Eighth federal byelection required by mid-April with Conservative MP’s upcoming exit

OTTAWA — Voters are headed for an eighth federal byelection between Aug. 31 and mid-April due to the upcoming departure of Ontario Conservative Larry Brock.

Brock, who was first elected in 2021 to represent the southwestern Ontario riding now called Brantford-Brant South, says he is leaving the House of Commons to take a position at the Crown attorney’s office in Brantford, Ont.

Canadians will have voted in 12 separate byelections by the time Prime Minister Mark Carney’s government hits its second anniversary, assuming there are no other exits from the House.

Holding byelections isn’t cheap. Elections Canada estimates last year’s byelections cost taxpayers $3.2 million.

That sum includes almost $2.3 million for the Battle River—Crowfoot race last summer that saw Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre return to the House.

Elections Canada reports spending about $882,000 on a planned Halifax byelection last spring that ultimately was cancelled when Carney called a general election.

Five byelections in 2024 cost a combined $10.2 million, says Elections Canada.

Brock is the third Conservative MP to resign this summer. Saskatchewan MP Cathay Wagantall announced she is stepping down at the end of the month and Quebec’s Richard Martel was appointed to the Senate.

Martel’s riding of Chicotoumi-Le Fjord will hold a byelection at the end of the month, along with North Vancouver-Capilano and Beaches-East York in Toronto.

The North Vancouver-Capilano and Beaches-East York races are to replace former Liberal cabinet ministers Jonathan Wilkinson and Nate Erskine-Smith. Wilkinson resigned to become Canada’s ambassador to the European Union in Brussels, while Erskine Smith had an unsuccessful foray into Ontario politics.

In Saguenay, Que., on Thursday, Prime Minister Mark Carney said in French the House is returning soon and it’s not appropriate to leave ridings without representation.

Pointing to the 2025 Battle River—Crowfoot vote, the prime minister said he hasn’t delayed calling byelections.

Bloc Québécois MP Simon-Pierre Savard-Tremblay resigned his seat in June to run for the Parti Québécois in the Quebec election on Oct. 5.

His old seat, Saint-Hyacinthe-Bagot-Acton, is the only currently vacant seat where a byelection has not yet been called, even though Carney is able to do so.

The prime minister has to call a byelection between 11 and 180 days after a seat becomes vacant and formal byelection campaigns last between 36 and 50 days. This means a byelection vote must take place between 47 days and more than seven months after a seat is declared vacant.

But the prime minister can’t do anything until a MP formally vacates their seat.

Current Independent and former NDP MP Alexandre Boulerice is running for Quebec solidaire in the provincial election, but has not yet given up his Montreal seat.

A spokesperson for his office said in an email that a date has not been chosen but the plan is for Boulerice to formally resign by the end of summer.

Former Liberal cabinet minister Steven Guilbeault said on May 27 he is going to resign as a Montreal MP. His office now says his last day as an MP will be Aug. 28.

Brock said he will step down on Sept. 18.

Four byelections preceded the wave of resignation announcements in recent months. They included Battle River—Crowfoot last summer and three byelections in April.

Those spring byelections included two Toronto races, both won by the Liberals, to replace former cabinet ministers Chrystia Freeland and Bill Blair.

The Supreme Court of Canada invalidated the general election result in the Quebec riding of Terrebonne due to a clerical error on the return address of some mail-in ballots. Liberal Tatiana Auguste won the seat again in an April 13 byelection.

Costs for these April byelections have not yet been published.

The House of Commons is set to return from its summer recess on Sept. 21.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 7, 2026.

David Baxter, The Canadian Press