The People's Party of Canada (PPC; ) is a federal political party in Canada. The party was formed by Maxime Bernier in September 2018, shortly after his resignation from the Conservative Party of Canada. It is placed from the right to the far-right on the political spectrum according to a variety of sources.
Bernier, a former candidate for the 2017 Conservative Party of Canada leadership election and cabinet minister, was the People's Party's only Member of Parliament (MP) from its founding in 2018 to his defeat in the 2019 Canadian federal election. In that election, the PPC formed electoral district associations in 326 ridings, and ran candidates in 315 of Canada's 338 ridings; however, no candidate was elected under its banner and Bernier lost his bid for personal re-election in Beauce. The party ran 312 candidates in the 2021 Canadian federal election; the party increased its share of the popular vote to nearly 5%, but again elected no MPs. In the 2025 Canadian federal election, it achieved its worst result yet, winning less than 1% of the popular vote.
The party has been described primarily as conservative with right-wing populist policies. Specific policies advocated by the party include reducing immigration to Canada to 150,000 entrants per year, scrapping the Canadian Multiculturalism Act, withdrawing from the Paris Agreement, ending corporate welfare, and ending supply management. In the 2021 federal election, the PPC also ran in opposition to COVID-19 lockdowns and restrictions, vaccine passports, and compulsory vaccinations.
History
Formation
The PPC was formed a few weeks after the resignation of Maxime Bernier, a candidate in the 2017 Conservative Party of Canada leadership election and former cabinet minister from the Conservative Party of Canada. In his resignation speech, Bernier stated that he was leaving because "I've come to realize... this party is too intellectually and morally corrupt to be reformed." Bernier also stated that under opposition leader Andrew Scheer, to whom Bernier finished runner-up in the 2017 party leadership election, the Conservative Party had abandoned its principles on issues including political correctness, corporate welfare, equalization payments reform, and supply management. In a National Post op-ed, Bernier stated that his motive for forming the party was to reverse the public choice dynamic in the Canadian political system resulting in vote-buying and pandering by political parties. He reiterated his belief that the Conservative Party could not be reformed to end this practice, and that a new political party was required.
Bernier was accused by prominent Conservative politicians such as former prime ministers Stephen Harper and Brian Mulroney of trying to divide the political right. He responded on the CBC Television show Power & Politics that he wanted to focus on disaffected voters, and cited the political rise of French president Emmanuel Macron as an example. Bernier later cited the breakthrough of the People's Alliance of New Brunswick in the 2018 New Brunswick general election and the Coalition Avenir Québec win in the 2018 Quebec general election as examples of voters' disdain for traditional political parties and expressing their desire for change by voting for new parties.
Prior to his resignation from the Conservative Party, Bernier had begun reestablishing contact with individuals who had supported his 2017 Conservative leadership bid; they believed he had the necessary support to register a party with Elections Canada. Le Devoir reported that members of seven Conservative constituency associations defected to the party. A few days after announcing the party name, Libertarian Party of Canada leader Tim Moen, who had previously offered the leadership of that party to Bernier, stated that he was open to the idea of a merger with the People's Party. When asked by Global News, Bernier indicated he had no interest in a merger. In early September 2018, The Canadian Nationalist Party reached out to the People's Party "to see if there would be any interest in possibly co-operating with the Canadian Nationalist Party." Bernier declined any further discussions with Patron.
When asked about organizing by the party, Bernier mentioned that he would use tools that did not exist in the past, such as social media.
Bernier planned to run candidates in all of Canada's 338 federal ridings in the 2019 Canadian federal election. The party's registration documents were officially submitted to Elections Canada on October 10, 2018. In addition, he stated that electoral district associations (EDA) would be in place by December 31, 2018, and that the EDAs would start focusing on finding candidates starting in January 2019. On November 1, 2018, the party revealed that it had over 30,000 "founding members". News outlets later revealed that one of the PPC's founding members was a former American white nationalist, and that two others had ties to anti-immigration groups. The former white nationalist was removed from the party on August 29, 2019, after his past came to light. A spokesperson for the party stated that his past did not come up during the vetting process since he came from the United States. The two other members denied having racist views; the party later told Le Devoir that they did not have enough resources to vet them at the beginning of the PPC's formation.
In November 2018, The Minister of Democratic Institutions Karina Gould said that Bernier would qualify for debates hosted by the Leaders' Debates Commission if the party nominated candidates in 90% of ridings. The party held rallies in Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto, Ottawa–Gatineau, Winnipeg, Saskatoon, and Quebec City. In 2019, it held rallies in Hamilton, Saint John, and Halifax. On December 21, 2018, the party established EDAs in all 338 electoral districts.
