What to Know About the Upcoming Federal Byelections

People make their way along Parliament Hill and past the Centre Block in Ottawa on April 13, 2026. The Canadian Press/Sean Kilpatrick

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.

Here’s what to know about the three upcoming byelections.

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.

Carney’s former deputy chief of staff, Braeden Caley, will run to replace Wilkinson in North Vancouver-Capilano. Caley previously worked in the constituency offices of two B.C. MPs, served as Vancouver City Hall’s director of policy and communications to the mayor, and was president and CEO of the think tank Canada 2020.

The Conservatives have nominated North Vancouver lawyer Stephen Curran, who captured 33.7 percent of the vote in the 2025 federal election. The Green Party will field environmental scientist Shelley Luce, while the NDP has yet to announce a candidate.

Polling aggregator 338Canada currently lists Vancouver-Capilano as a “safe” Liberal seat.

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. He later lost the post after Carney Liberals won the April 2025 election.

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.

The Conservatives, NDP, and Green Party have not yet announced candidates. According to 338Canada, Beaches-East York is considered a safe Liberal seat.

Chicoutimi-Le Fjord 

Carney announced several Senate appointments on July 7, including Conservative MP Richard Martel, meaning his seat in the House of Commons will be vacated.

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 percent of the vote, while the Bloc and Liberal candidates each received 31.1 percent.

Before Martel became the MP for this riding, it was held by a Liberal MP from 2015-2017, and prior to that it was held by an NDP MP during the Orange Wave, from 2011 to 2015. Prior to that, it was held by the Bloc from 2004 to 2011.

In the upcoming byelection, the Conservative candidate will be lawyer Régis Gaudreault, while the Liberal Party is running dairy farmer and member of the Board of Directors of Dairy Farmers of Canada Daniel Gobeil. The Bloc will run Caroline Dubé, former director of Bloc MP Mario Simard’s constituency office. The NDP and Green Party have not yet announced candidates.

338Canada says that Chicoutimi—Le Fjord is a three-way “toss-up” between the Liberals, Conservatives, and Bloc Québécois.

The byelection could test whether the Conservatives are able to hold on to the seat and provide a measure of how the Carney Liberals are performing in Quebec more than a year after the 2025 election.

It could also foreshadow the upcoming Quebec provincial election in October. A Leger poll published on July 14 shows a three-way race, with the Parti Québécois holding 30 percent of popular support, the Quebec Liberals at 27 percent, and the governing CAQ at 21 percent.