Capital Daily’s 2025 Election Hub

How to vote, candidate lists, and more on the federal election

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The 2025 federal election campaign will end on April 28 with the election of a new set of parliamentarians tasked with the job of governing Canada.

Below, we’ve collected everything voters in the CRD need to know about the election, including who is running, how to learn which riding you live in, and how and where to vote.

In the our hub, you'll see the federal leaders, their parties and once they are all released, each party's platform

We also drill down into each of the four South Island ridings:

* Victoria

\* Esquimalt-Saanich-Sooke

* Cowichan-Malahat-Langford

* Saanich-Gulf Islands

Check out our Q&A with the candidates running in the Victoria riding here.

Check out our Q&A with the candidates running in the Esquimalt-Saanich-Sooke riding here.

Check out our Q&A with the candidates running in the Cowichan-Malahat-Langford riding here.

‍ ‍ Check out our Q&A with the candidates running in the Saanich-Gulf Islands riding here.

Key dates

Voting in the 2025 federal election will take place on Monday, April 28 from 7am to 7pm. There will be four days of advance voting earlier in the month.

Here are the important dates to keep an eye on.

• April 7: Last day for candidates to submit their nominations. (The final list of candidates will be released on Wednesday, April 9. You can find out who is running in your riding below.)
• April 18-21: Advance voting at designated polling stations.
• April 22: Last day for voters to register in advance. (You can still vote at your polling station if you miss this deadline.)
• April 22: Last day to vote at an Elections Canada office.
• April 22: Last day to apply to vote by mail.
• April 28: General election day.

Find your riding and who is running for MP

We’ve put together information on each of the four South Island ridings and the candidates running in each one. If you are unsure which riding you will be voting in, you can also use the postal code search on the Elections Canada website.

• Victoria
• Saanich–Gulf Islands
• Esquimalt–Saanich–Sooke
• Cowichan–Malahat–Langford

‍ The parties

There are four major parties fielding candidates in BC in the upcoming federal election: the Liberal Party of Canada, the Conservative Party of Canada, the New Democratic Party of Canada, and the Green Party of Canada. There are also other smaller parties and independent candidates. You can find basic information about each party and their platform below.

Liberal Party of Canada (LPC)

Leader: Mark Carney

Website: liberal.ca

Social media: Facebook | Instagram | Bluesky | X

Platform: Liberal platform

‍ https://newsinteractives.cbc.ca/features/2025/federal-party-platforms/#intro

Seats before the election call: 153/338

The Liberal Party of Canada is led by Mark Carney, whom party members chose to replace outgoing Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in March. They governed with the support of the NDP. Carney is the former governor of the Bank of Canada and the Bank of England, and has no political experience. Trudeau resigned in March after nine and a half years as prime minister. Previous Liberal prime ministers include Jean Chrétien and Paul Martin.

Conservative Party of Canada (CPC)

Leader: Pierre Poilievre

Website: conservative.ca

Social media: Facebook | Instagram | X

Platform: Conservative platform ‍

https://newsinteractives.cbc.ca/features/2025/federal-party-platforms/#intro

Seats before the election call: 120/338

The Conservative Party of Canada has been led by Pierre since 2022. Before the dissolution of Parliament, it was the official Opposition. Poilievre was first elected to Parliament in 2004 at the age of 25 and was a cabinet minister during Stephen Harper's final two years as prime minister. The Conservative Party of Canada was formally created in 2003, when the Progressive Conservative and the Canadian Alliance parties merged. It held power from 2006 to 2015, with Harper as prime minister. Erin O'Toole led the party during the 2021 election.

New Democratic Party of Canada (NDP)

Leader: Jagmeet Singh

Website: ndp.ca

Social media: Facebook | Instagram | X

Platform: NDP platform

https://newsinteractives.cbc.ca/features/2025/federal-party-platforms/#intro

Seats before the election call: 25/338

The New Democratic Party has been led by Jagmeet Singh. Before the dissolution of Parliament, the New Democrats held 25 seats and supported the Liberals through an agreement in which they pledged not to bring down the government in exchange for action on certain policies. Singh has led the NDP since 2017. He was previously a defence lawyer and a member of the Ontario Provincial Parliament. The NDP has never held power in Canada, although it was the official Opposition from 2011 to 2015. Previous NDP leaders include Jack Layton and Tom Mulcair.

Green Party of Canada (GPC) ‍

Leader: Elizabeth May and Jonathan Pedeneault

Website: greenparty.ca

Social media: Facebook | Instagram | Bluesky | X

Platform: Green platform\ \ ‍\ \ https://newsinteractives.cbc.ca/features/2025/federal-party-platforms/#intro

Seats before the election call: 2/338

The Green Party of Canada has two party leaders: Elizabeth May and Jonathan Pedneault. May has been a Member of Parliament since 2011. She previously led the party from 2006 to 2019 and returned to the leadership after the resignation of her successor, Annamie Paul. Pedneault joined her as co-leader in January. The party had two MPs before the election: May and Mike Morrice.

‍

Compare the election promises of Canada's major parties

‍ Compare here, courtesy CBC

‍ Others

The Bloc Québécois is a federal party that only runs candidates in Québec and is broadly supportive of Québec independence. The party has been led by Yves-François Blanchet since 2019 and held 33 of 338 seats before the election was called. When no party has a parliamentary majority, the Bloc has occasionally provided support to governing parties that promise either increased support for social services or decentralization of power within Canada.

The People’s Party of Canada is a relatively new party, formed by former Conservative Maxime Bernier in 2018. (Bernier was previously a cabinet minister in Stephen Harper's Conservative government before being ejected.) The party has never won a seat in Parliament, and last election held 5% of the popular vote.

Other registered political parties include the Animal Protection Party of Canada, the Canadian Future Party, the Centrist Party of Canada, the Christian Heritage Party of Canada, the Communist Part of Canada, the Libertarian Party of Canada, the Marijuana Party, the Marxist-Leninist Party of Canada, the Rhinoceros Party, and the United Party of Canada.

Candidates have also occasionally run as independents, although those bids are rarely successful during an election. There were four independent MPs in Parliament before the election call, three of whom were elected under the Liberal or Conservative banner before leaving the party partway through their term.

‍

If you are voting in Victoria, here are your choices.

If you are voting in Esquimalt-Saanich-Sooke, here are your choices.

If you are voting in Cowichan-Malahat-Langford, here are your choices.

If you are voting in Saanich-Gulf Islands, here are your choices.

‍ Television debates

There will be two: Wednesday, April 16 in French & Thursday, April 17 in English. See Debates Commission posting.

‍ Some of the information in this election hub was made possible by our colleagues at the Fraser Valley Current.