Canadians on Tuesday re-elected a minority Conservative government under Prime Minister Stephen Harper, in the first polls in a major economy since the eruption of the worst global financial crisis since the Great Depression.

The Conservatives were projected to form a stronger minority, as incoming results from Tuesday's election showed its candidates either elected or leading in 145 electoral districts after a campaign dominated by the financial meltdown.

At least 155 seats are needed to form a majority in the 308-seat House of Commons, the elected lower chamber of the British-style parliament in Ottawa.

The Liberals -- who dominated Canadian federal politics in the 20th century -- were poised to form the official opposition again, with a likely 76 seats, based on returns from Elections Canada, the national electoral agency.

"Today, Canadians have charted the way forward for our country," said Harper in an acceptance speech, as the nation looked ahead to its third consecutive minority government.

"We knew the election would give someone a mandate to lead Canada during this period of global economic uncertainty," he said.

"The voters have entrusted us with a strengthened mandate to continue to lead the government and take Canada forward."

Harper added, "I want to ensure Canadians that working together, we will weather this storm and we will position our economy to emerge stronger than ever before. We have a realistic, prudent and responsible plan."

Harper -- at the helm of a Conservative minority government since January 2006 which followed a Liberal minority elected in June 2004 -- had started the 37-day electoral campaign ahead in the opinion polls, hoping to trounce the Liberals led by Stephane Dion and usher in a new conservative era in Canada.

Galvanized voters

No one issue galvanized voters, however, until world financial markets tumbled in the wake of the US subprime mortgage crisis. Many Canadians lost their savings or their retirement nest eggs, and Harper lost his early 10-point lead.

Suddenly, an election that had seemed ordinary was dominated by the question of who was best qualified to lead the nation amid economic uncertainty.

Liberal leader Stephane Dion conceded on Tuesday as the results came in, "It is clear that our economy, indeed the global economic crisis is the most important issue facing our country at this time."

"As the official opposition, we will work with the government to make sure that Canadians are protected from the economic storm," he said.

"I believe now...more than ever that politicians from every political party can find common ground and work together."

Canada was the first major economy to go to the polls since the start of a global financial meltdown. The United States follows on November 4 with its hotly contested presidential election.

Rivals had accused Harper of glossing over Canadians' fears of US economic carnage splattering over the border, despite his and his finance minister's efforts to reassure them, "not to panic."

They attacked Harper's "stay the course" message and his suggestion in a television interview that plunging stock markets presented good buying opportunities for investors.

Too risky

Harper shot back, saying Dion's plan for the largest tax shift in recent Canadian history -- massively cutting income and corporate taxes to offset a new pollution tax -- was too risky in "uncertain economic times."

Amid the politicking, the Toronto Stock Exchange took its worst beating in almost 70 years, and a leading Canadian bank predicted a recession in 2009.

Canada's economy has actually fared better than that of other Group of Seven industrialized nations, and unlike places like the United States, its banks are not in danger of insolvency.

But around 75 percent of Canadian exports go south to its neighbor and biggest trading partner -- and when the US economy stumbled in 1975, 1982 and 1991, so did Canada's.

In 2006, the Conservatives had won 124 seats, the Liberals 103, the Bloc Quebecois 51 and the New Democrats 29. One independent also won election.

The Bloc Quebecois was projected to win 48 seats this round, the New Democrats 37 and two others.

Taking a seat in parliament for the first time will be Justin Trudeau, son of late prime minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau, representing a Montreal constituency for the Liberals.

In Nova Scotia, Green Party leader Elizabeth May failed in her bid to become her party's first elected member of parliament, in a contest against Conservative defense minister Peter MacKay.