Opinion: It's time to bring the boomers back into the Conservative party

In North America, centre-right parties typically reliably win the votes of older people. The Conservative Party of Canada, however, is an exception. Figuring out how to win back support among seniors is a new challenge facing the party.

The 2025 federal election challenged the traditional age divide in Canadian politics, as illustrated by a post-election survey conducted by Abacus Data. The Conservatives under Pierre Poilievre significantly expanded their voter coalition by attracting younger voters (especially aged 30 to 44) concerned about housing affordability, job security, and economic mobility. That shift helped the party win seats previously considered out of reach.

However, those gains came at a cost, as many older voters indicated that they had cast their ballots for the Liberals, depriving the Conservatives of a once reliable base of support. Carney boosted the Liberal vote share by 19 points among seniors compared to the party’s 2021 survey result.

That pattern appears to have endured and even strengthened since the election. A mid-December Abacus poll showed Conservatives at just 31 per cent support among voters aged 60 and over, compared to 53 per cent for the Liberals. Conservatives led in every other age group, including, remarkably, those between 18 to 29.

One major driver of this shift is the Conservative Party’s evolution. Over the past decade, Conservatives have embraced a more unapologetic, ideologically confident approach. This has been supported by a vibrant and growing ecosystem of conservative media, think tanks and commentators, many of which are deeply plugged in to the concerns of younger Canadians.

The brash approach, of which Poilievre is the best but not the only spokesman, has resonated with younger voters, particularly young men, working-class Canadians, and some new immigrants. These groups make up a new Conservative voter coalition.

In the 2025 election, Liberals were able to successfully project longstanding fears about Donald Trump onto Poilievre and the broader Conservative brand. For voters who came of age during earlier periods of Canada–U.S. tension, those anxieties may have proved decisive.

At the same time, Conservatives emphasized issues most salient to their new voter coalition. Housing affordability and labour-market precarity are existential concerns for younger Canadians, but they resonate far less with homeowners and retirees. For many older voters, rising home prices represent asset growth, and job-market instability is less pressing for those who are retired or nearing retirement.

These dynamics were reflected clearly on election day. Conservatives lost seats such as Kelowna, one of Canada’s premier retirement destinations, while making gains in seats such as in the young Kitchener-Waterloo area and working-class ridings such as Elmwood-Transcona. The 2025 election produced a new cohort of young Conservative MPs eager to represent the interests of young Canadians.

The central strategic question for the party now is whether Poilievre can consolidate and even build on his remarkable gains among younger voters while also rebuilding support among older Canadians. We believe he must. Re-engaging seniors will be essential for future Conservative victories.

There are reasons for optimism. Many older voters who now support the Liberals voted Conservative under previous leaders such as former Prime Minister Stephen Harper. Notably, many still support provincial conservative parties. These voters are far from lost to the Conservatives.

How can Conservatives appeal to older voters without undermining their younger supporters? There are several potential avenues to achieving this.

First, the Conservatives are already strong on issues that can be adapted to older Canadians. The Conservative affordability message, for example, can easily be tailored to older voters on fixed incomes who face the same rising costs for groceries, utilities and medications.

Second, the party needs to adjust its communications strategy. Conservatives appear to be highly effective on social media, which is crucial for reaching younger voters. But older Canadians rely far more on traditional broadcast media such as CTV and CBC. Conservatives must bite the bullet and join seemingly hostile network talk shows to make their case.

Tone and presentation also matter. This adjustment can come through the development of a broader team of spokespeople who appeal to different demographics. Messengers like Ontario MP Adam Chambers, for example, bring a softer approach to interviews than Poilievre and other fire-breathing members of the CPC front bench. Harper, who won the votes of seniors when he was party leader, could also be recruited for this purpose. There is precedent for deploying trusted high-profile figures in this way. Liberals, for example, previously enlisted the late Mississauga mayor “ McCallion to speak directly to older voters.

Building a voter coalition requires compromise. Some younger Conservative supporters will bristle at any effort to broaden the party’s appeal to older voters, mistaking it for betrayal.

This is understandable. And, given the importance of young Canadians to the Conservative coalition, could be quite damaging.

But the hard truth is that refusing to expand the Conservative tent to include seniors risks prolonged Liberal rule under a government that is by now openly hostile to the interests of younger Canadians. Poilievre will need as much grace as possible from existing supporters in the lead up to the next election.

The Conservative front bench is well positioned to energize the base and mobilize younger voters. That is a welcome change from the past. But winning government will require more. Loosening Carney’s grip on Canada’s seniors is the best way forward, and there are many reasons to think Poilievre can be successful in doing so.

National Post

Kai Jassal is an honours student in Economics at the University of Manitoba. Royce Koop is a professor of Political Science at the University of Manitoba.