How many years does a Canadian prime minister serve?
Quick answer: there is no limit.Longer: There are no term limits in Canada’s Parliament. What determines the length of a Prime Minister’s term of office are two things:Party Leadership. The leader of the party forming government becomes Prime Minister. Parties elect their leaders – so the PM must remain in good standing and continue to win the confidence of his/her party.Confidence of the House. A government must enjoy the confidence of the House of Commons – normally, that happens when enough members of parliament from one party are elected to form a majority in the house. They can then win every vote – i.e. keep the “confidence” of the house. Sometimes, one party doesn’t win enough seats to hold a majority. A government can still be formed, but it will fall if the House votes against the government on key motions called “Confidence Votes” (normally budget bills, key financing bills or any declared “Vote of Confidence.”)All this to say, that if a politician can maintain his/her position as party leader and command the confidence of the House of Commons, he/she can remain Prime Minister.Elections must be held at least every 5 years – though the government can call an early election if it chooses (although this ability has been constrained by fixed-dates election legislation that normally calls for an election every 4 years, a majority government could change that law). Early elections also can happen if the government loses the confidence of the House through a vote of non-Confidence.William Lyon Mackenzie King was PM for 21.5 years.Sir John A. Macdonald was PM for just short of 19 years.Pierre Trudeau held office for 15.5 years.Jean Chretien for 10 years.Stephen Harper, just short of 10 years.