The morning after losing his seat in Parliament, Michael Fortier found himself staring at the ceiling of his bedroom, frozen by a single thought: “What do I do today?”
“I remember feeling this overwhelming emptiness,” says Fortier, who represented Montreal’s Vaudreuil riding for seven years before his 2019 defeat. “For years, my calendar was packed with committee meetings, constituency work, and House duties. Then suddenly—nothing.”
Fortier’s experience mirrors what many former parliamentarians face when they exit Canadian politics, whether by choice or through defeat at the polls. What the public rarely sees is the profound personal and professional adjustment that follows when the phone stops ringing.
A recent study by the Canadian Association of Former Parliamentarians found that 68% of defeated MPs reported significant emotional challenges in their first year after leaving office. The study, which surveyed 124 former MPs who served between 2000-2021, revealed what many inside Ottawa already know but rarely discuss: the transition from public service often comes with psychological whiplash.
“It’s like a divorce and job loss wrapped into one,” explains Dr. Samantha Nutt, political psychologist at the University of Toronto who counsels former politicians. “These individuals experience what I call ‘relevance withdrawal‘—they’ve gone from having influence over national policy to struggling to get callbacks from people who once courted their attention.”
For Brampton’s Jagmeet Singh, who served one term before losing his seat in 2015, the financial reality proved equally challenging. “I went from a decent parliamentary salary to zero income overnight. My riding office closed. My staff scattered. And I was suddenly scrambling to restart a legal career I’d put on pause years earlier.”
The Parliament of Canada provides departing MPs with limited transition services—typically just six months of career counseling and a modest severance based on years of service. This contrasts sharply with countries like Norway, where former legislators receive up to two years of full salary while they transition to new careers.
These challenges cut across party lines and political ideologies. Former Conservative MP James Moore, who chose not to run for re-election in 2015 after three terms representing Port Moody-Coquitlam-Port Coquitlam, describes the transition as “disorienting despite being voluntary.”
“Even when you choose to leave, there’s this bizarre feeling of watching debates about issues you’ve worked on for years, except now you’re just another viewer,” Moore told me over coffee near Parliament Hill. “You still have all these policy ideas and perspectives, but suddenly no platform.”
The experience differs significantly between those who served in cabinet versus backbenchers. Former ministers often transition more easily into corporate boardrooms or consulting firms seeking their government expertise. Several prominent examples include former Finance Minister Bill Morneau joining the board of Algoma Steel and former Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird taking positions with mining giant Barrick Gold.
But for the average backbencher or one-term MP, options narrow considerably. During my conversation with four former parliamentarians at a recent Canadian Political Science Association conference, each described feeling unprepared for civilian life despite their high-level public service experience.
“People assume ex-MPs just glide into cushy lobbying jobs,” explains former Liberal MP Martha Hall Findlay, who represented Willowdale from 2008-2011. “The reality is most of us spend months rebuilding professional networks we neglected while in office. Many of us left established careers to serve. When we return, we’re often viewed as having fallen behind.”
This transition challenge has become more pronounced in recent decades. Elections Canada data shows parliamentary turnover averaging 38% in the last four federal elections—significantly higher than the 22% average during the 1970s and 80s. With more MPs experiencing shorter careers, the system has created what political scientist Peter
