Byelections following wave of MP resignations set to cost upwards of $24M

OTTAWA — Byelections this year to replace departing members of Parliament are expected to cost taxpayers upwards of $24 million, an Elections Canada estimate suggests.

The election agency says that while the cost of holding a byelection can vary according to multiple factors, including location and duration, a single byelection costs an average of $2 million to run.

Three byelections have been held already this year. Three more are scheduled for Aug. 31.

One Quebec seat is vacant with no byelection scheduled and five more MP resignations are expected in the coming weeks.

As it stands, 2026 could see a total of 12 byelections — which would be the highest annual number since 1978, when 15 byelections were held.

The most recent comparable year is 2017, which saw 11 byelections. Elections Canada reported the cost of those contests at about $10 million.

Past Elections Canada reports on byelections, including those for 2024 and 2020, say it typically costs more to hold them in the Greater Toronto Area due to higher prices for facility rentals and advertising.

Jonathan Malloy, a political-science professor at Carleton University, said he suspects the high number of MP resignations is linked to people being caught off-guard by the 2025 election that left the Liberals in power.

“I think the very obvious reason is that it was a close election and it was election quite different than what people had expected even three months beforehand. And as a result, it prompted some people to make different career decisions than they were expecting,” he said.

Malloy said Conservatives could reasonably think they were heading to the government benches in early 2025, and many Liberals were expecting to run under Justin Trudeau.

While Malloy compared the Liberals’ transition from Trudeau to Prime Minister Mark Carney to their shift from Jean Chrétien to Paul Martin, he pointed out that the earlier leadership change happened over years and left Martin with a completely new team around him.

“In this case, they didn’t have that time within in the Liberal party to think, ‘Well, do I want to go with Mark Carney, who’s the prime minister for about a week before calling the election?'” Malloy said.

“There just wasn’t the same time, I think, for a lot of people to make decisions on the Liberal side.”

Dennis Pilon, a York University professor in the department of political science, said he suspects Canadians have mixed views on the number of byelections. He said that while he doubts people would support disallowing MP resignations, these sudden exits carry broader consequences.

“The Canadian people have given you the go-ahead to do some stuff, or at least advocate for it, in Parliament and then to bow out, considering the cost, considering what’s at stake for everyone … So now the results of that contest, which is supposed to last for a period of time, have essentially been thrown away,” Pilon said.

There was one byelection in 2025, in Battle River-Crowfoot in Alberta; Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre ran and won there after losing his Ottawa-area riding to Liberal Bruce Fanjoy in the general election. Damien Kurek, who was elected in April, stepped down make room for Poilievre to run.

The 2025 Elections Canada byelection report estimates that August 2025 byelection cost taxpayers $2.3 million.

The agency attributes that higher-than-average price tag to inflation driving up the cost of printing, facility fees and information technology requirements. The report also says the lengthy 49-day election period added to the overall cost.

Three byelections took place in April, all won by the Liberals. Two of these contests took place in the GTA to replace former cabinet ministers Chrystia Freeland and Bill Blair.

The April byelection in Quebec’s Terrebonne riding was called after the Supreme Court of Canada invalidated the general election result due to a clerical error on the return address for some mail-in ballots.

Elections Canada issues a statutory report on byelections once a year, so the costs for these latest votes will not be published until early 2027.

Pilon said that “democracy is expensive” and it’s only fair that people who work to run elections are paid fairly.

“What’s really great about our situation now is that while the public is divided on partisan lines, they don’t tend to divide on whether or not the election administration is fair or adequate,” he added.

Three more byelections are set for Aug. 31 in North Vancouver-Capilano, Chicoutimi-Le Fjord in Quebec and Beaches-East York in Toronto to replace MPs who left for other opportunities.

Former Liberal cabinet minister Jonathan Wilkinson resigned his North Vancouver—Capilano seat in June to become Canada’s ambassador to the European Union and Nate Erskine-Smith resigned the Beaches-East York in seat in July.

Carney appointed Conservative MP Richard Martel to the Senate in July, prompting Martel to resign his Chicoutimi-Le Fjord seat.

Six more byelections will have to be called in the near future.

Bloc Québécois MP Simon-Pierre Savard-Tremblay resigned in June to run for the Parti Québécois in the Quebec provincial election this October.

Ontario Liberal Shaun Chen announced Monday that he will resign on Aug. 15. The Toronto-area MP said injuries from a car accident last fall resulted in significant health issues that limit his ability to travel to Ottawa.

Current Independent and former NDP MP Alexandre Boulerice says he will leave his Montreal seat by the end of summer to run for Québec solidaire this October.

Former Liberal cabinet minister Steven Guilbeault is resigning his Montreal seat on Aug. 28. He said he’s leaving the government due to Carney’s shifts on energy and environmental policy.

Saskatchewan Conservative MP Cathay Wagantall is set to resign on Aug. 31 after originally saying she planned to stick around until the next election.

Ontario Conservative MP Larry Brock announced last week he will step down on Sept. 18 to return to the Crown prosecutor’s office in Brantford, Ont.

Eight of the 12 byelections are being triggered by people moving on to other opportunities. Pilon said the people who tend to enter politics also tend to be professionals, “very well-educated, often very privileged socially and economically.

“I think this group also looks competitively at what they’re being offered.”

The prime minister has to call a byelection between 11 and 180 days after a seat becomes vacant. The election period has to be between 36 and 50 days.

Prime Minister Carney said last week he wants to see seats filled in short order because constituents deserve representation in the House.

Elections Canada’s report on the 2025 general election lists an estimated cost of $570 million.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 10, 2026.

David Baxter, The Canadian Press