Canadian prime minister Stephen Harper led his Conservative party to victory in yesterday's election, but was forecast to fall short of a majority in parliament.

The Canadian election agency reported that the Conservatives had won or were leading in races for 143 of Parliament's 308 seats, an improvement over the 127 seats the party had in the previous parliament.

But, based on results obtained directly from election officials, Canadian Broadcasting Corp predicted the Conservative Party would not win the 155 seats needed to govern on its own. That would force it to again rely on opposition support to pass budgets and legislation - as it has had to since a 2006 election victory.

Mr Harper had called elections early in hopes of getting his party a majority, but the Conservatives sought to put a good face on the results, pointing to their increased number of seats.