A coalition government forms when two or more political parties agree to work together to govern, typically because no single party won a majority of seats. Coalition partners negotiate a governing agreement outlining shared priorities, how cabinet positions are divided, and how decisions will be made. True coalitions are relatively rare in Canadian federal politics, though more common in some provincial legislatures and in other parliamentary democracies. Distinguished from minority governments (where one party governs without a majority, relying on case-by-case support), coalitions involve formal agreements to share power. The 2008 proposed Liberal-NDP coalition with Bloc support never took power but generated significant debate about coalition legitimacy.