🚨 ICYMI... On Sunday, March 23, Prime Minister Mark Carney asked Canada's Governor General to dissolve the 44th Parliament, issuing 343 writs of election to kick off the 45th general election campaign.

Set for Monday, April 28, 2025, the 37-day election period is the shortest allowed by the Canada Elections Act, but while short, it has already proven itself to be action-packed.

Key dates 

With the 37-day writ period flying by, key dates like candidate nomination deadlines, registration cutoffs, and advance voting options are quickly approaching. 

The deadline for parties to nominate candidates or for Independent candidates to put their names forward is April 7 at 2:00 p.m. Voters will be able to see a complete list of candidates in their riding by Wednesday, April 9, at the latest 👀. 

• 🗓️ April 18-21 from 9:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. local time: Advance voting days. You can also vote in advance at any Elections Canada office up until April 22 at 6:00 p.m.
• 📮April 22 by 6:00 p.m.: Vote by mail. Once registered, Elections Canada will send a vote-by-mail kit, which must be returned before the close of the final election day.

On March 24, Canada's Leaders' Debates Commission announced the details of the upcoming debates, taking place at the Maison de Radio-Canada in Montreal, Quebec.

FRENCH DEBATE

• 🗓️ Wednesday, April 16 at 8:00 p.m. ET
• 🎙️ Moderated by Patrice Roy of Radio-Canada

ENGLISH DEBATE

• 🗓️ Thursday, April 17 at 7:00 p.m. ET
• 🎙️ Moderated by Steve Paikin of TVO

📍 To check your registration, register, or update your address, visit the online voter registration service.

Campaign Commitments 

Each political party is rolling out its vision for the country - here's a breakdown of their current standings and key promises while on the campaign trail: 

🟥 Liberal Party of Canada (led by Prime Minister Mark Carney) - 152

• Agrifood workers and sector: Protect Canada's commitment to supply management, make permanent the doubling of the revenue protection for farmers under the AgriStability program, build more domestic processing capacity in rural and remote areas with a new $200 million Domestic Food Processing Fund and provide an additional $30 million in the AgriMarketing Program
  • It also includes a $30 million top-up to the Agriculture Clean Technology Program, doubling the loan guarantee limit of the Canadian Agricultural Loans Act program, and expanding terms by 5-10 years.  
• Housing: Double the pace of construction to almost 500,000 new homes a year by creating Build Canada Homes to act as a developer and provide $35 billion in financing.
  • Install market reforms to cut red tape, lower building costs, and attract private investment.  
• Trade-enabling infrastructure: Invest $5 billion into a new Trade Diversification Corridor Fund, authorize Canadian ports to cooperate instead of compete, strengthen the security of ports to stop the flow of drugs such as fentanyl and its precursors, as well as illegal guns and stolen autos. 

🟦 Conservative Party of Canada (led by Pierre Poilievre) - 120

• GST on Canadian-Made Cars: Create the "Keep Canadians Working Fund," a targeted, temporary loan and credit program for businesses directly hit by Trump's tariffs and remove the GST on the sale of new Canadian-made cars. 
• Beer tax: Axe the automatic annual tax increases on alcohol, bringing the rate back down to 2017 levels. 
• Newfoundland and Labrador energy: Support the plan to double Newfoundland and Labrador's oil and gas production and approve the LNG Newfoundland and Labrador project.
• National Energy Corridor: Fast-track approvals for transmission lines, railways, pipelines, and other critical infrastructure across Canada in a pre-approved transport corridor entirely within Canada. 
• Reinvestment Tax Cut: Defer the capital gains tax for individuals and businesses that reinvest proceeds in Canada until the end of 2026.
  • Companies reinvesting in active Canadian businesses also qualify. Taxes apply when funds are withdrawn or moved out of Canada.
• Travelling trades workers: Amend the Income Tax Act to limit corporate jet write-offs to commercial flight costs while allowing full tax deductions for travelling trades workers' expenses.
• Criminal sentencing: Impose life sentences for anyone convicted of 5 or more counts of human trafficking, importing or exporting ten or more illegal firearms, and fentanyl trafficking. 

