It's official: Canadians to vote in federal election this April

Mark Carney. (Liberal Party of Canada)

In a decisive move amid escalating tensions with the United States, Prime Minister Mark Carney has called a snap federal election for Monday, April 28, 2025, seeking a robust mandate to address the economic and sovereignty challenges posed by U.S. President Donald Trump’s recent actions.

Earlier today, Carney requested Governor General Mary Simon for permission to dissolve parliament and call an election, and she agreed.

Carney, who assumed office on March 14 following Justin Trudeau’s resignation, aims to bolster national unity and counteract Trump’s annexation threats and punitive tariffs, which have ignited a surge of Canadian nationalism.

“We are facing the most significant crisis of our lifetimes because of President Trump’s unjustified trade actions and his threats to our sovereignty. Our response must be to build a strong economy and a more secure Canada, President Trump claims that Canada isn’t a real country. He wants to break us so America can own us. We will not let that happen,” said Carney during his speech outside Rideau Hall today.

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A call for an election shortly after Carney’s Liberal Party of Canada leadership victory was expected, given that the new prime minister does not have a seat in the House of Commons.

Over the next five months, in addition to campaigning nationally, Carney will be vying for the MP seat in the riding of Nepean in the Ottawa area, which also happens to be near Conservative Party of Canada leader Pierre Poilievre’s riding of Carleton.

Carney has had a whirlwind first nine days as Prime Minister, visiting the heads of France and the United Kingdom to discuss new economic and security relationships, and working to discuss growing closer economic ties with the European Union.

After a meeting on Friday with Canada’s premiers, an agreement was made to legislate the end of all federal barriers to interprovincial trade by July 1, as a measure to mitigate the reduced trade south of the border.

He describes the effort to work with provincial and territorial governments to drop trade barriers as “the scale of ambition and change in creating one Canadian economy.”

Before today, Carney also cancelled his predecessor’s controversial consumer carbon tax and capital gains tax hike, and announced a new policy to axe the GST on new or substantially refurbished home sales up to $1 million for first-time homebuyers. He pledged to speed up major infrastructure and natural resources projects, including clean and conventional energy, and critical minerals. As well, they are looking to expand dental care eligibility.

Additionally, Carney launched his campaign today by promising a middle-class tax cut, which will reduce the lowest income tax bracket by one per cent. He says this will save an average family with two incomes about $825 per year. Overall, over 22 million Canadians are expected to benefit from this tax cut.

Prime Minister Mark Carney announcing the federal election call outside Rideau Hall on March 23, 2025. (CPAC)

During his remarks today, the new Liberal leader effectively distanced himself from Trudeau’s spending approach and emphasized the need to improve the efficiency of the federal government and reduce its budget through the efforts of the new Department of Government Transformation.

A previous report by the federal government’s Public Service Commission of Canada notes that the federal public service workforce grew to over 274,000 employees in the 2022/2023 fiscal year, marking a 40 per cent increase since 2014/2015, when the Liberals under Trudeau first took over as the governing party.

Federal budget deficits have crept up since the pandemic, with a deficit of $42 billion projected for 2025/2026.

Carney says the federal government’s spending has increased annually by nine per cent on average in recent years, and there will be an effort to get this level of spending increase down, which will “in and of itself, create room.”

“We are looking at driving efficiency in government, in other words, productive in government, by flipping around the approach to government, which is to concentrate on outcomes, ” said Carney, highlighting a renewed focus on creating higher-paying jobs and economic growth.

Instead, he continued, “We will use scarce taxpayer dollars to catalyze huge private investment.”

Addressing concerns over the recent surge in temporary foreign workers, international students, and permanent residents — along with their own frustrations — stemming from Trudeau’s post-pandemic immigration policies, Carney acknowledged that Canada has “not lived up to the bargain with those people.”

He says the recently implemented caps on immigration will need to remain in place “until we’ve expanded housing.”

“There’s not adequate housing. Not everyone who came here for an education was getting an education that they would expect,” he continued.

