Television projections in Canada show Prime Minister Stephen Harper has won re-election at the head of an majority government, the first for the Conservative Party since 1988.
However, the New Democratic Party is on course to pass the Liberals, who governed for most of the last century, to become Canada's official opposition.
According to projections, the Conservatives would win 166 of 308 seats up for grabs, while the NDP would triple its seats to more than 100.
The leader of the Bloc Quebecois separatist party lost his seat two decades after he was first elected to parliament.
The party was expected to be reduced to only two seats, from 47.
Mr Harper took power in 2006. He won two previous elections, but never with a majority. Parliament has 308 seats.
Mr Harper made a final appeal on Sunday for a ''strong, stable, Conservative majority government''.