⬜️ Bloc Québécois (led by Yves-François Blanchet) - 33

• Timber charter: Adopt a Wood Charter, which would require the federal government to prioritize using domestic wood products in building construction and renovations. 
• Fishing industry: Create an independent agency responsible for managing stocks, permits, and quotas, establish a data collection protocol, open new sustainable hunts and fisheries, extend the runway at the Magdalen Islands airports and allow a reasonable amount of personal fishing.
• Transportation infrastructure: Double funding for the Public Transit Fund over ten years and commit Ottawa to favour local suppliers and economic benefits in its procurement contracts and subsidy programs.
• American researchers: Fund a major recruitment effort for American researchers in sectors such as artificial intelligence, quantum sciences, biomedical sciences, and clean energy and technology. 

🟧 New Democratic Party of Canada (led by Jagmeet Singh) - 24

• Canada Victory Bonds: Launch Canada Victory Bonds: available in 5 to 10-year terms with an average interest rate of 3.5 per cent, tax-free if held to maturity, available via payroll deduction or over the counter, and every dollar raised would be dedicated to public infrastructure.
• Trade war measures: Increase Employment Insurance benefits and expand eligibility, build an East-West clean energy grid, ban American companies from federal procurement contracts, remove GST from essentials and use every dollar collected from retaliatory tariffs to support impacted workers.  
• Healthcare: Ban American corporations from buying Canadian health care facilities, and no longer cash-for-care clinics. Make full enforcement of public healthcare standards a condition of federal health funding.  
• Housing: Expand the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation's mandate to offer low-interest, public-backed mortgages. 
• Grocery pricing: Implement emergency price caps on essential grocery items, enforce a mandatory Grocery Code of Conduct, tax the windfall profits of major grocery retailers, and Reform Nutrition North so the subsidy goes directly to Northerners. 
• Rental regulations: Ban corporations from buying existing affordable rental buildings, cut off handouts – including low-interest federal loans, preferential tax treatment and mortgage loan insurance - for corporate landlords, and boost the Rental Protection Fund.  

🟩 Green Party of Canada (led by Elizabeth May and Jonathan Pedneault) - 2

• National Civil Defence Corps: Create a 120,000-strong National Civil Defence Corps, provide universal civil defence training with an optional advanced defence skills track, expand Canada's reserve forces by 20,000 members and increase funding for the Canadian Rangers.
• Arts investment: Restore the Canada Council for the Arts' budget to $500 million and redirect restored funds towards communities that have historically received less support by implementing the Regional Development Agency model. 
• Fiscal planning: Create Strategic Reserves for key resources, end raw exports, invest in domestic industries, and issue "Saving Canada Bonds" to secure national resources while reducing dependence on transnational corporations.

News and Nuance

The second week of the campaign unfolds against a backdrop of major political developments, shifting public debates, and key news events shaping the broader electoral landscape.

🚪💨 Candidate controversies 

In the past few days, both the Conservative and Liberal parties have seen notable candidate withdrawals due to controversial statements and actions.

In just two days, the Conservatives dropped four of their candidates: 

• (Etibicoke North) Don Patel was dropped over alleged social media activity reacting to a Facebook comment calling for Canadian residents to be deported to India. 
• (Windsor-Tecumseh-Lakeshore) Mark McKenzie was dropped due to comments made on a 2022 podcast in which he joked about former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau getting the death penalty. 
• (Laurier-Sainte-Marie) Stefan Marquis announced on social media that he had been dropped by the party, citing recent posts on X.
• (New Westminster-Burnaby-Maillardville) The party confirmed that Lourence Singh would not be a candidate, but did not elaborate on the reasons for his departure.  

These moves came on the heels of a similar incident involving Liberal candidate Paul Chiang (Markham-Unionville), who withdrew after the RCMP revealed they were investigating whether he violated the law by suggesting a Conservative opponent be turned over to the Chinese consulate for a bounty.

While Liberal Leader Mark Carney initially defended Chiang, stating his remarks were a lapse in judgment after an apology, growing pressure from opposition parties and over 40 organizations led to Chiang's eventual exit.

