Voters are gearing up for the eighth federal byelection to take place between the end of August and mid-April following the announcement of the departure of Ontario Conservative MP Larry Brock. Brock, who has been serving as the representative for the Brantford–Brant South riding in southwestern Ontario since his election in 2021, revealed his decision to leave the House of Commons to join the Crown attorney’s office in Brantford, Ont.
This comes as the third Conservative MP to resign this summer, with Saskatchewan MP Cathay Wagantall and Quebec’s Richard Martel also stepping down from their positions. Martel’s riding of Chicoutimi–Le Fjord will hold a byelection at the end of the month, alongside North Vancouver–Capilano and Beaches–East York in Toronto.
The byelections in North Vancouver–Capilano and Beaches–East York are set to fill the seats left vacant by former Liberal cabinet ministers Jonathan Wilkinson and Nate Erskine-Smith. Wilkinson departed to assume the role of Canada’s ambassador to the European Union in Brussels, while Erskine-Smith made an unsuccessful attempt in Ontario politics.
Additionally, Bloc Québécois MP Simon-Pierre Savard-Tremblay resigned earlier this summer to run for the Parti Québécois in the upcoming Quebec election on Oct. 5. The federal seat left vacant by Savard-Tremblay in Saint-Hyacinthe–Bagot–Acton remains the only one without a scheduled byelection.
According to the guidelines, the prime minister must announce a byelection within 11 to 180 days of a seat becoming vacant, with the formal campaign period lasting between 36 and 50 days. This means that a byelection voting process is expected to occur between 47 days and seven months after the seat is declared vacant, pending the formal resignation of the MP.
Notably, Independent and former NDP MP Alexandre Boulerice is slated to run for Québec solidaire in the provincial election, but has yet to relinquish his Montreal seat. Similarly, former Liberal cabinet minister Steven Guilbeault, who confirmed his resignation as a Montreal MP on May 27, is set to step down on Aug. 28.
Larry Brock has announced his resignation date as Sept. 18, with the House of Commons scheduled to reconvene from its summer break on Sept. 21.