Full text: Read or watch Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre’s concession speech

Conservative Party of Canada Leader Pierre Poilievre spoke to a crowd of supporters after it was announced that the Liberals were projected to form government in the 2025 federal election. With his wife, Anaida Poilievre, by his side, the Conservative leader took the stage after midnight on election day. Translations from French have been italicized. Here’s what he said.

Dear Canadians. I love you, too. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. It’s with profound gratitude that I stand before you today at the moment of this historic election, because only in Canada could the story that Ana and I bring to the stage be possible. Adopted son of school teachers and a Venezuelan refugee stand on this stage in front of our proud country, offering ourself up to serve for the future. After millions of people have shown up and marked their X, spoken their voice and exercised their democratic rights. We could not be more proud, we could not be more grateful for the opportunity Canadians have given us.

Speaking now of Ana, I want to take a moment to thank my incredible wife. She’s been by my side. She’s my rock. I love and cherish you and our little ones more than you’ll ever know, and I could not have done any of this without you. Thank you so much.

Now, my message to Canadians. The promise that was made to me and to all of you is that anybody from anywhere could achieve anything. That through hard work, you could get a great life. You (could) have a nice, affordable home on a safe street. My purpose in politics is, and will continue to be, to restore that promise.

Thank you. To the candidates who ran under our banner as Conservatives, to the volunteers who knocked on the doors, made phone calls, put up lawn signs, rallied at our events, donated their hard-earned money to our cause. I thank you from the bottom of my heart. To the millions of people who voted for the Conservative Party and put their hopes and dreams in our vision. Thank you. It will be an honour to continue to fight for you and to be a champion of your cause as we go forward.

It would be a great honour to continue to fight for you. It has been an honour to be your voice, to fight for Conservative values, the values for which you voted, and it will be an honour to continue to try and restore the promise of Canada — that anyone who works hard can have a great life in an affordable home in a safe community. That is our vision, and we will bring it home.

To my fellow Conservatives, we have much to celebrate tonight. We’ve gained well over 20 seats. We got the highest share of vote our party has received since 1988. We denied the NDP and Liberals enough seats to form a coalition government.

We did all of this in a very difficult environment. That said, we are cognizant of the fact that we didn’t quite get over the finish line yet. We know that change is needed, but change is hard to come by. It takes time. It takes work. And that’s why we have to learn the lessons of tonight so that we can have an even better result the next time the Canadians decide the future for the country.

Canadians have opted for a razor thin minority government, a virtual tie in the vote count. So, I would like to congratulate Prime Minister (Mark) Carney on leading this minority government. No, no, we’ll have plenty of opportunity to debate and disagree, but tonight, we come together as Canadians. We will do our job. Yes, we will do our job to hold the government to account, but first, we congratulate people from all political backgrounds on participating in the democratic process.

And as I said, while we will do our constitutional duty of holding government to account and proposing better alternatives, we will always put Canada first as we stare down tariffs and other irresponsible threats from President (Donald) Trump. Conservatives will work with the prime minister and all parties with the common goal of defending Canada’s interests and getting a new trade deal that puts these tariffs behind us while protecting our sovereignty and the Canadian people.

I want to thank my Conservative team, my caucus, my members of the Conservative staff and others who have helped reshape the entire political landscape in this country. Conservatives have achieved major breakthroughs tonight. We brought in record support from blue collar and unionized workers, youth, new Canadians.

We gave voices to countless people across this country who have been left out and left behind for far too long. We won the big debates of our time, on the carbon tax, on inflation, on housing, on the drug crisis, on crime. Conservatives have been leading the debate and we will continue to put forward the best arguments to improve the lives of our people right across this country, but we will not stop there. Every single day our Conservative caucus and I will be holding the government to account on behalf of the millions of Canadians who believed in the message of change.

As a party, we have definitely expanded our support. And every single day, the Conservative caucus and myself will be working hard in Ottawa to force the government to account on behalf of millions of Canadians who decided to vote for real change. I had the honour of criss-crossing this country to speak to thousands of people who shared their concerns, their suffering, their despair with me.

People took precious time out of their day to tell me about their struggles, their pain, their fears, but also their hopes and dreams.

Welders and waitresses, farmers and factory workers, seniors, small business owners and single mothers, young Canadians and young families pleading for the chance to own a home. Parents worried that their kids would never be able to move out of their home. Grandparents who saw their grandchildren suffering from the shortfalls of our economy and countless others who are afraid to go outside because of the rising wave of crime.

All of these stories touched my heart and gave me inspiration to work towards something better. These people continue to need voices, and I will continue to fight for them every day — and every day, we will never give up on fighting for the Canadian people. Thank you.

We hear your stories. We will carry those stories with us into parliament. We will not forget the people for whom we work and for whom we fight every day. Now I know that some of you might be disappointed that change did not get over the finish line tonight. Change takes time. Most of all, it requires that we never give up, because our people and our country are worth fighting for.

I heard you and I carried your stories with me throughout this campaign, and your stories will remain with me as I fight with my Conservative team to defend you and to advance your interests. To those who desperately need change, I know that you’re disappointed. Change is difficult, and it takes time. We must now never stop. The people of Canada deserve that we continue to fight for them.

I will never give up on fighting for everyone who stood with us today and the millions of people who voted for other parties. And so my message tonight, for the single mother working two jobs but still has an empty fridge and an empty bank account, for the young people who despair at never being able to afford a home, for the seniors on fixed incomes whose savings are eroded by inflation and no longer feel safe in their local neighbourhood parks, for those who are now living in fear and terror because of crime, for those worried about losing their jobs because of unacceptable tariffs from the United States of America, for all of those who feel left behind and forgotten, my message is one of hope.

Change will take time, but we will fight for that change, and we will deliver that change, and we will never give up on fighting for the great Canadian promise that anyone from anywhere can achieve anything, that hard work gets you a great life in a beautiful house on a safe street, protected by our brave troops under our proud flag. Canada first, Canada always. Let’s bring it home. Thank you very much, Canada.