Who Was Canada's First Prime Minister? — Sir John A. Macdonald

# Who Was Canada's First Prime Minister? — Sir John A. Macdonald

Sir John A. Macdonald is one of the most commonly tested figures on the Canadian citizenship test. This guide gives you the facts you need to know — who he was, when he served, what he did, and why he matters.

• Full name: Sir John Alexander Macdonald
• Born: January 11, 1815, in Glasgow, Scotland
• Died: June 6, 1891, in Ottawa (in office)
• Party: Liberal-Conservative (later Conservative)
• First term as PM: July 1, 1867 to November 5, 1873
• Second term as PM: October 17, 1878 to June 6, 1891
• Riding: Kingston, Ontario

Macdonald was a Scottish-born immigrant who arrived in Kingston, Upper Canada (now Ontario) as a child. He became a successful lawyer, then a politician in the Province of Canada. By the 1860s he was the dominant Conservative leader in Canada West.

He led the Charlottetown and Quebec conferences (1864) where Confederation was negotiated, and travelled to London in 1866–1867 for the final drafting of the British North America Act. When Canada became a country on July 1, 1867, the Governor General appointed Macdonald to form the first government as Prime Minister.

In his combined 19 years as PM, Macdonald shaped modern Canada:

1. Building the federation

• Negotiated the entry of Manitoba (1870), British Columbia (1871), and PEI (1873) into Canada
• Created the federal civil service, the postal system, and the federal court structure

2. The Canadian Pacific Railway

• Promised BC a transcontinental railway as the price of joining Canada
• Saw the railway through to completion in 1885 — connecting Vancouver to central Canada by rail
• It was a feat of engineering and one of the most ambitious infrastructure projects in 19th-century North America

3. The North-West Mounted Police (1873)

• Created to bring order to the western prairies, particularly to suppress whiskey traders and enforce treaties
• Became the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) in 1920

4. The National Policy

• High tariffs on imported manufactured goods to protect Canadian industry
• Western settlement to populate the prairies (which led to the displacement of Indigenous peoples — a central source of modern criticism)
• A transcontinental railway to bind the country together

In 1873, evidence emerged that Macdonald and his party had accepted CA$360,000 in political donations from Sir Hugh Allan, a businessman seeking the contract to build the CPR. The scandal forced Macdonald to resign in November 1873.

The Liberals under Alexander Mackenzie governed from 1873 to 1878. Macdonald rebuilt his party and won the 1878 election on the National Policy platform, returning to office until his death in 1891.

Macdonald is considered one of the Fathers of Confederation and a foundational figure in Canadian history. His image was on the CA$10 bill for many years, and statues of him stand across Canada.

However, modern reassessment focuses on:

• His government's role in establishing the residential school system that harmed generations of Indigenous children. See [Residential Schools in Canada — What the Citizenship Test Covers](/blog/residential-schools-canada-what-to-know).
• The execution of Louis Riel in 1885, ordered by Macdonald's government. See [Who Was Louis Riel?](/blog/louis-riel-canada-citizenship-test).
• Discriminatory immigration policies including the Chinese head tax, introduced under his government

The current CA$10 bill features civil rights icon Viola Desmond, replacing Macdonald.

Common test questions:

• "Who was Canada's first Prime Minister?" → Sir John A. Macdonald
• "When did he become Prime Minister?" → July 1, 1867
• "Which party did he lead?" → Liberal-Conservative / Conservative
• "What major project was completed during his tenure?" → The Canadian Pacific Railway

Macdonald shows up on most citizenship tests. Drill the basic facts — name, date, party — on our [free Canadian citizenship practice test](/practice-test). For broader context, see [Canadian Confederation 1867 Explained](/blog/canadian-confederation-1867-explained).