According to a new Leger survey conducted between March 14 and 16, 42 per cent of Canadians would vote for the Liberal Party led by Mark Carney, while 39 per cent would vote for the Conservative Party led by Poilievre.

This is the first time since early 2023 that the Liberals are leading the Conservatives in the polls, with the gap narrowing ever since Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced his resignation two months ago. Carney was sworn into office last Friday, a week after winning the Liberal Party’s leadership race.

Furthermore, 46 per cent of Canadians hold a favourable view of Carney, 28 per cent have an unfavourable opinion, and 26 per cent are unfamiliar.

The same survey also found that Carney (45 per cent) would be best suited to grow Canada’s economy, as opposed to Poilievre (31 per cent). The survey had a margin of error of +/- 2.47 per cent.

“That’s the choice for Canadians — a Canadian Trump or a government that unites the country and focuses on action in order to build a strong economy that works for all Canadians,” said Carney.

“A Liberal is a Liberal is a Liberal,” says Poilievre

A federal election must be called no later than October 2025. However, following Trump’s inauguration in January 2025, the national conversation swiftly turned to who is best suited to lead Canada through a period of significant economic uncertainty, driven by the U.S. president’s tariffs and “51st state” threats to Canadian sovereignty.

For the Liberals, Carney was a strategic choice. As governor of the Bank of Canada from 2008 to 2013, he guided the country’s monetary policy through the Great Recession. He then served as governor of the Bank of England from 2013 to 2020, navigating the U.K. economy through the turbulence of Brexit.

“After the lost liberal decade, the question is whether Canadians can afford a fourth Liberal term. These are after these out of touch Liberals inflated housing costs, drove up the cost of food, pushed two million people to food banks, unleashed crime on our streets, ruined our immigration system, blocked our resources, sent a half a trillion dollars to the United States, and made our economy more reliant on the Americans than ever before,” said Poilievre today in Ottawa during his campaign launch.

“Or is it time to put Canada first for a change with a new Conservative government that will axe taxes, honour hard work, build homes, cut taxes, lock up criminals, secure our borders, unleash resources to bring home our jobs and stand up to Donald Trump from a position of strength?”

pierre poilievre conservative party leader

Conservative Party of Canada leader Pierre Poilievre launched his party’s federal election campaign in Ottawa on March 23, 2025. (CPAC)

The Conservative campaign announced by Poilievre today focuses on a “Canada First” approach, pledging to cut taxes, boost economic growth, and strengthen national industries. Key promises include repealing not only the consumer carbon tax as promised by Carney but also the industrial carbon tax, as well as reducing the GST on new homes, and fast-tracking development to restore homeownership.

Poilievre also plans to expand domestic energy production, remove trade barriers, and build new pipelines to reduce reliance on the U.S. and Europe’s dependence on Russian energy. LNG plants, mines, and other projects will be swiftly approved, he says.

On public safety and immigration, the Conservatives vow to repeal “catch-and-release” laws, enforce stricter sentences for repeat offenders, and crack down on illegal drugs while expanding recovery programs.

“Open borders [and] liberal crime and drug laws have unleashed violence, disorder and deadly overdoses,” he said.

They also plan to further cap immigration, end the Liberal-backed “Century Initiative” to triple Canada’s population and tighten border security to prevent fraudulent claims.

Defence and national security are also priorities, with promises to rebuild the military, invest in new fighter jets and Arctic defence, including the first military base in the Arctic since the Cold War in Iqaluit, and enhance support for veterans.

The Conservative leader frames these policies as necessary steps to restore national pride, economic independence, national security, and Canadian sovereignty, after a decade of governance under the Liberal party.

“Our nation is more divided than ever before, because the Liberal, radical, post-national borderless and globalist ideology has weakened our nation. Now desperate for a fourth term, the Liberals have replaced Justin Trudeau with his economic advisor and hand-picked successor, Mark Carney,” said Poilievre.

“But a Liberal is a Liberal is a Liberal. It’s the same old Liberal MPs, the same Liberal ministers, the same Liberal advisors, the same Liberal elites, the same broken Liberal promises of the last 10 years.”

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