17-year-old Noah Saphier explains the backdrop to the snap federal election in Canada on Monday 28 April
From left: Pierre Poilievre, Mark Carney and Jagmeet Singh in Montreal, 17 April 2025.
April 25, 2025
Canada votes on Monday – after Carney calls snap election
Next Monday, 28 April, Canada goes to the polls, after Mark Carney called a snap federal election, just days after he was sworn in as the country’s new prime minister. The election is being held months earlier than the traditional date of the third Monday in October.
Carney – former governor of both the Bank of Canada and the Bank of England – replaced Justin Trudeau as leader of the Liberal Party and PM on 14 March, ending Trudeau’s over nine-year tenure.
The Liberal Party currently has 152 seats in Parliament. The other main parties are the Conservative Party (with 120 seats) led by Pierre Polievre, and the New Democratic Party (NDP, 24 seats) led by Jagmeet Singh. There’s also the Bloc Québécois, running only in the province of Quebec (33 seats), and the Green Party (2 seats).
Carney said his motivation to call an early vote is based on giving Canadians a larger voice. He posted on X: “We need to build the strongest economy in the G7. We need to deal with President Trump’s tariffs. Canadians deserve a choice about who should lead that effort for our country.”
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There’s another reason too. Lisa Young, a political science professor at the University of Calgary said that Carney “wants to call the election while he still has this kind of momentum as a new leader – and while the shock of the Trump administration is still front of mind for Canadians.”
Since March 2022, the polls have consistently put the Conservatives ahead of the Liberals – up to January this year. Since then, the trend has reversed, with the Liberal Party seeing a steady rise amid US president Donald Trump’s threats of tariffs.
The resulting rise in Canadian nationalism has not helped Polievre and his party, who are seen as similar to Trump and the Republicans. At the same time, support for the Carney and the Liberal Party has surged as he has been very outspoken about Trump’s hostility towards Canada.
A snap election means that the candidates need to hit the ground running, reaching out to as many Canadians as possible in only a couple of weeks, travelling from coast to coast. Carney has been campaigning under the motto “Canada Strong”, while Poilievre, in a comment on the Liberals’ ten years in power, has the slogan “Canada First for a Change”.
Carbon tax, income tax and tariffs
In 2019, Justin Trudeau imposed a national tax on carbon emissions, raising the price of gas. The main reason was to help facilitate the transition to greener practices, but the policy was very unpopular and heavily criticised by both the opposition and Canadians in general.
To stop Poilievre’s “axe the tax” campaign – a main point of attack for the Conservatives – Mark Carney signed a directive ending the carbon tax on his very first day in office as prime minister, effective from 1 April.
Poilievre questioned the Liberal Party’s true commitment to ending the carbon tax, saying,“After having this tax in place for seven years, and keeping the carbon tax law on the books as we speak, what they now say is that they’re going to hide the tax from the pump for 28 days leading up to the election.”
It is important to note that the Conservative Party has opposed many significant federal attempts to limit the effects of climate change.
In his 20-year tenure as a Conservative member of Parliament, Poilievre voted againstenvironmental protection policies 400 times, and only 13 times in favour.
Both candidates are trying to win over the country’s middle class through income tax cuts. Carney has pledged a “middle-class tax cut”, aimed at keeping Canadians financially afloat in face of a potential trade war with the US. The Liberal Party saysthis can save two-income families up to $825 a year. Carney noted: “Every Canadian should be able to afford necessities, feel secure, and get ahead financially – and this tax cut will help them do that.”
Poilievre has also proposed a tax cut, dropping income tax for the lowest tax bracket from 15% to 12.75%, claiming this will save two-income families about $1,800 a year. He said: “Canadians deserve to bring home powerful pay cheques for their families, and my 15% tax cut will do exactly that.”
As unprecedented tensions put pressure on the long-standing and very close relationship between the US and Canada, the candidates are adopting a similar approach in an attempt to reduce the Canadian economy’s intricate ties with their neighbours to the south.
Carney believes that reducing trade barriers between Canadian provinces and building trade relationships with other countries than the US (which buys about 75% of Canadian exports) can help limit the impact of Trump’s tariffs. Even with the 90-day pause, Trump has kept tariffs of as much as 25% on Canadian and Mexican cars, steel, and aluminum industries.
Poilievre seeks to do the same, despite resistance from key members of his party.
He said: “President Trump’s tariffs are a wake-up call to all political leaders, who are now forced to put the national interest ahead of special interests. Canadians will expect all political leaders to do what it takes to make our country more self-reliant and less dependent on the Americans. It starts with trade at home.”
How does the election work?
Canada uses the first-past-the-post (FPTP) system, as in the UK, where the leader of the party with the most seats after the election becomes prime minister. Voters cast their ballot for the party, not for Carney or Poilievre, for example.
At time of writing, according to CBC News’s poll tracker, the Liberals lead on 44.1%, with the Conservatives trailing on 37.9%.
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