OTTAWA — After a short, intense and heated campaign, Canadians are casting their ballots in a historic election to choose the next federal government.
Liberal Leader Mark Carney, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre and NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh spent five weeks pitching their cases to voters.
Each of the main party leaders settled into their home ridings Monday after an eventful but compressed election period that lasted the minimum 37 days.
Poilievre arrived at a polling station in his Carleton riding on Monday morning and echoed his campaign slogan by encouraging Canadians to "get out to vote — for a change" as he dropped his ballot in the box.
He wrapped up his campaign with a rally Sunday night in his home riding — one of the ridings that's expected to see a close contest between the Liberals and Conservatives as votes are counted tonight.
Carney voted in the afternoon alongside his wife Diana Fox Carney at a polling station set up in an Anglican church in Ottawa.
After asking about the level of turnout so far, Carney confessed to a poll worker that he was "pretty tired" after flying in from British Columbia overnight.
Singh, who cast his ballot amid the record-setting advance voting turnout earlier in the month, was still campaigning in Port Moody, B.C., on Monday. He joined supporters waving signs on the side of the road and offered inspiration to the NDP die-hards headed out to knock on doors and get out the vote.
Singh said he wanted them to share a message on the doorsteps: elect New Democrats to stand up to whichever party ends up forming government.
"Remind people, it's all because of you," he said. "Because you vote NDP, we're able to fight for you."
Carney, a former central banker and a political neophyte, presented himself during the campaign as a safe pair of hands for a country threatened by U.S. President Donald Trump, while Poilievre focused on addressing crime and the high cost of living and Singh pushed to protect social programs he argued are in danger.
Trump loomed large over the campaign with his tariff threats and calls for Canada to become a U.S. state, occasionally pushing Carney off the campaign trail to act in his capacity as prime minister.
Trump even weighed in early on election day with a post on his Truth Social platform, where he repeated those calls and wished "good luck to the Great people of Canada."
"Elect the man who has the strength and wisdom to cut your taxes in half, increase your military power, for free, to the highest level in the World, have your Car, Steel, Aluminum, Lumber, Energy, and all other businesses, QUADRUPLE in size, WITH ZERO TARIFFS OR TAXES, if Canada becomes the cherished 51st. State of the United States of America," he wrote.
Voting was disrupted in a Windsor, Ont., riding on Monday after a fire closed down a recreation centre that was serving as a polling station.
Some voters in the Windsor—Tecumseh—Lakeshore riding were evacuated from the WFCU Centre and directed to a nearby high school to vote.
Speaking to reporters after casting a ballot in his riding, Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet said he was more impatient than nervous as he waited for the outcome.
Unlike his opponents, Blanchet has not framed this election as the most significant in a lifetime.
“It is an important election, like any election is important. It should never be taken lightly,” Blanchet said.
On the final full day of the campaign, all major party leaders paused to address a deadly vehicle attack at a Filipino community event in Vancouver that took the lives of at least 11 attendees, leaving more wounded in hospital.
The Liberals have seen a massive rebound since the start of the year, with most polls suggesting they lead the Conservatives — who were long favoured to win a majority government while Justin Trudeau was in power.
Polls suggest the NDP could lose many of its seats as left-centre voters turn to the Liberals in an effort to prevent Poilievre from forming government.
When Parliament was dissolved, the Liberals held 153 seats in a minority government and the Conservatives formed the official Opposition with 120 seats. The Bloc Québécois held 33 seats, the NDP 24 and the Greens two. There were three independent MPs.
Because of changes to riding boundaries, the 2025 general election will see 343 seats contested, up from 338.
To reach majority status in the next Parliament, a party would need to secure a minimum of 172 seats.
— with files from Sidhartha Banerjee in Montreal and Rianna Lim in Toronto
This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 28, 2025.
Craig Lord, The Canadian Press
