Montreal : Canada's official opposition leader defied expectations Monday by refusing step down immediately following a disastrous showing in Tuesday's national elections.

Liberal Party leader Stephane Dion said he will stay on until the Liberals chose a new leader at the upcoming leadership convention expected in May.

"I will remain as a leader to ensure a smooth and successful transition," Dion told reporters in Ottawa.

Dion came under strong pressure to resign after he led the Liberals to their worst showing in terms of popular vote since Canada was formed in 1867.

The Liberals captured 26.2 per cent of the popular vote, which translated into only 76 seats in the 308-seat House of Commons. Going into the election, the Liberals held 95 seats.

Dion, a staunch federalist and a former political science professor at the University of Montreal, came into politics in 1996.

Dion is credited with drafting the Clarity Act, a law that set out tougher conditions for Quebec's separation following the 1995 referendum in which Quebec almost seceded from Canada.

As environment minister in Paul Martins government, Dion won the international agreement to extend the Kyoto protocol beyond 2012 at the follow-up to the Kyoto Conference on Climate Change in Montreal in December 2005. (dpa)