Who is currently in power in Canada?
Mark Carney, the Liberal Party leader, replaced Justin Trudeau as Prime Minister. Trudeau had announced his resignation in January but remained in power until the Liberal Party elected a new leader, Carney, on March 9.
Carney was sworn in as Canada’s 24th prime minister on March 14. He hopes to retain the job and avoid becoming one of Canada’s shortest-serving prime ministers.
Canada’s parliament has expanded to 343 seats, meaning 172 are needed for a majority. Trudeau and the Liberals held a majority following the 2015 vote but have governed with minorities in parliament since 2019.
How will the election work?
Voters in Canada will elect all 343 members of the House of Commons, one for each constituency. There are no primaries or runoffs — just a single round of voting.
Like the UK, Canada uses a “first-past-the-post” voting system, meaning the candidate who finishes first in each constituency will be elected, even if they don’t get 50% of the vote.
How is a Canadian PM chosen?
The party that commands a majority in the House of Commons, either alone or with the support of another party, will form the next government and its leader will be the prime minister in Canada.
What happens if no party wins majority?
If the Liberals or Conservatives secure the most seats in the House of Commons but fail to win a majority, they would need to rely on either the New Democrats, a progressive party, or the separatist Quebec party Bloc Québécois to pass legislation.
Who will be the next Canadian PM?
Canadians will decide on Monday whether to extend the Liberal Party’s decade in power or instead hand control to the Conservatives.
The election in Canada will be fought between parties of Liberal Leader Mark Carney, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh, Green Party co-leaders Jonathan Pedneault and Elizabeth May, and Bloc Québécois leader Yves-François Blanchet, Canada-based Globe and Mail reported.
The two key contenders for the prime minister’s post are Liberal leader Mark Carney and opposition leader Pierre Poilievre.
What do opinion polls say?
At the start of the year, Poilievre appeared on track to be Canada’s next prime minister. His party led the Liberals by more than 20 points in most polls on January 6, the day Trudeau announced his plans to resign. But the Trudeau-for-Carney swap, combined with nationwide unease about Trump, transformed the race.
Pollsters, as cited by Reuters, say Carney’s Liberal Party holds a narrow lead in popular support ahead of final voting, after Trump slapped tariffs on Canada and repeatedly referred to the once close ally as the 51st US state.
A Nanos poll on Saturday stated that the gap between the two front-running parties has narrowed nationally to approximately three percentage points, from closer to four a day earlier, with the Conservatives making up ground especially in Ontario.
The poll put national Liberal support at 41.9% versus 38.6% for the Conservatives, Reuters reported.
Meanwhile, the public broadcaster CBC’s poll aggregator on Sunday put the Liberal’s national support at 42.8 percent, with the Conservatives at 38.8 percent.
Key issues in Canada election 2025:
1. Canadians went to the polls as the country grapples with the aftermath of a fatal car ramming attack on Saturday in Vancouver.
2. US President Donald Trump became a dominant issue when the country had been dealing with a cost-of-living crisis for some time. Trump has repeatedly threatened to make Canada the 51st state of the United States and announced a slew of tariffs on goods imported from Canada.
More than 75% percent of Canada’s exports go to the US, so Trump’s threat to impose sweeping tariffs and his desire to get the North American automakers to move Canada’s production south could severely damage the Canadian economy, the Associated Press reported.
3. According to Bloomberg, Canada’s next prime minister is set to inherit a half-year of flat economic growth, economists predict, an immediate test of their governance as President Donald Trump’s trade war grinds business investment and exports lower.
How parties promised to handle Trump tariff?
Both Carney and Poilievre said that if elected, they would accelerate renegotiations a free trade deal between Canada and the US in an bid to end the uncertainty hurting both of their economies.
Liberal Carney: Mark Carney says Canada’s retaliatory tariffs on more than C$60 billion ($43.25 billion) worth of US imports will remain in place until Washington removes its import duties, Reuters reported.
Carney promised Canada will thrash out a new economic and security relationship with the US after the election. He has not spelled out how this effort would affect the existing United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement on free trade.
Conservative Poilievre: The Conservatives are proposing a deal in which Canada and the U.S. simultaneously drop their tariffs and counter-tariffs. Party leader Pierre Poilievre also would propose an early renegotiation of the USMCA ahead of a planned review in 2026, Reuters reported.
What does each party say about immigration?
Liberal Carney: So far, Carney has not given any strong indication that he would reduce immigration levels. “If Carney wins the election, Indians aspiring to immigrate to Canada would find it easier to do so. On the other hand, the crises of expensive housing, high cost of living and lack of jobs would get further exacerbated,” Darshan Maharaja, a Canada-based immigration analyst told Business Standard.
As per the report, the Liberal Party supports economic migration and promises to “revitalise” the Global Skills Strategy to attract highly skilled workers, particularly from the United States. It also plans to fast-track the recognition of foreign credentials, especially in healthcare and trades.
Conservative Poilievre: Poilievre, the leader of the opposition Conservative Party, said he would structure immigration policies to match new capacity in housing, healthcare, and jobs.
According to Business Standard, Poilievre has spoken about a “blue seal” national licensing standard that provinces could adopt to help immigrant healthcare workers get jobs faster.
When and where are results available?
Elections Canada says it expects to count the “vast majority” of ballots on election night. Each polling place counts its election day vote by hand after polls close and reports the results to the district’s local Elections Canada office, which then posts the results on the Elections Canada website. Results are also released directly to Canadian news organisations.
(With inputs from agencies)
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