Term Limits Around the World

Most established democracies cap how long one person can lead. The United States has limited presidents to two elected terms since February 27, 1951, and France has limited presidents to two consecutive terms since July 23, 2008. Canada has neither kind of limit: no law or constitutional rule caps how long a Prime Minister may serve.

Each page answers the same three questions for its country: what the limit is, since when it has applied, and how it was adopted — then sets the rule beside Canada's unlimited system. Every fact carries a date so claims can be checked against the sources listed on each page.

Country by country

• 🇺🇸United StatesPresidents capped at two elected four-year terms by the Constitution's 22nd Amendment, in force since 1951.
• 🇫🇷FrancePresidents capped at two consecutive five-year terms under Article 6 of the Constitution, since the 2008 reform.

Where does Canada stand?

Among its G7 peers, Canada sits in the no-limit majority. Four of the seven members — Canada, the United Kingdom, Germany, and Italy — impose no legal limit on how long a head of government may serve; the United States (since February 27, 1951) and France (since July 23, 2008) have constitutional two-term caps for their presidents; and Japan's governing party caps its leader's tenure in practice. What that absence permits is visible in Canadian history: the longest cumulative tenure ran 21 years 154 days (William Lyon Mackenzie King, 1921–1930, 1935–1948) — the longest of any G7 head of government — and the longest unbroken tenure 15 years 87 days (Wilfrid Laurier, 1896–1911).

See the sourced tenure data on the Multi-Term Prime Ministers page, or the problem in numbers and the FAQ on the homepage.