Canada’s 2025 federal election, explained
Ready to vote? Canada’s 45th federal election will take place on April 28, 2025. You can email your election questions to ask@cbc.ca.
And they’re off.
Canadians will go to the polls on April 28 in what’s shaping up to be a consequential and close race.
The 36-day campaign, the shortest allowed under the law, is largely expected to focus on how the leaders will take on U.S. President Donald Trump’s trade war and his taunting of Canadian sovereignty.
After attending a church service Sunday morning, Prime Minister Mark Carney — who has been in power for just over a week — visited Gov. Gen. Mary Simon to dissolve Parliament.
Just a few months ago, polls suggested Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre was destined for a majority government. But the political landscape has been turned upside down since former prime minister Justin Trudeau announced his resignation and Carney replaced him.
Now, for the first time in nearly three years, the Liberals — seeking a fourth mandate — have inched ahead in the polls as support for the Conservatives and NDP slips, according to CBC’s Poll Tracker, which aggregates public opinion polling.
Prime Minister Mark Carney announced Sunday that the next federal election would take place April 28. (Patrick Doyle/Reuters)It shows the Liberals would have a roughly three-in-four chance of winning the most seats if an election were held now. As of Sunday, they lead in Atlantic Canada, Quebec and have edged ahead in Ontario, polls suggest.
The Conservatives are nipping at their heels though.
Poilievre’s party enjoys wide leads in Alberta and the Prairies and are still ahead of the Liberals in British Columbia, according to the tracker.
The Liberals’ surge comes as the NDP’s popularity has fallen to its lowest level in decades and is at risk of losing party status. Recent polling suggests the Bloc Québécois is at risk of losing seats in Quebec, the one province where they run candidates, according to the Poll Tracker.
Trump’s tariffs casting shadow The priorities of a federal campaign have also shifted since the re-election of Trump and the economic instability his return to the White House has caused.
The president escalated his trade war by imposing 25 per cent tariffs on all steel and aluminum entering the country, prompting Canada to effectively double its retaliatory tariffs on U.S. goods.
Trump’s next salvo is expected in the second week of the campaign, with the U.S. threatening another round of tariffs on April 2.
U.S. President Donald Trump said he would impose more tariffs on Canadian goods April 2. (Carlos Barria/Reuters)The parties have already been in campaign mode for months, but Sunday’s call sends them into overdrive as the two main leaders compete to define themselves as the best person to deal with the unpredictable president.
“President Trump claims that Canada isn’t a real country. He wants to break us so America can own us,” said Carney outside Rideau Hall on Sunday.
Carney, who does not hold a seat in the House, said he’s seeking “a strong, positive mandate” from Canadians to take on the president and build what he calls a strong economy and a more secure Canada.
He started his campaign with a promise to cut the lowest income tax bracket by one percentage point. Carney said that would benefit a two-income family by up to $825 a year.
WATCH | Carney says Canada is ‘stronger together’ in election pitch to voters:
FULL SPEECH | Carney says Canada is ‘stronger together’ in election pitch to voters
Liberal Leader Mark Carney, speaking as he kicked off a federal campaign, laid out a vision for Canada that includes a tax break for the middle class, standing strong against U.S. President Donald Trump’s threats and making it easier for younger generations to get ahead.
“The best way we can deal with this crisis is to build our strength here at home. And help people who will be hit hardest by these tariffs,” he said. “That’s the right thing to do. That’s the fair thing to do. That’s the Canadian thing to do.”
Over the coming weeks, the Liberals are expected to try and paint Poilievre as Trump-lite
“The comparisons are quite easy,” said Carney.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre launched his campaign in Gatineau, Que. (Justin Tang/The Canadian Press)Poilievre used his campaign launch Sunday morning outside the Canadian Museum of History in Gatineau, Que., to try to distance himself from those comparisons.
The Conservative leader said he shares Canadians’ feelings of “betrayal” from Trump and vowed Canada will never become the 51st state.
“You can be respectful and firm and I believe we have to be both,” he said, when asked if he respects Trump.
