Editing Prime Minister of Canada (section)

==Qualifications and selection==
In 2008, a public opinion survey showed that 51% of Canadians believed they voted to directly elect the prime minister.{{refn|<ref>{{citation| url=https://www.constitutionalstudies.ca/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/22.1-Full-Issue.pdf| editor-last1=Lagassé| editor-first1=Philippe| editor-last2=MacDonald| editor-first2=Nicholas A.| title=The Crown in the 21st Century| last1=Cyr| first1=Hugo| series=On the Formation of Government| page=105| volume=22| issue=1| year=2017| publisher=Centre for Constitutional Studies| location=Edmonton| accessdate=June 6, 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Survey suggests Canadians ignorant of government system |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/survey-suggests-canadians-ignorant-of-government-system-1.751002 |website=[[CBC News]] |date=2008-12-14 |accessdate=June 6, 2023}}</ref>}} In fact, the prime minister, along with the other ministers in Cabinet, is appointed by the governor general on behalf of the monarch.<ref name="GG">{{citation| url=http://www.gg.ca/media/fs-fd/P1_e.asp| url-status=dead| author=Office of the Governor General of Canada| title=Media > Fact Sheets > The Swearing-In of a New Ministry| publisher=Queen's Printer for Canada| accessdate=May 18, 2009| archive-url=https://wayback.archive-it.org/all/20080616012920/http://www.gg.ca/media/fs-fd/P1_e.asp| archive-date=June 16, 2008}}</ref> By the conventions of [[responsible government]], the foundation of parliamentary democracy, the governor general will call to form a government the individual most likely to receive the support, or confidence, of a majority of the directly elected members of the [[House of Commons of Canada|House of Commons]];<ref>{{citation| last=Pothen| first=Phil| title=Disinformation as a Back Door to 'Constitutional Revolution' in Canada| url=http://www.oba.org/En/ccl_en/newsletter_en/v13n1.aspx#Article_3| year=2009| place=Toronto| publisher=Ontario Bar Association| accessdate=September 13, 2010}}</ref> as a practical matter, this is often the leader of the party, or a coalition of parties,<ref name=Brooks235>{{Harvnb| Brooks| 2007| p=235}}</ref><ref>{{citation| url=https://globalnews.ca/news/6054421/experts-scheer-claims-forming-government/| url-status=live| last=Bryden| first=Joan| title='Complete nonsense': Experts dispute Scheer's claims about forming government| date=October 19, 2019| publisher=Global News| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191021114342/https://globalnews.ca/news/6054421/experts-scheer-claims-forming-government/| archive-date=October 21, 2019}}</ref> whose members form a [[Majority#Parliamentary rules|majority]], or a very large [[Plurality (voting)|plurality]], of seats in the House of Commons.<ref>{{citation| url=http://www2.parl.gc.ca/Sites/LOP/AboutParliament/Forsey/PDFs/How_Canadians_Govern_Themselves-6ed.pdf| url-status=dead| last=Forsey| first=Eugene| author-link=Eugene Forsey| title=How Canadians Govern Themselves| pages=3–4| edition=6| year=2005| publisher=Queen's Printer for Canada| place=Ottawa| isbn=0-662-39689-8| accessdate=December 9, 2009| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091229155255/http://www2.parl.gc.ca/Sites/LOP/AboutParliament/Forsey/PDFs/How_Canadians_Govern_Themselves-6ed.pdf| archive-date=December 29, 2009}}</ref> No document is needed to begin the appointment; both the invitation and acceptance are usually oral.<ref name=GoC145>{{citation| url=https://jameswjbowden.files.wordpress.com/2011/10/6-governor-general.pdf| author=Government of Canada| title=Governor General| page=147| year=1970| publisher=WordPress| accessdate=14 March 2024}}</ref>

