OTTAWA  Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s gamble that forcing the country into its third election in four years would give him firm control over Parliament failed on Tuesday. While his Conservative Party improved its results over the last election, it still fell short of a majority in the House of Commons, according to unofficial and incomplete tallies.

The Conservatives were projected to have picked up 19 additional seats, giving them a total of 145. But that was still 10 shy of the majority Mr. Harper needed to pass legislation without the help of opposition parties.

Speaking to supporters early Wednesday morning in his hometown, Calgary, Alberta, even as numbers continued to shift slightly, he said, “The voters have entrusted us with a strengthened mandate to continue to lead the government and take Canada forward.” He continued, “We have shown that minority government can work, and at this time of global economic instability we owe it to all Canadians to show it again.”

A clear loser in the election was the opposition Liberal Party, whose membership in Parliament apparently dropped to 75 seats from 103. Though he conceded defeat, the Liberals’ leader, Stéphane Dion, gave no indication that he would step down.