2000 | Member of Parliament, Hamilton East | Marijuana Party | 573 | 1.83% | 5/9 | Not elected |
| Municipal | 2003 | Hamilton Mayor | Non-partisan municipal | 2,569 | 1.85% | 6/7 | Not elected |
| Federal | 2004 | Member of Parliament, Hamilton Centre | Independent | 345 | .8% | 6/7 | Not elected |
| Municipal | 2004 By-election | Hamilton City Councillor, Ward 2 – Downtown | Non-partisan municipal | 52 | 1.03% | 7/11 | Not elected |
| Municipal | 2006 | Hamilton Mayor | Non-partisan municipal | 4,520 | 3.61% | 4/7 | Not elected |
| Municipal | 2010 | Hamilton Mayor | Non-partisan municipal | 2,892 | 2.1% | 4/15 | Not elected |
| Federal | 2011 | Member of Parliament, Hamilton Centre | Marijuana Party | 780 | 1.9% | 4/5 | Not elected |
| Provincial | 2011 | Member of Provincial Parliament, Hamilton Centre | Independent | 268 | .8% | 6/10 | Not elected |
| Municipal | 2014 | Hamilton Mayor | Non-partisan municipal | 3,518 | 2.9% | 4/12 | Not elected |
| Federal | 2015 | Member of Parliament, Hamilton Centre | Marijuana Party | 348 | 0.85% | 5/7 | Not elected |

#### Dorian Baxter

Dorian Baxter is a Christian religious minister and musician, operating out of an independent church he runs in Newmarket, Ontario. Baxter is also a local Elvis impersonator, whose music he incorporates into his services. Since 2004, he has run multiple campaigns at the federal, provincial, and municipal level, all of which were for political offices representing areas of York Region.

#### Douglas Campbell

Douglas Campbell was a teacher and writer from Toronto, Ontario. In 1962, Campbell ran an independent campaign for Parliament in the electoral district of St Paul's, running against future Governor General Roland Michener. Campbell launched three NDP leadership campaigns in the 1970s; he twice sought the position of Ontario NDP leader in the 1970 leadership election and also 1972 when he challenged incumbent Stephen Lewis. He also challenged David Lewis for the federal NDP leadership in 1973 and ran to replace Lewis in the 1975 New Democratic Party leadership election.
In 1988, Campbell ran against North York's incumbent mayor, Mel Lastman. A profile in the Toronto Star listed Campbell's age as 59 and residence as Gulliver Road in Toronto, as well as referencing a past campaign for the office of Mayor of Mississauga. He told the Star his campaign was an attempt to find a larger platform so he could campaign on issues such as "sanctions against South Africa, free trade and the Meech Lake Accord."
During Campbell's campaign for mayor of Toronto in 2003, he generated media attention when he invited the audience at an all-candidates meeting to his wife's memorial service. Campbell, whose age was listed as 72 during the Toronto mayoral campaign in 2006, was attacked in a National Post editorial for a statement all-candidates meeting where the candidate said voting for a capitalist mayor was like "voting to kill your fellow workers," and comparing Stephen Harper, Paul Martin, and Franklin D. Roosevelt to Adolf Hitler. He was quoted in Now Magazine as also saying "If you vote for a capitalist candidate, you're voting to kill children."
| Level | Election | Office | Party | Votes | Percent | Place | Result |
| Federal | 1962 | Member of Parliament, St. Paul's | Independent | 328 | 1.2% | 5/5 | Not elected |
| Provincial | 1970 | Leader of the Ontario New Democratic Party | Ontario New Democratic Party | 21 | 1.1% | 3/3 | Not elected |
| Provincial | 1972 | Leader of the Ontario New Democratic Party | Ontario New Democratic Party | 124 | 14.1% | 2/2 | Not elected |
| Federal | 1973 | Leader of the New Democratic Party | New Democratic Party | 76 | 9.6% | 2/2 | Not elected |
| Municipal | 1973 | Mississauga Mayor | Non-partisan municipal | | | | Not elected |
| Federal | 1975 | Leader of the New Democratic Party | New Democratic Party | 11 | 0.7% | 5/5 | Not elected |
| Municipal | 1988 | North York Mayor | Non-partisan municipal | 10,290 | 8.26% | 3/4 | Not elected |
| Municipal | 2000 | Toronto Mayor | Non-partisan municipal | 8,591 | 1.42% | 4/26 | Not elected |
| Municipal | 2003 | Toronto Mayor | Non-partisan municipal | 2,197 | 0.32% | 6/44 | Not elected |
| Municipal | 2006 | Toronto Mayor | Non-partisan municipal | 4,183 | 0.72% | 6/38 | Not elected |
| Municipal | 2010 | Toronto Mayor | Non-partisan municipal | 1,428 | 0.18% | 13/40 | Not elected |

#### Bob Smith

Bob Smith (born Robert Wayne Smith) ran for federal, provincial, and municipal office 10 times from 1972 to 2006. His best result came in 1980 when he earned 1,319 votes in a race for school trustee in Toronto's Ward 8.
| Level | Election | Office | Party | Votes | Percent | Place | Result |
| Municipal | 1972 | Toronto Board of Education Trustee, Ward 8 - Riverdale | Non-partisan municipal | 247 | | 11/11 | Not elected |
| Municipal | 1974 | Toronto City Councillor, Ward 4 - Trinity-Bellwoods and Little Italy | Non-partisan municipal | 200 | | 7/7 | Not elected |
| Municipal | 1976 | Toronto Board of Education Trustee, Ward 9 - The Beaches | Non-partisan municipal | 864 | | 6/7 | Not elected |
| Federal | 1980 | Member of Parliament, St. Paul's | Nationalist Party | 108 | 0.3% | 6/9 | Not elected |
| Municipal | 1980 | Toronto Board of Education Trustee, Ward 8 - Riverdale | Non-partisan municipal | 1,319 | | 6/9 | Not elected |
| Municipal | 1982 | Toronto Board of Education Trustee, Ward 8 - Riverdale | Non-partisan municipal | 603 | | 6/10 | Not elected |
| Municipal | 1985 | Toronto Board of Education Trustee, Ward 8 - Riverdale | Non-partisan municipal | 935 | | 5/7 | Not elected |
| Provincial | 1993 By-election | Member of Provincial Parliament, St. George—St. David | | 72 | | 8/9 | Not elected |
| Municipal | 2003 | Toronto City Councillor, Ward 31 - The Beaches | Non-partisan municipal | 414 | 2.5% | 4/4 | Not elected |
| Municipal | 2006 | Toronto Mayor | Non-partisan municipal | 1,105 | 0.19% | 20/38 | Not elected |