What's Happening in Today's Three Federal By-Elections
Voting opened at 9:30 a.m. local time on Monday, August 31, 2026, in three federal by-elections (Elections Canada). A by-election is a vote held to fill a seat in Parliament that has been left empty between general elections. The three ridings — or electoral districts — are Chicoutimi–Le Fjord in Quebec, Beaches–East York in Ontario, and North Vancouver–Capilano in British Columbia. Polls stay open through the evening in each local time zone.
Elections Canada, the federal agency that runs national votes, scheduled all three for the same day. It is also pointing voters to other agencies for separate provincial events happening at the same time — a provincial election and referendum in Quebec and Alberta respectively, and municipal or provincial by-elections in Ontario (Elections Canada). Elections Canada does not run provincial, municipal or referendum votes.
In Chicoutimi–Le Fjord, the seat opened up because Conservative MP Richard Martel resigned to join the Senate. He had won the riding in the 2025 federal election by about 1,500 votes over his Liberal and Bloc Québécois opponents in a close three-way race (The Globe and Mail). His departure came less than 18 months into the current Parliament, leaving the Conservatives to defend a thin lead.
The other two ridings opened for different reasons. Beaches–East York became vacant when former cabinet minister Nate Erskine-Smith resigned. North Vancouver–Capilano opened after former cabinet minister Jonathan Wilkinson stepped down (The Globe and Mail). Both had been held by Liberals, so the governing party is working to keep two seats in very different parts of the country.
Each riding carries different stakes. Chicoutimi–Le Fjord is the one most people are watching for what it says about the Conservative leader. McGill University political scientist Daniel Béland said that if the Conservatives lose the riding, it would feed the idea that Pierre Poilievre's leadership is in trouble (The Globe and Mail). Because the 2025 result was decided by only 1,500 votes across three parties, even a small shift in support could change the outcome.
Beaches–East York and North Vancouver–Capilano test whether the Liberals can hold on to seats left by two senior figures. Losing either would raise questions about the government's standing in Toronto's east end or the North Shore of Vancouver. The result in each riding will depend on the local candidates, how many people turn out to vote, and whether national support for the parties has shifted since the 2025 general election.
Elections Canada often groups by-elections on a single date when it is practical to do so. Advance polls and mail-in ballots were available in all three ridings in the weeks before August 31 (Elections Canada). Results will come in riding by riding as polls close across the country's time zones, with British Columbia reporting last.
The broader context here is that by-elections in a minority Parliament — where no single party holds a majority of seats — tend to be read as a check on how the government is doing. When an opposition party holds the seat being contested, the vote is also seen as a test of that party's leader. Three ridings in three provinces, each with a different party defending it and a different margin, will give political strategists useful information once the votes are counted.
