As the federal election campaign has entered its first full week, federal Conservatives appear to have a preparation edge in B.C. where voters will elect 43 representatives to the House of Commons.
British Columbians, along with the rest of Canadians, head to the polls on April 28.
Federal Conservatives under the leadership of Pierre Poilievre have nominated 30 candidates in B.C. as per the party's website with 13 running as incumbents. The party held 14 seats at dissolution, one more than they had won in 2021, the extra seat being Cloverdale-Langley City won by Tamara Jansen in a by-election in December 2024.
Federal New Democrats have so far listed 25 candidates running British Columbia with 10 running as incumbents. The party held 12 seats at dissolution following the last year's resignation for health reasons by New Democrat Randall Garrison, whose seat was vacant at dissolution.
Federal Liberals under Prime Minister Mark Carney, meanwhile, have an official list of 17 candidates, 18 if former Vancouver mayor Gregor Robertson is counted. Robertson Sunday announced that he would be running for the federal Liberals. Of the federal Liberal candidates in B.C., 10 are running as incumbents, with the party having held 14 seats at dissolution, one less than they had won in 2021 following the party's loss in Cloverdale-Langley City.
Federal Greens under co-leaders Jonathan Pedneault and Elizabeth May have so far nominated 30 candidates in B.C. with one 鈥� May 鈥� running as incumbent.
On the surface, B.C. appears more competitive than other provinces in western Canada, while leaning toward the Conservatives based on their total vote share. They won 33.2 per cent in 2021, followed by the New Democrats with 29.2 per cent and the federal Liberals with 27 per cent.
But the closeness of the results 鈥� at least on paper 鈥� obscures a distinct political geography for all major federal parties running in B.C., which gained a seat from 2021 because of population growth.
Like their provincial Conservatives, the federal Conservatives dominate the Fraser Valley and large swaths of rural B.C. beyond Hope. Federal Liberals, meanwhile, won their seats primarily in the more affluent, western parts of Vancouver proper and the fast-growing suburbs of the Fraser River's estuary.
Federal New Democrats, meanwhile, have done well in the same areas as their provincial counterparts, namely the eastern neighbourhoods of Vancouver and 'inner' suburbs like Burnaby, Vancouver Island (including Greater Victoria and Nanaimo) and ocean-facing areas on the provincial Mainland with a foothold in B.C.'s southern interior.
May, meanwhile, holds a riding (Saanich-Gulf Islands) that partially overlaps the provincial riding of Saanich North and the Islands held by B.C. Green Rob Botterell.
Elections, however, have their respective dynamics and this year's federal election -- unlike last year's provincial election in October -- unfolds in an entirely different context.
British Columbians will be heading to the polls for the second time in little more than six months under very different circumstances. They find themselves in the midst of a patriotism-inducing trade dispute with the U.S. The federal Liberals have also replaced a previously deeply unpopular leader (Justin 台湾MM裸聊室) with a figure (Carney) with strong economic credentials. Carney has also taken steps designed to take the wind out of the sails of the Conservatives' sails like ending the legal requirement for a consumer carbon tax.
These developments have helped spur a federal Liberal comeback in the polls, with some pollsters now showing the federal Liberals leading nationally, albeit it by small margins.
Federal Conservatives, meanwhile, are pointing to the Liberals' overall record during the last decade in making the case for fundamental changes in pointing to issues that also resonated during the provincial campaign like housing affordability and broader economic stagnation.
New Democrats, meanwhile, have seen their support drop as they risk being squeezed by the federal Liberals and the federal Conservatives in different parts of B.C.
