# 1878 Canadian federal election

The 1878 Canadian federal election was held on September 17, 1878, to elect members of the House of Commons of the 4th Parliament of Canada. It resulted in the end of Prime Minister Alexander Mackenzie's Liberal government after only one term in office. Canada suffered an economic depression during Mackenzie's term, and his party was punished by voters for it. The Liberals' policy of free trade also hurt their support with the business establishment in Toronto and Montreal.
Sir John A. Macdonald and his Conservative Party were returned to power after having been defeated four years before amidst scandals over the building of the Canadian Pacific Railway.

## National results

| Party | Party | Party leader | # of candidates | Seats | Seats | Seats | Popular vote | Popular vote | Popular vote |
| Party | Party | Party leader | # of candidates | 1874 | Elected | Change | # | % | Change |
| | Conservative | John A. Macdonald | 101 | 38 | 85 | +118.4% | 143,192 | 26.28% | +7.80pp |
| | Liberal-Conservative | John A. Macdonald | 60 | 26 | 49 | +76.9% | 85,999 | 15.78% | +3.50pp |
| | Liberal | Alexander Mackenzie | 121 | 126 | 63 | -54.8% | 180,074 | 33.05% | -7.74pp |
| | Independent | | 11 | 4 | 5 | +25% | 14,783 | 2.71% | -0.48pp |
| | Independent Conservative | | 2 | 2 | 2 | - | 1,001 | 0.18% | -0.76pp |
| | Unknown | | 117 | - | | | 114,043 | 20.93% | -1.93pp |
| | Independent Liberal | | 4 | 1 | 1 | +100% | 5,388 | 0.99% | - |
| | Nationalist Conservative | | 1 | * | 1 | * | 401 | 0.07% | * |
| Total | Total | Total | 417 | 197 | 206 | +3.6% | 544,881 | 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 | Party name | Party name | BC | MB | ON | QC | NB | NS | PE | Total |
| | Conservative | Seats: | 1 | 2 | 37 | 33 | 1 | 8 | 3 | 85 |
| | Conservative | 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 |
| | Liberal-Conservative | Vote (%): | 39.6 | - | 15.8 | 13.2 | 14.3 | 22.7 | 12.0 | 15.8 |
| | Liberal | Seats: | 2 | | 27 | 17 | 9 | 7 | 1 | 63 |
| | Liberal | Vote (%): | - | | 36.3 | 21.7 | 48.2 | 34.9 | 37.2 | 33.1 |
| | Independent | Seats: | 1 | | 1 | 1 | 2 | - | | 5 |
| | Independent | Vote (%): | 12.2 | | 1.5 | 1.6 | 13.1 | 4.3 | | 2.7 |
| | Independent Conservative | Seats: | | 1 | | 1 | | | | 2 |
| | Independent Conservative | Vote (%): | | 50.4 | | 0.7 | | | | 0.2 |
| | Unknown | Seats: | | | | | | | | |
| | Unknown | Vote (%): | 48.2 | | 19.9 | 27.4 | 14.8 | 14.7 | 19.3 | 20.9 |
| | Independent Liberal | Seats: | | | | | 1 | - | | 1 |
| | Independent Liberal | Vote (%): | | | 1.0 | | 3.7 | 1.7 | | 1.0 |
| | Nationalist Conservative | Seats: | | | | 1 | | - | | 1 |
| | Nationalist Conservative | Vote (%): | | | | 0.3 | | | | 0.1 |
| Total seats | Total seats | Total seats | 6 | 4 | 88 | 65 | 16 | 21 | 6 | 206 |