This cascade of candidate withdrawals could significantly affect party standings in the upcoming race.

It highlights the growing scrutiny candidates face over their public behavior and social media activity, which could shift voter perceptions of the party, potentially alienating key demographics. The media spotlight on these removals also creates an opening for opposition parties to position themselves as more stable and less prone to controversy, which could impact voter support in swing ridings.

🇺🇸 Tariff Tumult 

The United States' so-called "Liberation Day," in which U.S. President Donald Trump imposed what he called "reciprocal tariffs," has come and gone, with Canada largely remaining unscathed, for now. 

On Wednesday, April 2, Trump hit dozens of countries worldwide with his latest round of tariffs, imposing a universal 10 per cent tariff on all imports into the United States effective April 5, stating he wants to bring manufacturing back to the U.S., respond to unfair trade policies, and increase tax revenue. 

China has been hit particularly hard by the new tariffs, making the total levy on Chinese imports over 50 per cent. Several other key U.S. allies are also being hit, including the European Union with additional tariff rates of 20 per cent, South Korea with 25 per cent, Japan with 24 per cent, and the United Kingdom with 10 per cent. 

Other countries hit with additional tariffs include India with 26 per cent, Vietnam with 46 per cent, Thailand with 36 per cent, Indonesia with 32 per cent, Malaysia with 24 per cent, South Africa with 30 per cent, and Pakistan with 29 per cent. 

Both Canada and Mexico have been spared from the latest round, but 25 per cent tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum, as well as on automobiles, still came into effect hours after the announcement. 

Prime Minister Mark Carney has announced that Canada will impose a 25 per cent tariff on all U.S. vehicle imports that do not comply with the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA). In addition, Carney stated that the old relationship with the U.S. is over and Canada will pivot towards relations with other trading partners, including fellow Commonwealth countries like Australia and the U.K., as well as Mexico, France, and other European countries. 

Carney warned that while Trump had preserved key elements of the countries' bilateral relationship, the global tariffs will still fundamentally change the international trading system.

In his speech announcing the tariffs, Trump also highlighted Canada's dairy industry, claiming that Canada has imposed tariffs as high as 270 percent on imported American dairy products.

While such high rates apply only when U.S. exports exceed specific quotas set by Canada's supply management system, the dairy sector is expected to remain a focal point in the lead-up to the 2026 CUSMA negotiations. This will leave the next Prime Minister with the task of defending a policy in place since the 1970s.

The next Canadian leader's ability to diversify trading partners and maintain relationships with reliable ones amid significant international turmoil, while supporting industries notably affected by existing tariff measures, will likely continue to be a central component of the federal election campaign. 

• 🗂️ Access: 2025 United States Tracker 

📊 Polling Positions 

Recent polls have shown the Liberal uptick continuing, with the latest Nanos poll showing a lead of nine points over the Conservatives, holding 46 per cent and 37 per cent of the vote, respectively. 

While the Liberal trend upwards has continued, other parties such as the Bloc Québécois and the New Democratic Party (NDP) have seen support falter, particularly in key ridings. 

The NDP's drop into single digits represents a major setback for a party that has previously held the position of Canada's Official Opposition.

Attempts to avoid vote splitting and NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh's former support for Justin Trudeau-era policies through a supply-and-confidence agreement seem to be hampering the party's chances of securing seats in the election. 

Polls also show support plunging for the Bloc Québécois, and sharply rising for the Liberals, particularly in Quebec. The Liberals are currently leading with 51 percent support in Quebec, while the Bloc Québécois is projected to lose a substantial number of seats, potentially dropping below 12 seats.

The Quebec boost can be attributed to a Leger poll from last week, which showed that 50 per cent of Quebeckers, more than the rest of Canada, view choosing the best Prime Minister to handle U.S. trade issues as the key election question, rather than concerns of Quebec sovereignty. 

The dynamics of the election are increasingly reflecting a battle between the two dominant parties, making it seem like the outcome will largely hinge on which one can secure the most support.

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