Prime Minister Mark Carney has called three federal by-elections for August 31, 2026, in British Columbia, Ontario and Quebec. The governing Liberals are working to keep their majority in the House of Commons.

A by-election is a mini-election held in a single riding when a seat in Parliament opens up — usually because an MP resigns or moves to another role. The party that wins the most seats in the House of Commons forms the government. Right now, the Liberals hold a narrow majority, meaning they have just enough seats to govern on their own.

The three ridings are North Vancouver—Capilano in British Columbia, Beaches—East York in Toronto, and Chicoutimi—Le Fjord in Quebec's Saguenay region. Carney issued the writs — the formal paperwork that starts an election — on July 26, 2026. Elections Canada confirmed the same day that by-elections are now underway in all three constituencies. The August 31 date matches the earliest possible polling day Elections Canada had identified for Chicoutimi—Le Fjord, set out in a July 9 press release.

The three seats opened through different departures. In North Vancouver—Capilano, former Liberal MP Jonathan Wilkinson resigned. In Beaches—East York, former Liberal MP Nathaniel Erskine-Smith left the seat. In Chicoutimi—Le Fjord, former Conservative MP Richard Martel vacated the riding after being appointed to the Senate. Elections Canada had flagged the Chicoutimi—Le Fjord vacancy in early July, noting the earliest available by-election date as Monday, August 31.

The stakes are straightforward. The Liberals need to win at least one of the three seats to maintain their majority. Losing all three would shrink or eliminate the government's working margin, depending on current seat counts and standing vacancies. The by-elections therefore serve as a partial test of how the Carney government is doing roughly a year and a half into its mandate.

The Liberal Party has nominated candidates in all three ridings. In North Vancouver—Capilano, the candidate is Braeden Caley, who served as deputy chief of staff to Carney before seeking the nomination. Candidate names for the other two ridings were not specified in the July 26 announcement. Conservative and Bloc Québécois candidates had not been named in the available reporting as of the writ drop.

The three ridings sit in three provinces and three different political landscapes. North Vancouver—Capilano is in a Lower Mainland corridor where the Liberals and Conservatives have traded seats in recent cycles. Beaches—East York, in east-end Toronto, has been a reliably Liberal seat under Erskine-Smith. Chicoutimi—Le Fjord, in the Saguenay, is a three-way riding where the Bloc Québécois, Conservatives and Liberals have all been competitive. Martel held it for the Conservatives, and a Senate appointment in exchange for vacating a sitting seat is a way to free a riding for a by-election while rewarding the incumbent with a seat in the upper chamber.

The broader context here is a government managing a thin majority — close enough to minority territory that every vacant seat counts. By-elections in the summer and early fall tend to draw low turnout, which can produce results that look different from general elections. For the Liberals, holding Beaches—East York is the baseline expectation; a loss there would signal trouble in the party's Toronto core. North Vancouver—Capilano, with a former senior PMO staffer as the candidate, tests whether the Carney brand carries weight in a competitive B.C. riding. Chicoutimi—Le Fjord is the most volatile of the three, and the Bloc's campaign capacity in the Saguenay will factor heavily.

For the Conservatives, keeping Chicoutimi—Le Fjord would hold a Quebec beachhead and deny the Liberals a pickup. For the Bloc, flipping the Saguenay seat would reinforce the party's claim to nationalist seats outside Montreal. Each party has roughly five weeks of campaign time before the August 31 vote.

Elections Canada has confirmed that voter registration, candidate nomination and advance poll scheduling are now proceeding under the standard 50-day writ period for each of the three ridings.