Voters in one riding in Quebec and two ridings in Ontario have until the end of the day to vote in advance in the upcoming federal by-elections. These could allow Prime Minister Mark Carney to form a majority government.
Mr. Carney announced last month that by-elections would be held on April 13 in the Terrebonne riding as well as in two ridings in the Toronto region, Scarborough-Southwest and University-Rosedale.
Advance voting for these three constituencies began Friday and will end Monday evening at 9 p.m. Voters can also vote at their local Elections Canada office until Tuesday 6 p.m.
The Terrebonne by-election was triggered by the decision of the Supreme Court to annul the results of the last federal election after the victory of the Liberal candidate by a single vote. The Bloc Québécois contested these results when a supporter complained of having tried to vote by mail using a special ballot that had not been counted.
The University-Rosedale seat has been vacant since the departure of former Liberal MP Chrystia Freeland, who now serves as an advisor to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and as CEO of the Rhodes Trust.
For his part, Bill Blair, also a former Liberal MP, vacated the seat of Scarborough-South-West after being named High Commissioner of Canada to the United Kingdom.
Toronto’s ridings are considered Liberal strongholds. For its part, that of Terrebonne was held by a member of the Bloc Québécois before the federal elections of April 2025.
A Liberal victory in the two Toronto ridings would allow the party to obtain 172 of the 343 seats in the House of Commons, a majority.
But since the Speaker of the House generally does not vote, a government with only 172 seats always needs at least one opposition MP to vote with it or abstain to pass a law. This means that all eyes will be on the Terrebonne by-election, which could give the Liberals a decisive additional seat.
The poll aggregation site 338 Canada indicated that the fight between the Liberals and the Bloc was close in Terrebonne.
Voters in the three constituencies can also vote by post, provided they request it before Tuesday.
