2025 Canadian federal election
Updated: Wikipedia source
The 2025 Canadian federal election was held on April 28 to elect members of the House of Commons to the 45th Canadian Parliament. Governor General Mary Simon issued the writs of election on March 23, 2025, after Prime Minister Mark Carney advised her to dissolve Parliament. This was the first election to use a new 343-seat electoral map based on the 2021 census. Key issues of the election campaign included the cost of living, housing, crime, and newly imposed tariffs and threats of annexation from Donald Trump, the president of the United States. The Liberal Party won a fourth term, emerging with a minority government for a third consecutive election; it also marked the first time they won the popular vote since 2015, doing so with the highest vote share for any party in a federal election since 1984, and their own highest vote share since 1980. The party's victory came after a substantial rebound in the polls, noted as being "one of the widest on record in any democracy". The election also saw the highest turnout since 1993, with 69.5% of Canada's 28 million eligible voters casting a ballot. Both the Liberal Party and the Conservative Party improved upon their vote share and seat count from 2021, while the other parties all lost ground; this was the most concentrated the popular vote had been in support of the top two parties since 1958, with over 85% voting Liberal or Conservative. Consequently, the election delivered the New Democratic Party (NDP) their worst result in its history, as it received just over six percent of the popular vote and only won seven seats. As a result, the NDP lost official party status for the first time since 1993. The concentration of support for the two major parties was identified by commentators as marking a polarization in Canadian politics and a shift towards a two-party system. The result was a reversal of polling trends lasting from mid-2023 to January 2025, which had led to projections of the Conservatives winning in a landslide. Carney's replacement of Justin Trudeau as leader of the Liberal Party played a key role in the turnaround. With his extensive experience as a central banker and his perceived competence, Carney was seen as better equipped to handle the trade war launched by the U.S. and other major economic issues. Two sitting party leaders failed to win re-election to their parliamentary seats: Pierre Poilievre of the Conservative Party and Jagmeet Singh of the NDP. Poilievre had held his riding of Carleton since 2004, and his defeat was regarded as a significant setback for the Conservatives; he was the first Conservative leader to lose his seat since Kim Campbell in 1993.