B.C.’s large parties on track to field candidates in all ridings as deadline looms

VICTORIA — The major parties running in British Columbia’s election appear to be on track to fill each of the 93 ridings, but smaller parties are struggling ahead of the Oct. 3 nomination deadline.

Elections BC lists 43 official candidates for the B.C. New Democrats, while there are 32 on the list for the Conservatives as of Sept. 30.

Both parties say on their websites that those numbers are much higher, but candidate figures for those running in the smaller parties remain in the single digits.

CentreBC and OneBC have one official candidate each, while seven Greens candidates have been registered with Elections BC.

All three parties say their candidate count is higher than that, but all are under 20 each.

Neither CentreBC nor OneBC existed during the last election in 2024, but emerged as the fledgling B.C. Conservative Party splintered amid disagreements shortly after coming within a few seats of forming government.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 1, 2026.

Wolfgang Depner, The Canadian Press