# Historical rankings of prime ministers of Canada

Surveys have been conducted to construct historical rankings of individuals who have served as prime minister of Canada. These ranking systems are usually based on surveys of academic historians, economists and political scientists. The rankings focus on the achievements, leadership qualities, failures and faults in office.

## Scholar survey results

Canadian custom is to count by the individuals who were prime minister, not by terms. Since Confederation, 24 prime ministers have been "called upon" by the governor general to form 30 Canadian ministries.

### Legend

    Blue backgrounds indicate first quartile.
    Green backgrounds indicate second quartile.
    Orange backgrounds indicate third quartile.
    Red backgrounds indicate fourth quartile.
Note: Click the "sort" icon at the head of each column to view the rankings for each survey in numerical order.
| Sequence | Prime Minister | Political party | Maclean's 1997 | Maclean's 2011 | Maclean's 2016 | Aggr. | Time in office (rank) |
| 1 | Sir John A. Macdonald | Conservative | 2 | 2 | 3 | 03 | 2 |
| 2 | Alexander Mackenzie | Liberal | 11 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 14 |
| 3 | Sir John Abbott | Conservative | 17 | 19 | 20 | 20 | 18 |
| 4 | Sir John Thompson | Conservative | 10 | 14 | 16 | 15 | 16 |
| 5 | Sir Mackenzie Bowell | Conservative | 19 | 21 | 21 | 22 | 19 |
| 6 | Sir Charles Tupper | Conservative | 16 | 18 | 19 | 19 | 23 |
| 7 | Sir Wilfrid Laurier | Liberal | 3 | 1 | 2 | 02 | 4 |
| 8 | Sir Robert Borden | Conservative, Unionist | 7 | 8 | 9 | 08 | 9 |
| 9 | Arthur Meighen | Conservative | 14 | 16 | 17 | 17 | 17 |
| 10 | William Lyon Mackenzie King | Liberal | 1 | 3 | 1 | 01 | 1 |
| 11 | R. B. Bennett | Conservative | 12 | 12 | 14 | 14 | 12 |
| 12 | Louis St. Laurent | Liberal | 4 | 7 | 6 | 06 | 10 |
| 13 | John George Diefenbaker | Progressive Conservative | 13 | 10 | 12 | 12 | 11 |
| 14 | Lester B. Pearson | Liberal | 6 | 4 | 5 | 05 | 13 |
| 15 | Pierre Elliott Trudeau | Liberal | 5 | 5 | 4 | 04 | 3 |
| 16 | Joe Clark | Progressive Conservative | 15 | 17 | 18 | 18 | 20 |
| 17 | John Turner | Liberal | 18 | 20 | 22 | 21 | 22 |
| 18 | Brian Mulroney | Progressive Conservative | 8 | 9 | 8 | 09 | 8 |
| 19 | Kim Campbell | Progressive Conservative | 20 | 22 | 23 | 23 | 21 |
| 20 | Jean Chrétien | Liberal | 9 | 6 | 7 | 07 | 5 |
| 21 | Paul Martin | Liberal | — | 15 | 15 | 16 | 15 |
| 22 | Stephen Harper | Conservative | — | 11 | 11 | 11 | 6 |
| 23 | Justin Trudeau | Liberal | — | — | 10 | 10 | 7 |
* 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Served less than 2 years, 3 months as prime minister, while all others served for more than 4 years, 11 months. There is a strong correlation between time served in office and the poll rankings: the bottom quartile of the aggregate poll rankings are all in the bottom quartile of time served in office. Similarly, the top four prime ministers in terms of aggregate rankings are in the top four of time spent in office.
* 1 2 3 Ranking calculated before the prime minister had left office.
Sequence listed by first term as prime minister.

## By approval rating

The following is a list of prime ministers of Canada by their highest and lowest approval rating during their term. The approval rating system came into effect when John Diefenbaker was prime minister (1957–1963).

### Highest approval rating

    1. Jean Chrétien — 66% (September 1994)
    2. Justin Trudeau — 65% (September 2016)
    3. John Diefenbaker — 64% (June 1958)
    3. Stephen Harper — 64% (March 2006)
    5. Brian Mulroney — 61% (June 1985)
    6. Paul Martin — 56% (September 2004)
    6. Lester B. Pearson — 56% (January 1966)
    8. Pierre Trudeau — 55% (September 1972)
    9. Kim Campbell — 53% (July 1993)
    10. Joe Clark — 32% (November 1979)
Note: Ratings are up to date as of October 26, 2024. Legend:  Conservative  Liberal  Progressive Conservative

### Lowest approval rating

    1. Brian Mulroney — 12% (November 1992)
    2. Justin Trudeau — 22% (December 2024)
    3. Stephen Harper — 23% (May 2013)
    4. Joe Clark — 24% (January 1980)
    5. Pierre Trudeau — 25% (September 1982)
    6. John Diefenbaker — 34% (March 1963)
    7. Jean Chrétien — 36% (June 2000)
    8. Paul Martin — 41% (June 2005)
    9. Lester B. Pearson — 41% (September 1965)
    10. Kim Campbell — 48% (October 1993)
Note: Ratings are up to date as of December 30, 2024. Legend:  Conservative  Liberal  Progressive Conservative

## Other surveys

The Institute for Research on Public Policy undertook a survey to rank the prime ministers who had served in the 50 years preceding 2003. They ranked those nine prime ministers as follows:
* Pearson
* Mulroney
* Pierre Trudeau
* St. Laurent
* Chrétien
* Diefenbaker
* Clark ^
* Turner ^
* Campbell ^
^ Served less than 10 months as prime minister, while all others served for more than 4 years, 11 months.
In October 2016, Maclean's again ranked the prime ministers, this time splitting them into two lists. The long-serving prime ministers were ranked as follows:
* King
* Laurier
* Macdonald
* Pierre Trudeau
* Pearson
* St. Laurent
* Chrétien
* Mulroney
* Borden
* Harper
* Diefenbaker
* Mackenzie
* Bennett
The short-term prime ministers were ranked as follows:
* Martin
* Thompson
* Meighen
* Clark
* Tupper
* Abbott
* Bowell
* Turner
* Campbell