A simple guide to Canada's federal election
BBCMark Carney, former two-time central banker, was sworn in as Canada's new prime minister last month after being elected leader of the Liberal Party of Canada.
Shortly after, he called a snap general election.
Several political leaders had called for a vote after former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced he was resigning as leader of the Liberals in January.
But after US President Donald Trump imposed tariffs on the country, sparking a trade war, calls grew for Canada to go to the polls as soon as possible.
When is the next Canadian federal election?
With the snap election call, Carney is sending Canadians the polls in a matter of weeks.
The election will be held on Monday 28 April.
By law, the maximum time between federal elections in Canada is five years. The next vote was officially scheduled for 20 October 2025.
However, there are a couple of scenarios in which an early election can be triggered:
- When the governor general accepts the prime minister's advice to dissolve government, or
- If the governor general accepts the PM's resignation after the government is defeated in a confidence vote in parliament
The first scenario is what Carney did last month.
Who could be prime minister?
In the Canadian federal election - as in the UK's general election - voters do not cast a ballot directly for a prime minister.
Instead, the leader of the party with the majority of members of parliament (MPs) becomes PM.
That means Carney will be in the running, along with Pierre Poilievre, who leads the opposition Conservative Party, and Jagmeet Singh, the leader of the New Democratic Party.
Which parties will run candidates in the election?
Four main parties will contest the next election - the Liberals, the Conservatives, the New Democrats (NDP) and the Bloc Quebecois.
The Liberal Party has been in power since 2015, when Trudeau was voted in. At dissolution, it held 153 seats.
The Conservatives were the official opposition with 120 seats.
The Bloc Quebecois, which only runs candidates in the province of Quebec, had 33 seats, and the NDP had 24.
The Green Party held two seats.
During the latter stages of Trudeau's premiership, opinion polls consistently showed the Conservatives with a strong lead.
But the numbers tightened after Trudeau stepped down.
Following Trump's decision to introduce steep tariffs against Canada, they tightened further, suggesting a neck-and-neck race.
By early April, polls indicated the Liberals have taken a slight lead.
What do the polls say?
When Trudeau resigned at the beginning of 2025, he did so under significant pressure from his own party. It was felt that his personal unpopularity was damaging the Liberals' hopes of winning the next election.
National polling averages, shared by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), suggest how support for the Liberals weakened throughout 2023 and 2024.
At the same time, support for the Conservatives soared. On 20 January 2025 - the day of Trump's inauguration - the Conservatives were polling 44.8% while the Liberals were on 21.9%.
Since then, polls suggest that support for the Liberals has ticked back up. The latest averages indicate that - on a national average - more than 40% of Canadians back the Liberals, while just under 40% support the Conservatives.
This marks the first time in three years the Liberals are leading in the polls.
How to respond to President Trump's economic threats has overtaken the cost of living as the dominant issue for voters.
How does the Canadian federal election work?
There are 343 federal ridings - also called constituencies or electoral districts -across the country. Each has a corresponding seat in the House of Commons.
All the seats in the lower chamber, the House of Commons, are up for grabs during an election.
Members of the Senate, the upper chamber, are appointed and do not run for election.
Like the UK, Canada has a "first-past-the-post" electoral system.
The candidate who gets the most votes in each riding wins that seat and become an MP. They do not need to get the majority of all the votes cast in their area. Other parties win nothing in that area.
The leader of the party with the largest number of elected MPs normally forms the government. The second-placed party usually forms the official opposition.
If no party ends up with an overall majority of seats, the result is known as a hung parliament or a minority government.
Practically, it means the party with the most seats will not be able to pass legislation without the help of other parties.
Who can vote in the Canadian federal election?
To vote in a Canadian election you must:
- be a Canadian citizen
- be at least 18 years old, and
- have proof of your identity and address