Voters will participate in an eighth federal byelection between August 31 and mid-April following the announcement of Ontario Conservative MP Larry Brock’s upcoming departure. Brock, who won the election in 2021 to represent the Brantford–Brant South riding in southwestern Ontario, is resigning from the House of Commons to join the Crown attorney’s office in Brantford, Ontario.
This marks the third Conservative MP resignation this summer, with Saskatchewan MP Cathay Wagantall revealing her plans to step down by the end of the month, and Quebec’s Richard Martel being appointed to the Senate. Byelections will be held in Martel’s Chicoutimi–Le Fjord riding, North Vancouver–Capilano, and Beaches–East York in Toronto.
The North Vancouver–Capilano and Beaches–East York contests will fill the vacancies left by former Liberal cabinet ministers Jonathan Wilkinson and Nate Erskine-Smith. Wilkinson resigned to assume the role of Canada’s ambassador to the European Union in Brussels, while Erskine-Smith made an unsuccessful attempt in Ontario politics.
Bloc Québécois MP Simon-Pierre Savard-Tremblay resigned earlier this summer to run for the Parti Québécois in the Quebec election on October 5. The federal seat left vacant by Savard-Tremblay in Saint-Hyacinthe–Bagot–Acton remains the only seat without a scheduled byelection.
Byelections must be called by the prime minister within 11 to 180 days after a seat becomes vacant, with formal campaigns lasting between 36 and 50 days. Therefore, a byelection vote must occur between 47 days and seven months after the seat is declared vacant.
The prime minister’s actions are contingent on an MP formally vacating their seat. Current Independent and former NDP MP Alexandre Boulerice is set to run for Québec solidaire in the provincial election but has not yet relinquished his Montreal seat.
Former Liberal cabinet minister Steven Guilbeault announced his resignation as a Montreal MP on May 27, with his last day now confirmed as August 28. Brock plans to step down on September 18, just before the House of Commons reconvenes from its summer recess on September 21.