Federal election latest updates
Liberals to return with another minority government
- There will be a minority Liberal government.
- Get results from across Canada and in your riding here.
Meet the new government, same as the old government.
After 36 days of parties campaigning for the votes of Canadians, there will be another Liberal minority government.
As of 2 a.m. ET, the Liberals were leading in 156 ridings. The Conservatives led in 121, with other ridings being led by the Bloc Québécois (32), the NDP (27) and the Greens (two). This file will not be updated further, but keep an eye on the election results in the days to come as mail-in ballots may shift the final results.
Despite the victory, the result will be disappointing for the Liberals, who had their sights set on a majority government. Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau calculated that the time was right for a snap election, with the party arguing that it needed a mandate to "finish the fight" against COVID-19.
The opposition argued the election was only called so Trudeau could fulfil his political ambitions.
To win a majority government, the Liberals would need to win 170 seats or more, which doesn't appear possible based on the ongoing vote tally. The Liberals triggered the election holding 155 seats compared to the Conservatives' 119.
The election also once again saw the Conservatives win the popular vote, with 34.1 per cent of the overall count compared to 31.9 per cent for the Liberals.
How did the Liberals win?
- The island of Montreal stayed red, while Liberals also performed well elsewhere in Quebec.
- Most of Toronto still supports the Liberals.
- Atlantic Canada provided a strong start to election night, with only a slight loss to their large seat lead in the region.
- On the West Coast, the Liberals performed well in the Vancouver area.
Trudeau spoke with party supporters after 1 a.m. ET on Tuesday, with his family by his side.
"I hear you," Trudeau told voters, touting a desire to get Canada to the end of the COVID-19 pandemic and return life to normal.
Conservatives carry West but come up short in GTA
Conservative Leader Erin O'Toole won his Durham riding in the Greater Toronto Area, but the party did not have the breakthrough it needed in the city's suburbs.
As of 2 a.m. ET, the party was leading or elected in 122 ridings across Canada, once again dominating in Alberta, Saskatchewan and rural Ontario.
Another potential problem for the Conservatives? Nationwide, the People's Party of Canada (PPC) has received some 5.1 per cent of the overall vote so far. It's too soon to say for sure, but that may be an indication of the PPC taking support away from the Conservatives.
The PPC doesn't appear likely to win any seats.
Jagmeet Singh's NDP up slightly
The NDP was leading or elected in 27 ridings as of 2 a.m. ET., which is up several seats from where the party was entering the night.
Overall, the party had 17.7 per cent of the popular vote.
Singh, speaking in B.C., congratulated Trudeau on his re-election and told Canadians the NDP will continue fighting on their behalf.
"You can count on us," Singh said.
Bloc Québécois falls well short of 40-seat dream
The Bloc is projected to win or is leading in 31 ridings in Quebec, down slightly from the 32 seats it held when the election started.
The party is leading in most of the off-island ridings in the Montreal suburbs that were being targeted by the Liberals, but its showing is well below leader Yves-François Blanchet's stated dream of winning 40 seats, a majority of the 78 electoral districts in Quebec. He stopped emphasizing that figure in the closing days of the campaign.
Blanchet rarely discussed the possibility of Quebec sovereignty during the election campaign.
Green Party leader defeated in Toronto Centre
The Green Party will return with two seats, but its leader won't be heading to Parliament.
Annamie Paul was soundly beaten in Toronto Centre, on track to finish a distant fourth.
The party was plagued by infighting in recent months, including a failed attempt to remove Paul as leader in June.
Former Green Party leader Elizabeth May, who is leading in her B.C. riding of Saanich–Gulf Islands, said she was disappointed Paul was losing, but said the party knew her running in a Liberal stronghold was "daring."
WATCH | May reacts to Paul's performance:
PPC: More popularity, but no seat in Parliament
The People's Party of Canada appears to have more than tripled its support since the last election, but it won't likely translate to a seat.