Registration
The party received its eligibility status on November 11, 2018. It was registered by Elections Canada on January 19, 2019, after nominating candidates for by-elections in Outremont, York—Simcoe, and Burnaby South, which were called for February 25, 2019, and Nanaimo—Ladysmith. In the February 25 by-elections, the party received 10.9% of the vote in Burnaby South and 1.5% in each of York—Simcoe and Outremont.
2019 federal election For the forthcoming 2019 Canadian federal election, Bernier told the National Post that the party would start candidate nominations after the 2019 by-elections. On March 25, 2019, Bernier announced in a press conference that the party had opened an online search for candidates until April 23, with candidate selection meetings to follow between May 7 and 13. In an interview on the CTV television show Power Play, he said that the party planned to have their first convention from June 1 to 2. The party held its conference from August 18 to 19, where "roughly 500 party officials took part in door knocking workshops, traditional media and social media training, debate training and mock debate."
The PPC underwent several controversies during the campaign. In April 2019, Angelo Isidorou, a party executive and the Vancouver Quadra district association president, resigned; he stated that the party was an "utter free-for-all" and had been "hijacked by egomaniacs". Isidorou was one of the earliest individuals to blow the whistle on internal racism within the party. More resignations followed Isidorou and echoed accusations that the party had been infiltrated by "racist, xenophobic, homophobic and downright hateful people". In July 2019, the entire People's Party of Canada board in Elmwood—Transcona publicly sent a resignation letter, claiming that "racists", "anti-Semites" and "conspiracy theorists" had taken over and were promoting "the closure of Canada's "physical and economic borders" and had "spread misinformation through personal and official channels". They cited disillusionment towards the party's increasingly xenophobic nature and lack of focus towards economic discussion as their core reasons for resigning. Steven Fletcher, PPC candidate for Charleswood—St. James—Assiniboia—Headingley, rejected the accusation, claiming the action is rooted in vindictiveness against Bernier. The manager of the Elmwood—Transcona Facebook page responded to the criticism by stating: "Our problem is not necessarily with Max [Bernier] himself, but the entire organization has deep-rooted problems." The Winnipeg South Centre EDA argued that it was normal for a party to have "people with crazy ideas and racists" and wanted to know how the party reacted to it. Fletcher disputed their statement, stating that "they'd be kicked out pretty fast" if they held any such viewpoints, and touted the diversity of the PPC's candidates. Fletcher claimed that "some elements of the NDP and the Green Party" have "anti-Semitic viewpoints" and that there was an "anti-Quebec vibe" in online forums from "people supporting [Conservative Party leader] Andrew Scheer." The PPC later told Global News that the removal of the white nationalist was an example of the party taking a stand against racism.
Ultimately, the party formed electoral district associations in 326 ridings, and ran candidates in 315 ridings, of Canada's total 338 ridings. In the 2019 federal election, Bernier lost his own seat to a Conservative, and no People's Party candidates were elected. Bernier was the only People's Party candidate to come close to winning; he won 28.4% of the vote (a 20-point drop from 2015), and no other candidate of the party won more than 4% of the vote. The party received approximately 1.6% of the popular vote nationwide. According to the Canadian Press, the PPC may have cost the Conservatives some ridings but did not garner enough votes to affect the overall result.
After the 2019 federal election On February 24, 2020, Elections Canada deregistered 38 of the party's EDAs for failing to comply with reporting requirements. The deregistered EDAs would not be able to accept contributions or issue tax receipts unless they remedy their status with Elections Canada and become re-registered. Two candidates (including Maxime Bernier) ran for the Toronto Centre and York Centre by-election, following the resignations of Michael Levitt and Bill Morneau; however, both candidates were unsuccessful in their campaigns, garnering under 3.6% of the popular vote in each riding, and other EDAs have voluntarily deregistered.
2021 federal election The PPC announced it would contest the 2021 federal election with the same platform it used in 2019 and with Bernier running in his former riding of Beauce. The PPC also announced its opposition to further COVID-19 restrictions and lockdown measures, vaccine passports, and compulsory vaccinations as part of its campaign.
The PPC gained around 5% of the popular vote, an improvement on its 2019 result and surpassing the Green Party of Canada in terms of vote share, with some PPC candidates finishing a distant second in the ridings they contested. However, the party did not see any candidates elected with Bernier again losing to the Conservatives in Beauce.
Following the election, some political scientists and commentators debated whether the PPC's slightly stronger performance contributed to the Conservatives under Erin O'Toole losing to the Liberals. This view was endorsed by Mainstreet Research CEO Quito Maggi and University of Toronto political science professor Nelson Wiseman, who posited that the PPC may have cost the Conservatives at least ten ridings. It has also been described as not a simple generalization, as a significant amount of PPC support arose from non-Conservative voters.
After the 2021 federal election