Voters will participate in an eighth federal byelection scheduled between Aug. 31 and mid-April following the impending departure of Ontario Conservative MP Larry Brock. Brock, who won his seat in 2021 to represent the Brantford–Brant South area in southwestern Ontario, has decided to leave the House of Commons to join the Crown attorney’s office in Brantford, Ont.
This summer has seen the resignation of three Conservative MPs, with Saskatchewan MP Cathay Wagantall announcing her departure at the end of the month and Quebec’s Richard Martel being appointed to the Senate. Consequently, byelections are set to be held in Martel’s Chicoutimi–Le Fjord riding, North Vancouver–Capilano, and Beaches–East York in Toronto.
North Vancouver–Capilano and Beaches–East York are preparing for contests to fill the seats vacated by former Liberal cabinet ministers Jonathan Wilkinson and Nate Erskine-Smith. Wilkinson left to serve as Canada’s ambassador to the European Union in Brussels, while Erskine-Smith made an unsuccessful attempt to enter Ontario politics.
Bloc Québécois MP Simon-Pierre Savard-Tremblay resigned earlier this summer to run for the Parti Québécois in the upcoming Quebec election on Oct. 5. The Saint-Hyacinthe–Bagot–Acton seat, left vacant by Savard-Tremblay, remains the sole unclaimed federal seat yet to trigger a byelection.
Byelections must be called by the prime minister within 11 to 180 days after a seat becomes vacant, with campaign periods lasting between 36 and 50 days. Consequently, a byelection must occur within 47 days to seven months after a seat is vacated, pending formal resignation by the MP in question. Current Independent and former NDP MP Alexandre Boulerice is poised to stand for Québec solidaire in the provincial election while still holding his Montreal seat.
Former Liberal cabinet minister Steven Guilbeault, who announced his resignation as an MP in Montreal on May 27, is set to step down on Aug. 28. In alignment with this, Brock has confirmed his resignation date as Sept. 18, coinciding with the return of the House of Commons from its summer recess on Sept. 21.