British Columbia·Interactive

Poll by poll: 14 races that could decide the election

In the 2013 B.C. election, there were 14 ridings in which the margin of victory was less than five per cent. Within those ridings, some neighbourhoods were closer than others. These are the areas where party leaders are likely to focus their attention. Do you live in one? Read on to find out.

See neighbourhood-level results for ridings where the 2017 vote could be decided

In the 2013 B.C. election, there were 14 ridings where the margin of victory was less than five per cent.

Within those ridings, however, some neighbourhoods were much closer than others. These are the areas where party leaders are likely to focus their attention over the course of the campaign. Do you live in one? Read on to find out.

For each map, click on a polling area to bring up results.

Metro Vancouver

Burnaby-Lougheed

This was one of three ridings in B.C. that flipped over from the Liberals to the NDP last election, but the winning MLA (Jane Shin) is not running again. 

Former Global BC morning anchor Steve Darling faces school trustee Katrina Chen, in a riding where there are both NDP strongholds (near SFU) and Liberal strongholds (north of Burnaby Lake).

Burnaby North

Four-term B.C. Liberal MLA Richard T. Lee won this riding by just 688 votes in 2013, but that was his largest margin of victory since 2001.

This is the only seat in Burnaby the NDP doesn't hold, and it does best along Hastings Street and just west of British Columbia Institute of Technology. Some of the most contested areas in 2013 were in the Heights neighbourhood near Hastings Street and Wilingdon Avenue. 

Coquitlam-Maillardville

The closest race in British Columbia last election, the NDP's Selina Robinson eked out a 41-vote win over the B.C. Liberal Party's Steve Kim. 

This year's election is a rematch, but the boundaries have changed, with the riding gaining the area around the Vancouver Golf Club, and losing the Chineside neighbourhood. 
 

Delta North

The Liberals lost by 1,891 votes in 2009 to winning by 203 votes in 2013, partly thanks to flipping a number of polling stations near 116th Street and Nordel Way. 

Former field hockey Olympian Ravi Kahlon tries to take this riding back for the NDP against Liberal MLA Scott Hamilton, a former Delta councillor.

Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows

The NDP had won this seat in 2005 and 2009, but Pitt Meadows councillor Doug Bing took this for the Liberals by 620 votes in 2013.

His victory was in part due to his dominance in the agricultural areas in Pitt Meadows, along with strength in the more suburban areas of Maple Ridge. 

North Vancouver-Lonsdale


The NDP have only won Lonsdale once — but that was in 1991, the last time they went from opposition to government. 

The two areas where the NDP is strongest — on the far west and east of the riding — are First Nation reserves, but the New Democrats do well in the western area of lower Lonsdale.

Port Moody-Coquitlam

The Liberals took this seat back from the NDP last election by 437 votes, the fifth-closest result in all of B.C. in 2013. 
Port Moody councillor Rick Glumac will try and return this seat for the NDP over incumbent Linda Reimer, but this time around, the riding will add the Chineside neighbourhood and lose the area south of Foster Avenue. 

Central Port Moody was the most hotly contested part of this riding in 2013.

Surrey-Fleetwood

Then-Langley mayor and B.C. Liberal candidate Peter Fassbender won this riding over NDP MLA Jagrup Brar by just 200 votes last election, the party's narrowest win in all of B.C. 

It's a rematch between Brar, Fassbender and Green Party candidate Tim Binnema, but the riding has added areas to the north and southeast of John Tompson Park and lost areas east of 164th Street, which heavily favoured the Liberals four years ago. 
 

Vancouver-Fraserview

This predominately suburban riding is regularly the closest race in Vancouver, with the Liberals winning it by just 470 votes in 2013. 
In a battle of former Vancouver councillors, Liberal Suzanne Anton hopes to keep her seat against the NDP's George Chow. 

Vancouver-Point Grey

With Christy Clark not running here after her 2013 loss to David Eby, there's a question of how competitive the Liberals will be here in 2017.
Traditionally, the Liberals do well in Point Grey, while the NDP dominates in Kitsilano (excluding homes right on the waterfront).

Interior

Fraser-Nicola

The NDP's Harry Lali had held this riding for all but four years between 1991 and 2013, but lost by 614 votes to Liberal candidate Jackie Tegart last election, the NDP's sixth-narrowest loss in 2013. 

This time, it's a rematch between Lali and Tegart — but the big change is the addition of Hope, Yale and Boston Bar to the riding. Those areas tend to support the NDP, which is likely to make this year's battle even closer. 


Vancouver Island

Saanich North and the Islands

This was the closest three-way race in the province in 2013, with just 379 votes separating the winning NDP from the Liberals and Greens, and the candidates from all three parties are running again.

The riding was split, with the NDP dominating on Saltspring Island and doing generally well on the rest of the islands, the Liberals in North Saanich and coastal neighbourhoods in Sidney, and the Green Party in the most populous part of Central Saanich and the inland parts of Sidney. 

Northern B.C.

Cariboo North

In five of the last six elections, Cariboo North has been decided by 700 votes or less, and went to the B.C. Liberals' Coralee Oakes by 603 votes in 2013, the party's fifth-smallest margin of victory.

Last election, the runner-up was Bob Simpson, the two-term NDP MLA who was running as an independent, which meant a lot of votes that typically go to the NDP in Quesnel instead went to Simpson. 

Skeena

It's a riding that has gone to the NDP in five of the last six elections, but generally is decided by fewer than 1,000 votes. 

While Terrace tends to favour the Liberals, Kitimat leans toward the NDP — and several of the polling stations centred around Aboriginal communities gave the NDP over 80 per cent of the vote in 2013. 

The data used for this article and interactive maps came from 2013 election results from polling stations compiled by Elections B.C.