Why Federal By-Elections Could Cost $24-Million This Year
Elections Canada estimates that federal by-elections in 2026 will cost taxpayers upwards of $24-million. That is because an unusually high number of seats in the House of Commons are empty, which could make this the busiest year for by-elections since 1978.
A by-election is basically a mini-election held in one area, or riding, to replace a member of Parliament who has quit or retired before the next full election. Three have already taken place in 2026. Three more are scheduled for August 31. One Quebec seat is still vacant with no vote called yet. Elections Canada also expects five more MPs to resign, which would bring the total to 12 for the year. That would be the most since 15 were held in 1978. The figures were reported by The Globe and Mail on August 10, 2026.
The last comparable year was 2017, when 11 by-elections cost about $10-million, according to Elections Canada. The agency says a single by-election costs an average of $2-million to run. Costs vary by region. Elections Canada says it costs more to hold by-elections in the Greater Toronto Area because facility rentals and advertising are more expensive there.
This by-election spending comes after a full general election. Elections Canada's revised estimate for delivering the 45th federal general election, as of March 2026, is $602.5-million, or about $20.97 per registered voter (Elections Canada). In the first three quarters of the 2025-26 fiscal year, Elections Canada spent $640.9-million, compared with $186.0-million in the same period the year before, reflecting the cost of running the 2025 general election (Elections Canada).
Elections Canada estimates $298.6-million in expenses for 2026-27, down $498.2-million from the 2025-26 forecast (Elections Canada). The agency's planned spending for the 2026-2027 fiscal year is $205.2-million (Elections Canada). The by-election costs come out of this smaller post-election budget. Think of it like a household that just paid for a major renovation and now has to cover several smaller repairs from a tighter monthly budget.
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. The idea is that some MPs who had planned to leave on their own schedule had to speed up those decisions when the general election was called, creating a wave of vacancies afterward.
Dennis Pilon, a political-science professor at York University, said he suspects Canadians have mixed views on the number of by-elections. The cost of running elections is easy to see on a budget sheet. But by-elections also serve a basic purpose: people in a riding without an MP have no one representing them in Parliament until a replacement is chosen.
The broader context here is that Elections Canada is in a financial transition. The agency is the independent, non-partisan body that runs federal elections and referendums in Canada. Its spending swings sharply between general-election years and the quieter periods between them. In 2026, the big costs of the last general election are fading, but the unusually high number of by-elections is filling some of that gap. Whether the projected $24-million figure holds will depend on how many of the expected resignations actually happen and whether the remaining Quebec seat is filled by a called vote. If all 12 contests go ahead, each one would average about $2-million, which matches Elections Canada's long-standing estimate. But the total would still be more than double what the similar 2017 cycle cost.
For those watching the electoral calendar, the August 31 contests and any votes called afterward will determine whether 2026 hits that projected high mark. The local machinery of election staff, polling stations, and rented facilities does not shrink just because fewer people tend to vote in by-elections. The fixed costs of running each event stay the same regardless of turnout, which is why the Greater Toronto Area remains more expensive than other regions.
