Prime Minister Mark Carney has called three federal byelections for Aug. 31. While two are in ridings considered Liberal strongholds, the third is shaping up to be the wildcard race to watch.
The byelections come after one long-time Liberal cabinet minister and MP will be heading to Europe to become Canada’s ambassador to the European Union, another Liberal resigned to join provincial politics though he later changed course, and a Conservative MP was appointed to the Senate.
The Liberal government does not need to win any of the byelections to maintain its majority, as two other vacant seats that will not be filled in the upcoming votes leave the opposition without enough MPs to overturn it.
Conservative MP Cathay Wagantall has said she will resign her seat on Aug. 31, while NDP MP Alexandre Boulerice will be running for the National Assembly of Quebec in Gouin.
Vancouver-Capilano
Carney announced in April that Liberal MP Jonathan Wilkinson had accepted an appointment as Canada’s ambassador to the European Union. Wilkinson said in an April 30 statement that he would resign his seat in the House of Commons in the coming months.Wilkinson was first elected as the MP for North Vancouver in 2015 and served as minister of fisheries, oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard, environment and climate change, and energy and natural resources. He was re-elected four times, posting his strongest electoral performance in 2025, with 59.8 percent of the vote.
Beaches-East York
Liberal MP Nathaniel Erskine-Smith announced in January 2024 that he would not seek re-election after representing the Toronto riding of Beaches-East York for nearly a decade. However, he reversed that decision in December 2024 after then-prime minister Justin Trudeau appointed him minister of housing, infrastructure and communities.In February 2026, Erskine-Smith announced he would seek the Ontario Liberal nomination for the Scarborough Southwest byelection, ahead of an intended bid for party leadership. He was narrowly defeated by business owner Ahsanul Hafiz in the May 9 nomination vote.
Erskine-Smith appealed the result, but the Ontario Liberal Party’s arbitration committee rejected the challenge on May 12, saying it found no irregularities.
Erskine-Smith formally resigned as the MP for Beaches-East York on July 7. The federal Liberals have since nominated Tanveer Shahnawaz, Erskine-Smith’s former constituency office manager, as their candidate in the byelection, with Erskine-Smith endorsing his campaign.
Chicoutimi-Le Fjord
Carney announced several Senate appointments on July 7, including Conservative MP Richard Martel. Martel had represented the Quebec riding of Chicoutimi-Le Fjord since winning a 2018 byelection and served as the Conservatives’ shadow minister for sport and Canada Economic Development for Quebec Regions.Since Martel was first elected in 2018, the Bloc Québécois has finished second in the riding in every federal election. In 2025, Martel captured 34.1 per cent of the vote, while the Liberal and Bloc candidates each received 31.1 per cent.
The Liberal Party will be running dairy farmer and former chair Quebec milk producers Daniel Gobeil, while the Conservatives will run lawyer Régis Gaudreault, and the Bloc will run Caroline Dubé, former director of Bloc MP Mario Simard’s constituency office. The NDP and Green Party have not announced their candidates.