“I will insist the president recognize the independence and sovereignty of Canada. I will insist he stop tariffing our nation. And at the same time I will strengthen our country so that we can be capable of standing on our own two feet and standing up to the Americans where and when necessary.”
Poilievre also teased Sunday that he would lower taxes, although didn’t provide details about what his proposal will entail.
Carney, Poilievre running in adjacent ridingsCarney won the Liberal leadership just two weeks ago. He announced he will run for a seat in the Ottawa riding of Nepean. Nepean is adjacent to Carleton, which is Poilievre’s riding.
As the former governor of the Bank of Canada during the global financial crisis and head of the Bank of England during the Brexit years, his campaign will likely touch on his background steering major economies during turbulent times.
He leaned on that resumé — taking a swipe at Poilievre.
It’s easy to be negative about everything when you’ve never fixed anything,” he said.
“Negativity won’t win a trade war. Negativity won’t pay the rent or the mortgage. Negativity won’t bring down the price of groceries.”
But Carney is largely untested as a politician and will spend the next few weeks in the harshest spotlight of his career.
WATCH | Poilievre pitches Conservatives as a vote for change in campaign kick-off
FULL SPEECH | Poilievre pitches Conservatives as a vote for change in campaign kick-off
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre, delivering his first speech of the election from Gatineau, Que., says a Conservative government will put Canada first and stand up to U.S. President Donald Trump ‘from a position of strength.’
Poilievre, who has served as an Ottawa MP since 2004 and won the Conservative leadership in 2022, has been waiting for this moment for years.
Known for his combative style of politics, Poilievre has pitched himself as a leader to fix a “broken” Canada — accusing the Liberals of leading the country down a road of “chaos” and crime.
Speaking to media on Sunday morning, Poilievre said he plans to restore the promise of Canada, unleash the country’s natural resources and take on affordability issues.
Part of Poilievre’s strategy since even before Carney locked up the Liberal leadership has been to link him to Trudeau, suggesting the former central banker doesn’t represent real change.
“After the lost Liberal decade, the question is whether Canadians can afford a fourth Liberal term,” he said.
During Trudeau’s final years, Poilievre was keen for what he called a carbon tax election and promised to dump the controversial environmental policy for consumers.
Carney has largely removed that point of attack when he signed a prime ministerial directive instructing that the fuel charge be removed effective April 1 for consumers. But Poilievre alleged Sunday that Carney would bring the tax back if elected.
The price for big industrial emitters remains in place.
Singh running 3rd campaign as leaderNDP Leader Jagmeet Singh will be looking to attract progressive voters as Carney’s Liberals move to the centre, but so far the polls suggest that isn’t bearing out.
Singh, kicking off his third election as leader, spoke to the NDP’s values at his campaign launch from an Ottawa hotel.
“We believe that whoever you are, whether you were born here or you came here, whatever the colour of your skin, whoever you love or what pronouns you use, however you worship or what you believe, you belong,” he said.
Singh accused both Carney and Poilievre of promoting policies over the years that have benefited the ultra rich while promising to support workers and families during economic turbulence.
“I won’t let anyone in this election tell Canadians that the only way to beat Donald Trump is to become more like his version of the United States,” he said.
Despite the devastating polling so far, the NDP said its fundraising is up and announced Sunday that for the “first time in a decade, the NDP will spend the maximum allowed under Elections Canada’s limits.
“This election, we will be on an even playing field with the Liberals and Conservatives — and Canadians will hear what Jagmeet Singh and the NDP are fighting for,” said NDP campaign director Jennifer Howard in a statement.
Green Party puts forward a new faceDuring this campaign, Canadians can expect to see less of longtime Green Party MP and co-leader Elizabeth May.
The party says co-leader Jonathan Pedneault, who doesn’t have a seat but is running in the Montreal riding of Outremont, will be the face of the party’s national election campaign, including at the debates.
According to the Poll Tracker, the Greens are polling around 3.6 per cent, ahead of the People’s Party of Canada which has just over two per cent of support.
You can watch CBC News special coverage of the federal election call on CBCNews.ca, CBC Gem, the CBC News app, YouTube and TikTok. You can also stream the special on your local CBC streaming channel on a smart TV.