Leader Maxime Bernier lost his Quebec riding of Beauce, but says he's feeling good.
"This is not just a political party," he said in a triumphant-sounding speech at the Saskatoon Inn. "This is a movement. It is an ideological revolution that we are starting now."
The PPC, which railed against public health measures put in place to curb the spread of COVID-19, had just over five per cent of the popular vote at last count.
"We are doing better than the Green Party … and we created [the PPC] only two years ago."
What happened at polling stations?
Some voters waited outside in long lines on Monday while Elections Canada apologized for a technical problem with an application on its website that tells people where they can vote.
Many posted on social media that they were receiving an error while trying to use the voter information service page. They said the error stated: "We were unable to find your voting location. Please call the office of the returning officer for assistance."
The problem was fixed.
In Toronto, which had significantly fewer polling stations than in previous years, many stood outside in long lines before casting their ballots. In the city's downtown core, one line wrapped around an entire city block as people waited to vote in the Spadina–Fort York riding. Once inside, however, many told CBC News the process went smoothly.
In Montreal, an accident caused some minor injuries, a police spokesperson said, after a woman lost control of her vehicle and hit people near a polling station in Montreal's West Island. Const. Caroline Chèvrefils could not provide more details about the driver or the condition of the victims.
Monday's vote took place as Canada confirmed 3,852 new COVID-19 cases nationwide.
How the vote went from coast-to-coast-to-coast
In Newfoundland and Labrador, the Liberals flipped one St. John's seat in their favour, but are trailing the Conservatives in another, Coast of Bays–Central–Notre Dame.
In Nova Scotia, the Conservatives picked up seats and defeated the Liberal fisheries minister.
On P.E.I., the Liberals swept. Veteran MP Lawrence MacAulay is poised to win his 11th consecutive election in the eastern riding of Cardigan.
In New Brunswick, mail-in ballots could be the difference in Fredericton's vote, where Jenica Atwin (who won with the Green Party in 2019 before crossing the floor to join the Liberals) is locked in a close battle with Conservative Andrea Johnson.
You'll have to keep watching Quebec, where there were a number of close races on Monday night with the Bloc, Liberals, Conservatives and NDP appearing to have won seats.
In Ontario, the Liberals once again dominated the vote-rich Toronto area while the Conservatives increased their vote share by 2.3 per cent. The biggest surprise came in Kitchener Centre, where Mike Morrice led the Green Party to its first federal win in Ontario, telling about 100 buzzing supporters that his work fighting on climate change and other key issues begins Tuesday.
Manitoba is holding steady. It's likely no seats will change hands between parties this election, with Conservatives favoured in the last riding left too close to call on election night. Incumbents won 13 races, with three going to the NDP, four going to the Liberals and six to the Conservatives.
Saskatchewan appears to be a Conservative sweep. PPC Leader Maxime Bernier chose to hold his election night party in Saskatoon, prompting concerns about a lack of masking among those who attended.
Conservatives continued to dominate most of Alberta, leading or elected in 30 of 34 seats. But the Liberals and NDP are both leading in two seats apiece (in Calgary and Edmonton).
In B.C., a tight three-way race is so far yielding 15 seats for the Liberals and 13 each for the NDP and Conservatives, with several ridings too close to call as of 1:30 a.m. ET.
The Northwest Territories is still too close to call, although Liberal incumbent Michael McLeod said he believes he has won.
Brendan Hanley, who guided Yukon's response to the COVID-19 pandemic as the territory's chief medical officer of health, will now be its Liberal MP.
The NDP's Lori Idlout will be Nunavut's next MP after watching the results roll in at the Qajuqturvik Community Food Centre in Iqaluit. "I will be a voice for Nunavummiut and I will work very hard for Nunavummiut," the rookie federal politician told CBC News.
With files from Verity Stevenson, Kate McGillivray, Juris Graney, Richard Woodbury and Hala Ghonaim
