Prime Minister Mark Carney calls six federal byelections for December

Carney’s Liberals currently have a majority government after winning three byelections earlier this year.

In a tweet Sunday, Conservative Leader Pierre Pollievre asked that Canadians choose a different path, saying that his party’s plan will save money, protect jobs and reform the immigration system.

“I think it’s an opportunity for hard-working Canadians who think it’s unacceptable for Mark Carney to drive up their cost of gas, groceries and housing to vote for a for a party that will fight to save you money,” he said at a news conference later Sunday.

The byelections come after members of Parliament quit the House of Commons for diplomatic appointments, provincial politics or retirement.

Since the 2025 election, 13 of 343 members of Parliament have decided to step down.

The prime minister must call an election between 11 and 180 days after a member’s resignation.

A pastor and longtime Conservative is running as an independent candidate in Brantford-Brant South in Ontario after the party chose to bypass a local nomination contest and appoint Brantford Mayor Kevin Davis as its candidate.

Dave Carrol’s decision to run independently adds intrigue to the byelection, as it could draw votes from the Conservatives, who were already expected to face a tough challenge from the Liberals.

“Party leadership chose to appoint another candidate, skipping the process we have valued for decades,” Carrol, who previously sought the Conservative nomination, said on social media. “That decision, while legal, has been received poorly, and rightfully so.”

In the Saskatchewan riding of Yorkton-Melville, the Liberals are running candidate Aaron Kienle, the mayor of Yorkton, against Conservative Nelson Pohl, a farmer who owns a furnace cleaning company.

That riding has been held by the Conservatives and its predecessors, the Reform Party and Canadian Alliance, for more than 30 years. The Liberals have not won there since the riding was first created in 1968.

Cathay Wagantall, who was elected as a Conservative MP in 2015, won Yorkton-Melville with more than 77 per cent of the vote in 2025. She resigned in August.

The Laurier-Sainte-Marie riding was previously held by former environment minister Steven Guilbeault who left in the summer after a public disagreement with Carney over environment policy.

On Sunday, the Liberals announced that Guy Cormier, former president and CEO of Desjardins Group, will be their candidate in the byelection in Laurier–Sainte-Marie.

The Bloc is fielding Zumretay Arkin, the former vice-president of the World Uyghur Congress while the NDP has nominated epidemiologist Nima Machouf.

The St-Hyacinthe—Bagot—Acton byelection is needed because Simon-Pierre Savard-Tremblay quit the Bloc caucus in June ahead of a successful run provincially for the separatist Parti Québécois.

The Liberals are running former provincial politician Chantal Soucy, who represented the Coalition Avenir Québec in the National Assembly for eight years before choosing not to run again in the election this fall. The Bloc has nominated Caroline Emond, the former director general of the International Dairy Federation.

Rosemont-La Petite-Patrie was the only riding the NDP won east of Manitoba in the last federal election, and it was opened in August when MP Alexandre Boulerice resigned ahead of his successful provincial run for Québec solidaire.

The Liberals are running human rights advocate Jean-Sébastien Vallée, while the NDP are fielding Pierre Céré, a Quebec activist who made a brief bid for the leadership of the Parti Québécois in 2015.

The sixth byelection is to be held in Scarborough North, which former Liberal Shaun Chen vacated in August citing ongoing medical issues related to a vehicle crash in 2025.

The Liberals are seeking to hold onto the seat with accountant James Li.

Carney has had a string of byelection successes already this year.

Byelections were held in April in the Quebec riding of Terrebonne — a vote the Supreme Court ordered redone after issues with mail-in ballots during the 2025 election — along with the Liberal strongholds of University-Rosedale and Scarborough Southwest in Toronto. The three Liberal wins coming on the heels of five MPs who crossed the floor to the Liberals, cemented Carney’s majority government.

The Liberals swept another three ridings on Aug. 31, flipping a Conservative seat in Chicoutimi-Le Fjord and holding seats in Beaches-East York and North Vancouver-Capilano.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 1, 2026.

–With files from Tori Fitzpatrick in Halifax

Catherine Morrison, The Canadian Press

by The Canadian Press

Prime Minister Mark Carney calls six federal byelections for December

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