MONTREAL, Canada — Canadians are set to head to polls next month for a federal election in the shadow of a trade war with the United States.
Prime Minister Mark Carney on Sunday sparked the vote as he was trying to build on his Liberal Party momentum since the beginning of the year.
Experts say that calling for strong leadership to counter Canada-US relations and the threat of annexation on President Donald Trump’s tariffs and the country will dominate the five-week election race.
Let’s take a look at what you need to know about Canadian elections.
When is the election?
The assembly elections will take place on Monday, April 28th.
Canadian election rules require the federal campaign period to be at least 37 days, but must be within 51 days.
This year’s campaign will be the shortest by law as Carney triggered the vote on Sunday and an election day is set on April 28th.
How does election work?
Canada has 343 federal districts known as Riding.
Eligible voters can vote for candidates of their preference on the riding they live in.
This country has an early electoral system. This means that the candidate who wins the most votes in a riding victory is still winning, even if they don’t get the majority of the votes.
They then take their respective seats in the House of Representatives, Canada’s House of Representatives.
Who will be the next prime minister?
Under Canada’s parliamentary system, the parties that have won the most seats in the House are usually asked to form government. If the parties have the most seats, but are not sufficient for the open majority, they attempt to form an agreement with another party or party so that the law can be passed.
The leader of a single largest party will also become prime ministers. Canadians do not vote directly for the Prime Minister.
Which party will you have while you’re running?
Canada has four major federal parties.
The Liberal Party has been in the government since 2015 and won 152 seats in Parliament at the time of its dissolution. The party was previously led by Justin Trudeau. Justin Trudeau officially resigned as prime minister on March 14th to allow Carney to serve in the post.
The Conservative Party served as the official Canadian opposition, serving 120 seats in the previous Congress. The party is led by Pierre Polyeive, an Ottawa-regional lawmaker known for his populist rhetoric.
The left-leaning New Democrats (NDP), led by Jagmeet Singh, had 24 congressional seats before the campaign began. The NDP previously supported a Trudeau-led liberal minority government, but withdrew from its contract last September.
Block Quebecoa, which runs candidates only in the French-speaking provinces of Quebec, had 33 lawmakers in the House. They are led by Yves-Francois Blanchet.
Apart from the four large political parties, there is also the Green Party in Canada. Canada had two seats in Parliament at the time of its disbandment, but it is not expected to make a big profit from future votes.
What do the polls say?
Until January, conservatives had what many believed was a clear path to winning a majority in Congress.
But Trump’s threat to Canada, coupled with Trudeau’s decision to resign as the new leader of the liberals and to ascend Carney, changed things. Recent polls suggest that liberals either lead the Tories or have been trapped in a neck-neck battle with their rivals.
CBC News’ vote trackers, which aggregate national voting data, had liberals with 37.5% support, compared to 37.1% of conservatives on Sunday.
NDP ranked third with 11.6%, followed by Bloc Quebecois at 6.4%. The Greens were 3.8%.
“The Liberals and conservatives are effectively linked in the referendum, with the new Democrats taking over in a distant third place,” the CBC reported as the election race began.
“The Liberal Party will win most seats and potentially a majority government if elections take place today, thanks to a more efficient distribution of support across the country.”
What questions dominate the race?
Opposition parties, including Poilievre and conservatives, hoped the 2025 election would focus on affordable prices, including rising costs for food and housing.
But Trump’s tariffs and threats to make Canada a “51st state” in the US have overthrew the conversation.
Experts now say that the central “voting questions” of the campaign will become the best party to handle Trump and manage the relationship between Canada and the US.
Canada’s leading political party leaders have acknowledged concerns about Canadians over Trump’s policies and are committed to confronting the country’s sovereignty.
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