A prime minister who has given intention to resign may advise the governor general on whom to appoint as the next prime minister. However, if the prime minister is resigning because he has lost the confidence of the House of Commons, the viceroy is not obligated to follow that advice.<ref name=GoC145/> If the leader of the opposition is unable or unwilling to form a government,{{NoteTag|When Prime Minister [[John A. Macdonald]] died in office in 1891, Governor General [[Frederick Stanley, 16th Earl of Derby|the Lord Stanley of Preston]] approached [[John Sparrow David Thompson|John Thompson]] to form a government. But Thompson declined and instead advised Stanley to call on Senator [[John Abbott]]. Ahead of Prime Minister [[Mackenzie Bowell]]'s resignation in 1896, [[Donald Smith, 1st Baron Strathcona and Mount Royal|Donald Smith]] turned down the offer to be the next head of government, leading Governor General [[John Hamilton-Gordon, 1st Marquess of Aberdeen and Temair|the Earl of Aberdeen]] to appoint [[Charles Tupper]] as prime minister. [[Robert Borden]] announced his intention to resign as prime minister in 1920. [[William Thomas White|Thomas White]] was summoned by Governor General [[Julian Byng, 1st Viscount Byng of Vimy|the Viscount Byng of Vimy]] and rejected the appointment as prime minister. Byng then installed [[Arthur Meighen]] as his chief advisor.<ref>{{harvnb| Government of Canada| 1970| p=146}}</ref>}} the governor general can consult whomever they wish.<ref name=GoC145/>

While there is no legal requirement for the prime minister to be an MP,<ref name=GoC145/> for practical and political reasons the prime minister is expected to win a seat very promptly.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Forsey |first=Eugene |date=March 2012 |title=How Canadians Govern Themselves > The Prime Minister |url=http://www.parl.gc.ca/about/parliament/senatoreugeneforsey/book/chapter_6-e.html#6_5 |access-date=November 26, 2015 |publisher=Queen's Printer for Canada}}</ref> However, in rare circumstances individuals who are not sitting members of the House of Commons have been appointed to the position of prime minister. Two former prime ministers—[[John Abbott|John Joseph Caldwell Abbott]] and [[Mackenzie Bowell]]—served in the 1890s while members of the [[Senate of Canada|Senate]].<ref name="Forsey38">{{Harvnb|Forsey|2005|p=38}}</ref> Both, in their roles as [[Representative of the Government in the Senate|government leader in the Senate]], succeeded prime ministers who had died in office—[[John A. Macdonald]] in 1891 and [[John Sparrow David Thompson]] in 1894.

[[File:John A Macdonald (ca. 1875).jpg|left|thumb|244x244px|[[John A. Macdonald]], the first prime minister of Canada (1867–1873, 1878–1891)]]

Prime ministers who are not MPs upon their appointment (or who lose their seats while in office) have since been expected to seek election to the House of Commons as soon as possible. For example, [[William Lyon Mackenzie King]], after losing his seat in the [[1925 Canadian federal election|1925 federal election]] and again in the [[1945 Canadian federal election]] (despite his party being elected government both times), briefly governed without a seat in the House of Commons on both occasions before winning a by-election a few weeks later. Similarly, [[John Turner]] replaced [[Pierre Trudeau]] as leader of the Liberal Party in 1984 and subsequently was appointed prime minister while not holding a seat in the House of Commons; Turner won a riding in the next election but the Liberal Party was swept from power.

When a prime minister loses their seat in the legislature, or should a new prime minister be appointed without holding a seat, the typical process that follows is that a member in the governing political party will resign to allow the prime minister to run in the resulting by-election.<ref name=Forsey38/> A [[safe seat]] is usually chosen; while the Liberal and [[Conservative Party of Canada|Conservative]] parties generally observed a practice of not running a candidate against another party's new leader in the by-election, the [[New Democratic Party]] and smaller political parties typically do not follow the same practice.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Grenier |first=Éric |date=July 12, 2018 |title=NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh won't have a free pass if he runs in a byelection |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/grenier-singh-byelection-1.4742487 |website=CBC News}}</ref> However, if the governing party selects a new leader shortly before an election is due, and that new leader is not a member of the legislature, they will normally await the upcoming election before running for a seat in Parliament.